5 Tips Pros Always Use to Choose the Right Wood Stain for a Project

With its natural beauty and warmth, it’s no wonder that timber is such a highly sought-after material for home improvement projects, so much so that other materials today mimic the appearance of wood, from ceramic and high-pressure laminate to vinyl. But beyond wood species and grain patterns, stain color and finish can dramatically affect the outcome of any home design project.

So, if you’re about to embark on one, whether interior or exterior in application, you should take some of these pointers into consideration before starting.

We’re sharing the five best tips for choosing the right wood stain for your project.

Sample Stains on the Specific Wood Type

Once you’ve narrowed down the species of wood for your project, you’ll want to see how the wood stains. This is key since the color will vary depending on the species due to the fibers and their natural tones.

“It’s important to know that you can’t achieve just any wood stain look on any wood species,” Keri Lainas, owner and principal designer of Keri Michelle Interiors, says.

You should use white oak when you’re aiming for a light or raw look and alder when you want some stain variation since it’s more flexible, Lainas says. Since walnut is dark, it will only stain very dark unless bleached.

Kyle Dutton, founder of Kyle Dutton Homes, agrees, advising that due to these variations, it’s best to choose at least three stain possibilities to try out on the wood samples.

“Sometimes the backup choices end up being the winner once you see how they interact with the natural color of your chosen wood,” he says.

View Samples in the Actual Setting

It’s one thing to ensure you know how specific wood species react to certain stain finishes, but another to see the samples in the right light. Lainas emphasizes that seeing the samples in the space they’re meant to occupy, whether indoors or outdoors, is a must.

For instance, the wood color can take on an entirely different and unintended tone if applied to the floor of a room that sees a ton of natural light—or lack thereof—throughout the day. The same goes for a wood deck that’s exposed to direct sunlight or frequently shaded by trees.

See What’s Trending Outdoors

Since outdoor living and biophilic design trends aim to put people in touch with nature, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many homeowners opt to make their outdoor spaces an extension of their living spaces by building out terraces, kitchens, and entertainment zones. And that’s where one can blur the line between interior and exterior.

“We’ve seen the trend of homeowners matching wood in outdoor living spaces to the interior floor colors,” Brad Henderson, director of product marketing at Benjamin Moore, says.

In fact, the paint brand just launched its Woodluxe line of all-weather stains to help achieve up to 115 shades and tones on decks, outdoor furnishings, and other wood elements in the yard.

While continuity of flooring stain from the inside out is one major trend he’s spotted, he points out other influences to consider for outdoor projects: matching the dominant tree type of the region is another trend.

In the southeast, there’s more southern yellow pine while in the Pacific northwest, there’s more redwood. On the flip side, make the deck stand out using higher opacity stain colors that contrast with the house’s exterior paint color. If you already have a scheme in your home’s exterior, contrast the window trim or door with the rest of the house, and consider using a deck stain that correlates with the trim or door color.

Dutton personally loves an outdoor contrast between the fencing and greenery. He’s used a charcoal hue on a fence to make the greens of Boston ivy, shrubs, and trees pop.

Learn How Oil and Water Bases Differ

Wood stain formulations are either oil or water-based and this can mean a multitude of things for your project, from the resulting look to dry time and cleanup. Those on a tight schedule—whether it’s due to needing to move back into a room or getting an outdoor project finished before inclement weather returns—may prefer water-based stains as they dry faster.

Each brand and its product lines differ on these but almost all have a similar dry-time ratio where water-based is two to three times quicker than oil-based. For instance, some water-based stains take one to two days to dry while their oil-based counterparts can take a week. Also keep in mind that cure time, which is when the coating has reached maximum chemical resistance, tacks on additional days beyond dry time.

The finished outcome can be noticeably different. Dutton cites that water-based stains tend not to result in as rich a finish as oil-based. Henderson concurs, stating that deep penetrating oils typically accentuate the natural grain patterns.

Finally, one can clean water-based stains with good soap (such as dish detergent) and water, while one would need to be comfortable using spirits (chemical strippers) to remove oil-based stains.

Try to Avoid Extremes

When it comes to interior flooring, Dutton recommends steering clear of extremely dark and light tones, opposite ends of the spectrum that might have trended years ago but can be dated now. Instead, he suggests mid-to-light browns since they go well with natural elements and give a fresh look to any design aesthetic.

“The days of very light or even white stains are out, as are dark to black colors,” Dutton says.

He also stresses that these two extremes tend to show wear and tear—from dirt and dust to scuff marks—very easily.