How To Refinish a Cabinet With a Natural Wood Look
How To Refinish a Cabinet With a Natural Wood Look
Refinish any piece of furniture to look like natural wood with this simple process
Natural & naked, that’s the look I want for my furniture lately 😉
I am not going to lie, the old me wanted to chalk paint & antique everything to death!
Thank God for evolving styles y’all.
Now I want my home & furniture to have more natural, neutral, & cleaner vibes.
So I have been sprinkling natural wood pieces everywhere & I thought today I would show y’all the simplest process to get the natural wood look.
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Supplies:
-80/120/220 Grit Sandpaper
-Stain (optional)
How To Refinish a Cabinet With a Natural Wood Look
So first lets talk about the piece in question…
I found this cabinet on FaceBook Marketplace & knew immediately I wanted the upper half for my kitchen!
I love the arches & it is the perfect size for the space, but I don’t love the color & really wanted a more natural wood look.
So first things first, sanding!
I started with an 80 grit sandpaper to remove all the paint & get down to the actual finish of the wood.
For the large sections I used my orbital sander.
After I sanded the entire piece with 80 grit sandpaper, this is what we were left with:
It’s not terrible but it’s also not the “natural” wood look I was wanting, it was too red.
So I swapped to a 120 grit sandpaper & sanded the entire piece again.
If you have a shiny varnish you might need to use the oven cleaner method:
- Spray entire piece with oven cleaner
- Wrap with saran wrap
- Let it sit overnight, preferably in the sun
- Remove the wrap & use a scraper to scrape off varnish
- Use a water hose & stiff bristle brush to remove any sickness
Now that all the larger sections have been handled its time to move onto the detail areas.
For the detail spots I used my Dremel with the sanding attachment.
This did take a lot of time…
For the really tight spots that I couldn’t fit a hand sander or detail sander I used a chisel to lightly remove the paint & finish.
I found these small detail sander picks after a friend referred me to them, y’all these would have been a game changer!
The next step is preference & depends on what you want the final color to look like.
If you like the wood color you are at, finish the entire cabinet off with 220 grit sandpaper for a smooth finish.
If you would prefer to add a little stain…
Here are my favorite natural wood stain colors/combos:
- Natural by Minwax
- Flagstone by Varathane
- Simply White by Minwax (good for combos)
- Sun Bleached by Varathane
- Natural by Varathane
- Antique White by Varathane (good for combos)
Test out your stain on a small section to see how it looks when it dries on your piece.
Different types of wood ie oak, pine, etc will react differently based on the type of wood.
Once you are happy with your stain combo or if decide to leave it naked, it’s time to seal it.
This clear wax by Behr is my favorite sealer for stained & naked furniture pieces because it doesn’t make them look yellow after.
That’s it!
It’s more art than science for sure but just go with whatever color feels right for your space.
My biggest tip is to experiment with stain on smaller areas, this way you only have to re-sand a small portion if you hate it😉
Let me know what you think & if you have a natural stain you big puffy heart love!
Thank you for making the beauty shine, love natural wood. Excellent job!
I am so glad you like it Kim! Thanks for stopping in!
I love the look of this cabinet. My kitchen cabinets are stained a much darker colour than I would like. I was wondering after sanding, if I am like the natural colour… Do I have to stain, and do I have to use something to seal them at the end (i.e. polyurethane) ?? Thanks to much
You do not have to stain them if you like the natural wood finish you get after sanding! I would definitely seal them though to keep the color in tact and protect them from any kitchen stains.
I love the look of the wood! My cabinets are similar in that the natural color is too red. I was aiming to get to a color that is similar to your finished product. Can you share what stain you used to counteract the red in the natural wood?
Hi Tracy, I didn’t use a stain actually I just finished it with a clear decorative wax. If your wood is too red, you could try applying Varathane’s Natural wood stain to see if that would tone down those red hues.
I love the fact that you kept the natural wood color. I feel like people are always trying to paint over the beautiful color of real wood. I think you helped me finally decide how I want to refinish my hutch! Thanks so much for sharing!