We just flew back from Boston (and yes, our arms are tired from carrying luggage, not just from the joke) and even though we shared our freshly painted bathroom earlier today, we didn’t want to leave you with only one post. While waiting at the airport, we put together this Reader Redesign to share another inspiring project. We often spotlight full room makeovers, but this furniture rescue felt special because of a clever staining technique that transformed an old buffet. Beth and Nick rescued what was nearly destined for the trash and turned it into a standout piece using wood stain in a fresh, artistic way.
Hi everyone! I love drawing with charcoal, and I wanted to experiment by using the same drawing approach but with wood stain on a furniture top instead of charcoal on paper. The effect turned out beautifully, so we thought you’d enjoy seeing how it came together!
We salvaged this buffet from a burn pile, repaired the burn damage and addressed a structural issue, then prepped, primed, and painted the body. For the top, I lightly sketched flower petals with a pencil and began applying Minwax Ebony stain. I worked from the center of the flower outward—staining the inner petals first and progressing toward the tips. My goal was to create subtle shading by varying the concentration of stain and blending carefully.
I intentionally avoided staining all the way to the edge of each petal so those outer areas would remain the lightest part of the shading. Using a dry cloth and sometimes my fingertip, I wiped and blended outward from the stained section to the unstained wood. This gradual wiping created a soft transition and gave each petal a shaded, dimensional look. I repeated the process for each petal until the entire floral motif radiated naturally from the center.
I’m really proud of how it turned out. Hope you love it as much as we do! — Beth & Nick
Isn’t that a wonderfully creative idea? If you prefer not to paint the lower portion of a piece, you could leave the body stained and apply this same drawing-with-stain technique to the top. The technique is surprisingly approachable: it combines a simple pencil sketch with careful layering and blending of stain to create depth and contrast without heavy tools or advanced woodworking skills.
Even if you think of yourself as a staining novice, this project shows that creative effects are within reach. The same concept could be adapted to different patterns—imagine soft, shaded stripes, geometric triangles, or even tiled designs. For more detailed photos and step-by-step notes about the process, check out Beth and Nick’s blog where they documented the full restoration and shared helpful close-ups and tips. Their write-up includes the repair steps, paint and stain choices, and how they protected the finished surface.
If you’ve experimented with stain in a nontraditional way—drawing, stenciling, or using tape to mask shapes—we’d love to hear about your results. Share what worked, any surprises you encountered, and tips you’d pass along to someone trying this for the first time. Projects like this remind us that a little imagination can turn a discarded piece into a custom, gallery-worthy item for your home.