Wood Stain Texture and Matching Issues

We recently bought a house (built in 1941) with some lovely original woodwork in the dining room. Unfortunately, someone put something they shouldn't have on the wood and it caused a cracking beaded texture. I saw a similar issue on Reddit, but there were no clear answers or fixes. The previous owners added a pass-through from the front hall to the living room, but never actually finished it or added the decorative trims to match the dining room fully. The first three photos show what's going on with the dining room wood, and the fourth photo shows the archway in the living room. We think we're dealing with two different woods: maybe chestnut in the dining room (though we're not 100% sure) and possibly oak in the living room. So now we're figuring out how to stain them so they match. Right now, we're fixing up the plaster walls and repainting the dining room, and are hoping to add some crown moulding. But of course, we’re juggling several different woods and finishes all at once (peep those six different wood tones in the fourth photo). Here's what we're planning to do, in roughly the order we’ll probably tackle them: Add crown moulding in the dining room: We really like a combo of this leafy vine moulding and this cove moulding, but they're different types of wood as well, so we're making our lives more difficult here. Strip off the funky finish on the original dining room wood: This probably should happen first so we know exactly what color we're matching, but we'd like a completed dining room, at least for a little while... Figure out what kind of wood we have in the living room: Is it oak or something else? Find decorative trim to match in the living room: We'd like to choose wood type that matches what's already in the living room, but in the style of the trim in the dining room. Stain the dining room and living room wood to match: We'll aim to match the color and (fixed) finish of the dining room wood. Any advice or tips on how to figure out exactly what we're dealing with would be super appreciated! submitted by /u/norahbell [link] [comments]

Apr 8, 2025 - 22:15

We recently bought a house (built in 1941) with some lovely original woodwork in the dining room. Unfortunately, someone put something they shouldn't have on the wood and it caused a cracking beaded texture. I saw a similar issue on Reddit, but there were no clear answers or fixes.

The previous owners added a pass-through from the front hall to the living room, but never actually finished it or added the decorative trims to match the dining room fully. The first three photos show what's going on with the dining room wood, and the fourth photo shows the archway in the living room.

We think we're dealing with two different woods: maybe chestnut in the dining room (though we're not 100% sure) and possibly oak in the living room. So now we're figuring out how to stain them so they match.

Right now, we're fixing up the plaster walls and repainting the dining room, and are hoping to add some crown moulding. But of course, we’re juggling several different woods and finishes all at once (peep those six different wood tones in the fourth photo).

Here's what we're planning to do, in roughly the order we’ll probably tackle them:

Add crown moulding in the dining room:
- We really like a combo of this leafy vine moulding and this cove moulding, but they're different types of wood as well, so we're making our lives more difficult here.
Strip off the funky finish on the original dining room wood:
- This probably *should* happen first so we know exactly what color we're matching, but we'd like a completed dining room, at least for a little while...
Figure out what kind of wood we have in the living room:
- Is it oak or something else?
Find decorative trim to match in the living room:
- We'd like to choose wood type that matches what's already in the living room, but in the style of the trim in the dining room.
Stain the dining room and living room wood to match:
- We'll aim to match the color and (fixed) finish of the dining room wood.

Any advice or tips on how to figure out exactly what we're dealing with would be super appreciated!

submitted by /u/norahbell
[link] [comments]