Hackers Help: Hemnes – is the light brown stainable?

karenixxi·
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hemnes-tv-unit-brown
Photo: IKEA.com

Does anyone know if the light brown Hemnes collection is stain able? This one seems perfect in ever way but color.

karenixxi
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5 Responses

  1. I recently purchased one of the consoles, with the purpose of staining it differently. I ended up having to use an orbital sander, because there is a varnish on top of a stain. The stain underneath was a pain to grind through, I don’t recommend doing it by hand. I do agree that it should be done before assembly, if it’s a brand new item. And even then, I tried hand-sanding the nooks and crannies and gave up. In the end, I painted the whole damn thing with chalk paint.

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  2. If you don’t feel like sanding, you can use chalk paint (not chalkboard paint – chalk paint, like Annie Sloan or Americana (I’ll be honest, I prefer Annie Sloan). I’ve painted a number of Ikea pieces (including a Jules desk chair seat, Billy book shelves, and a short Hemnes book shelf) without prep. The first coat goes on thin and looks like it won’t stick, but it does (heck, I’ve painted smooth glass with chalk paint and had it stick). The second coat gives you coverage. You’ll need to seal the paint – with shellac if you want a shiny finish, with wax if you want a flatter finish. No sanding necessary, though.

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  3. This Hemnes finish includes a coat of lacquer, so you’d need to sand it all off or use a gel stain made for application to already-finished wood. If you go the sanding route, do it before assembly, otherwise it’ll be tough to do a good job on all the nooks and crannies.

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  4. I think it’s solid wood with a clear finish.

    You can always use General Finishes Gel stain on it – wipe on thin layers until you get the color you want. Then do a couple of layers of clear gel polyurethane for protection.

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  5. Judging by the photos it is solid pine so it should be possible to stain. It might be varnished, in which case you would need to sand off the varnish before staining. If you have one you can test a hidden part to see how successful staining is.

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