staining failure

You know how every DIY looks amazing on the internet? Well, today I am sharing a failure instead of a finish.

I decided to stain my new desk Minwax Charcoal Gray. I got excited, bought all the stuff, and started as soon as the weather hit 65F today.

And this was the result:

blotchy

uneven

stain

I followed this tutorial (which also featured Minwax Charcoal Grey stain), and as far as I can tell, I did everything right. Yet the results were awful. The texture of the wood shows through way too strongly, the color is way too dark (and blue, for some unfathomable reason), and the finish is terribly uneven.

As you can see, I didn't even bother finishing staining the legs or underside of the desk. I am going to switch to primer and paint and polycrylic for this project. No more stain for me.

It's frustrating and sad - a waste of time and resources and materials. But I am determined to fix this project (after all, this is a custom desk made just for me!). I just need to be patient and let the stupid stain dry so I can paint over it.

Not all DIY projects go swimmingly. I'm chalking this one up to experience. Adam told me of a great saying his mother used to repeat: "Adults have experience because they've done it wrong once".

So there you go.