DIY Water Color Stained Plywood - Inspired by Wood Aquarelle

If you follow me on Instagram you probably noticed that I've finally started using Instagram Stories!  I used it to share some photos of how I made my plywood floor, but now I'm finally sharing the process on the blog too.

I've broken the how-to into two parts: today I'm chatting about how I created this watery look, the inspiration behind this crazy idea, and some troubles I ran into.  Stop by the lakehouse next week to see how Hubby and I ripped these plywood boards into floor planks and laid a DIY plywood floor.  I'll also give my honest thoughts on what a plywood floor feel like - you might be surprised (I was!).

Here's a little teaser of the finished floor, if you missed it:

In a very rare moment for a DIYer, my plywood floor idea actually turned out how I envisioned it.  Mostly.

But let's backtrack a little and talk about why I decided on a plywood floor - something I had been very dubious about in the past.  My plans for the fish room floor had three requirements: cheap, easy, and cute. 

I wanted to cover up the disgusting old vinyl floor and considered a few options: paint the vinyl (easy and cheap, but wouldn't disguise the gaps and bumps), slap on some peel and stick tile (cheap and easy but I had a bad experience with a peel and stick tile that wouldn't stick), install some kind of floating floor (easy and quick, but probably too thick), or do a crazy DIY plywood floor.  I couldn't think of a down side: it's fairly inexpensive, pretty easy to install, and would cover the old floor nicely.  Plus, because we could get super thin ply, we didn't need to worry about it not fitting under doors, etc.

Sold.

But I wanted to have fun.  There's often that little voice in my head that encourages me to make a simple project decidedly less easy.  I had seen some painted/stained hardwood floors I loved and contemplated a solid teal stain or maybe a fun pattern.  I was tempted by the idea of mimicking an expensive floor tile I loved with paint and I even considered marbling individual planks (but that looked like SO much work - even for me).

photo source

I really wanted something with a similar, organic feel but a little easier to produce.  Right now I'm just loving any kind of design that's irregular and inspired by water - ice dye, marbling...

photo source

So dreamy.

I had kept this dip dyed clay tile on file in my mind for a long time, tucked away in the recesses of my brain for DIY inspiration, and I started to wonder if I could make something like it for my DIY floor (this Home Depot tile is really different, but has a similar watery boho vibe).

After seeing this "wooden aquarelle" method of dyeing wood vibrant hues with blurry swirls of color, I had pinned it to every board for "someday" and decided to try something similar for my plywood.

photo via

The artist, Meike Harde, uses liquid pigment that is trapped on the plywood with a waterproof frame and as it evaporates, it creates this ethereal, organic design.  I struggled trying to recreate this technique Harde clearly perfected.  I tried different pigments and sometimes they just sank in, leaving a richly, and solidly, dyed surface, but eventually I came up with something easy that created a really different look than her beautifully stained plywood - but created what everyone says looks like topographical maps or aerial shots of the lake.  Perfect! 

Here's What You Need:

• Keda Wood Powdered Wood Stains (Blue and Yellow)
• Plastic Container (5 packs of stain make 5 quarts)
• Stir Sticks / Wood Scraps
• Good One Side Plywood (I used 1/4" Maple)
• Water Spray Bottle
• Gloves (but I totally didn't use them and had smurf hands for a job interview!)

How to Create a Watercolor, Marbled Effect with Wood Stain:

Keda wood stains are super interesting because they come in super saturated, vibrant colors and can be shipped in a powdered form (genius!).  You mix the powder with water, so you can create a lighter or dark stain (I mixed it pretty much according to the instructions).  You can also mix colors to create a custom hue.

I bought five packs of blue and five packs of yellow but when I even added the tiniest bit of yellow to my stain, it started to look very forest green - not the look I wanted - so I ended up mixing only half a pack of yellow to five packs of blue and after the stain dried, I realized I really could have added more yellow because it dried more teal than green. 

Each plywood sheet ended up taking the stain differently and in some cases the blue did look more teal on the blond wood.  It was an interesting (sometimes nerve-wracking) experiment.

Here's my jug-o-stain:



My plan was to pour on the stain and move it around the plywood but first my application was a little ugly.  I was too splashy and got this effect, which looked more like I spilled my stain by accident!

I learned to crouch down lower to the plywood and gently pour the stain on, as opposed to hurling it on from a standing position, and then it started to look more organic and swirly.

I used a spray bottle with water to create some areas with a thinner stain and I also moved the plywood sheets around, coaxing the stain into settling into certain areas.  I used scraps of wood to prop up corners and help control the stain to keep it from just pouring off the edges (mostly).  With such thin plywood, I could curve it gently to help keep the stain pooling in areas.

