After a long search for the perfect bench, I settled on this vintage storage bench. It was the right size but the finish was in bad condition.
We decided to remove the existing stain. We used a hand sander and sanding blocks until we were down to natural wood.
I don't love working with stain because of so many variables but I gave it a try on this bench after testing many samples.
When I started applying my chosen stain I noticed it didn't look like the sample but hoped it would when dry..
When dry, not only did it NOT look like the sample but it looked very orange!
I heard after the fact that bleaching the wood helps prevent orange tones. I didn't want to start over with sanding so I opted to paint it instead.
When furniture project don't go as planned, I usually reach for black because it always looks sleek and clean!