Happy Wednesday, friends! It is week three of the $100 Room Challenge, and this week I’m showing you how I made some natural DIY wood stain for some DIY shelves in my laundry room! After I created my stenciled accent wall last week I was ready to create some DIY open shelving.
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I got some inspiration for these shelves from Natalie at My Vintage Porch. She has made DIY wood shelves throughout her home and they look absolutely gorgeous! After seeing how she created them and styled them I was so inspired to make some in my home. They will add some visual interest and add some storage!
Today I’m going to show you how I made some natural DIY wood stain for my shelves. The process is so simple and totally works! I love that it is natural, safe to use, and budget friendly!
Materials Needed
- Paintbrush
- Black tea
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 steel wool pad 0000 grade
- 8 ounces of vinegar
How To Create A Natural DIY Wood Stain
First I added one piece of steel wool to 8 oz of white vinegar. I let this sit in an open mason jar for 24 hours to let it do it’s thing. The next day I diluted the mixture with 8 oz of room temperature water.
Then I combined 2 cups of boiling water with 2 black tea bags and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then I transferred it to a glass jar to let it cool off.
Next I sanded the wood to prepare it for the stain. I used my handheld electric sander to quickly sand each side of the wood, including the ends. Then I dusted off the dust with a towel and was ready to start staining the wood with my natural DIY stain.
First I painted one coat of tea onto the wood. It gives the wood a slight color and pulls the tannins out of the wood. In the second photo you can see the bottom board has a coat of tea, and the top board isn’t coated with anything yet.
After letting them dry for 30 minutes I added a coat of the steel wool vinegar mixture. You can remove the steel wool from the jar before this step so that you are just left with the liquid. You will immediately see the color change after adding the steel wool vinegar mixture! It looks grey at first and will darken with time.
This is how the wood looks after just 10 minutes. You can see how the color has changed already! After I let it dry for another 24 hours I will be adding some hemp oil to seal it before I install them with my brackets to create my DIY open shelving!
I’m so excited to get these shelves installed in the laundry room and start decorating! Because let’s be honest, that is the most exciting step of the process! I’ve been “shopping” the other rooms in my house to find baskets and decor to place on my shelves and counter. Next week is the big reveal and I can hardly wait!
This week I also spray painted some dollar store containers to add to the shelves for storage. I’ll be adding some labels to them to keep them organized!
Projects for my farmhouse laundry room makeover:
Stenciled accent wall- DIY wood shelves
DIY laundry signsDollar store storage containers
Come back Wednesday to see my progress and the big reveal!
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE $100 ROOM CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS!