Here's a look at one pooled spot:

I tried to create a mix of some pooled stain and some thinned out stain.  I tried to vary it but I also just let the stain travel where it wanted.  Areas where it pooled, I let it evaporate overnight and that method left behind inkier areas.  It was fairly easy to do, but it did take me an afternoon of coaxing stain around.  It was a beautiful fall day though, so I can't complain.  After I was convinced I would ruin it by touching it more, I let it sit until evening, then Hubby and I carefully dragged the sheets into the garage to dry overnight, safe from the looming rain.

Here are the finished plywood sheets:

Each one turned out so differently and I was even able to re-stain the first splattery one (which ended up creating the gorgeous teal/emerald pieces in my floor, which are everyone's favorite!):

Problems I Encountered:

Now, with this method, the stain isn't removed as it's designed to be (brush on, wipe off excess), so I tried to really "burnish" the wood once it dried by rubbing it briskly with a tack cloth.  However, I was too ambitious with the minimal amount of time I let it dry and so when we cut it the next day, it did turn out fingers blue from handling it with sweaty palms.

The biggest problem I encountered - which I knew would happen - was that the water-based poly finish I used kind of re-activated the overdyed wood planks and muddied the bare wood areas.  I did some tests with a scrap of wood because I suspected this would be a problem, but hoped for the best anyway!  To circumvent this problem, I called my Mandlebaum Mom the night I was clear coating and she drove all the way out to help me finish the floor.  We used a few different brushes and different plastic containers of poly to separately brush on finish to light/dark areas separately to minimize the blurring but some still happened.  It meant that I had to brush on the entire first coat as opposed to just rolling it on (which took three hours of back breaking work!), so I was grateful for my Mom's help!  Even with our careful work, some muddying occurred because as it touched overdyed areas, the the poly turned pale blue and tinted many of the natural wood areas but it actually works with the watery vibe.  Luckily, after the first coat the color was sealed in perfectly and then I easily applied the second and third coats with no issues - and way more quickly.  I'll talk more about the clear coating process in my post about the installation.   

If I did this again, I would definitely do it in the summer, when it's warmer, and let the sheets dry a good week.  I immediately started working with them and the cooler, damp days didn't help my drying time.  Alternatively, I could have sprayed a first coat of finish onto each board individually, even before install, to prevent the blurring and seal in the color. 

Other than this little issue, I love how my watery plywood panels turned out.  Stop by next week to see these planks transformed into a really eye-catching DIY plywood floor.  I'll be sharing our tips and tricks - and what we learned the hard way - for creating a plywood floor, handy for anyone thinking about doing it (whether or not you're tempted by this marbled, watercolor stained wood).  I am just putting the finishing touches on the fish room and I am so excited to show you! I don't even recognize this formerly ugly little room and it feels so much more like an actual part of our house now.

DIY Walnut Storage Bins with a Mid-Century Modern Feel

The bedside tables in our bedroom were welded at the same time my Grandfather made the headboard I designed.  We had some leftover materials and he just whipped them up!  We had glass shelves custom cut, but the whole project was really inexpensive.  I loved the airy look of the shelves, but I hated the messy look of piles of books and magazines that accumulated, so I bought two vinyl mock croc storage bins.  I've never love the look of the bins, but they fit really well - and they solved our storage problem!

Over time, those poor boxes started to disintegrate and I decided that I wanted to make something a little bit more solid.  Wandering around my local lumber yard - looking for supplies for the more complicated slatted storage bin idea I had - I stumbled across a really thin sheet of walnut plywood and fell in love!

Because the plywood was so thin, Handy Hubby and I were able to make really sizable boxes that are still lightweight - perfect for our glass tables. 

The instructions are over at Hello Yellow - you can click here to see the whole process.  Among the supplies required, you will need a kitty, for box approval:

Once the box is completed, it will look really chalky and pale:

I used Danish Oil to bring out the warmth, but I needed puppy approval first (the smell lures 'em!):

The last step was adding hardware.  I wanted something brushed silver, because I am the last person on the planet to favor brushed silver over brushed gold in my home.  I also wanted something oversize and modern, so it didn't look like a kitchen drawer pull.  I found these at Lee Valley - they're 10 5/8" long! 

I just love the scale!

After eight years of living with those vinyl bins (two of which were spent trying to repair peeling vinyl), it feels so good to have something new!  These bins are simple and do the trick, but they have such a great mid-century feel.  I didn't intend to make them quite so tall, but we wanted to maximize how much grain we could show off.

Check out the full tutorial on Hello Yellow, but first here's another look at the finished product!

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Deck Makeover, Part II - Staining Pressure-Treated Wood

Last week I showed you how I prepped the deck for staining and now...drumroll please...here's a look at the deck with its lovely new coat of Cape Cod Grey:

As a refresher, here is the deck pre-stain and post-scrub:

And a side-by-side comparison, for fun:

I originally had a genius idea for the stain: I wanted to find a really close match to our walnut-stained maple hardwood flooring so it would look like the house extended outside.  When I looked at stain samples, however, my bubble was burst because the closest matches just looked really drab (and really red). 

No problem, I had a plan B: a pale, driftwood grey.  Something about this fresh lake air has me wanting everything to look driftwood-y, have you noticed?  The plan for kitchen counters (but luckily the white worked better), and then the credenza top... I'm really feeling grey right now.  I also figured that grey stain would be forgiving and hide any irregularities in how the wood absorbed the stain, because there isn't too great a contrast between the unstained wood and the grey stain.  If a little natural wood peeked through...meh.



I decided that variations would only enhance the (artfully) weathered, driftwood look I wanted.  Genius, right?  A design scheme that lends itself well to colossal screw ups!  Unfortunately, I didn't account for the stain complementing the existing exterior because I had hoped we'd have time to paint the house almost-black this year.  I'm not loving the grey with the concrete faux stone, but it doesn't loo bad either.  Hopefully next spring a darker exterior will materialize and my plan will come together.

At that point I'll also garden a bit (what's a weed?) and then (more excitingly) style the deck a bit!  The thought of sewing outdoor pillows and accessorizing will keep me going through the winter.  We pushed our patio table to the side and use the built-in bench in lieu of some of the chairs because this way it's functional but doesn't block a view.  Positioned elsewhere it's all we saw.  Plus this way we have room for our patio loungers for weekend reading!

I chose CIL brand Exterior wood stain (in semi-transparent), from Canadian Tire, and was pleased with the application.  It took almost three gallons and three days to apply the stain, however, so I only got one coat on.   The maximum applications recommended is two coats.

There are some variations in the stain intensity, but that's 100% attributed to my application and the wood.  A second coat would even out the stain, but it would be more opaque.  I'm going to leave it, and possibly apply another coat next season.  We've had some rainfall recently, and the stain is causing water to bead up on the deck.  This means it's working well to protect the wood, so I'm beaming with pride.    

Once again, here's the before:

Applying the stain was straightforward: I just brushed it on with a large brush, keeping a wet edge and working in small sections.  The stain had a nice consistency: not too thick, not too drippy.  It was easy to clean up (just soap and water).  We used three brushes: a big thick wide one, a 2" angled brush, and one with a super short handle for tight spots.  This combo was ideal.

We also tried the Wagner Deck Mate stain applicator and it was terrible!!  No matter how much I fiddled with the settings, the stain either gushed out or barely flowed.  The pad made it streaky and uneven.  I was so disappointed, but it was a valuable life lesson: in DIY, as in life, there are no short cuts!

I did figure out some tips (most of them near the end), so hopefully next time I stain the deck it will go even more smoothly:

• The best time to stain a deck is spring or fall when the humidity is low and it's not scorchingly hot.  If it's too hot or humid, the stain might dry too quickly (or slowly), ruining the finish
• Having a small broom is handy to brush out debris from the cracks - even if the deck was recently cleaned and swept 
• Starting on the most tedious sections (while energy levels are high) makes this task easier
• To stain railings, having one person applying the stain to the front and another on the opposite side works well because each can catch the others' drips - this makes the railing process go a lot more smoothly
• Working away from the house seems like common sense but it's easy to loose sight of an exit strategy in the heat of the moment
• Working in long sections - the entire length of a few boards, not 1/3 of the length of 6+ boards at once would ensure a more even application (I learned this on the second last board)
• Buying a set of cushy knee pads isn't a waste of money
• Following the manufacturer's instructions to the letter is always a good idea!

I'm happy!  The deck looks fresher.  And hopefully the deck will last longer with this protective coat (which will protect against rot, mildew, cracking, and more).  One thing I hadn't thought about was how much the grey would brighten the house from inside.  It reflects more light inside (if that's possible), which makes me think a darker stain would have had the opposite effect, so I'm even happier my walnut-stain idea was dead in the water.

We still need to re-build the deck step and next year I'm going to paint the lattice black so it fades into the abyss that is the space beneath the deck.  Oh yeah, and garden...

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Canadian Tire.  With the help of my local Canadian Tire paint department, all products were chosen by me.  I was not encouraged to choose a certain brand or use certain products.  I was not asked to provide a review of any of the products used.  I was simply asked to stain my deck and show it off!  All opinions and editorial decisions are my own.  

P.S. I'm over at Cuckoo 4 Design, gabbing about Szuka for Julia's famed Living Pretty with Your Pets series!

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