Had a nightmare week trying to match a sun-faded mahogany finish

Last week, a client brought in a single mahogany chair that needed to match a full set bleached by years of sun. I spent three full days mixing stains and testing on scrap, but nothing looked right under their bright kitchen lights. I finally got a close match by layering a light maple gel stain under a custom-mixed reddish-brown glaze. Has anyone else had to fight a bad color match under specific lighting? What's your go-to fix when the usual stain brands just don't cut it?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_wells871mo ago

My buddy Jake spent a whole Saturday trying to match a sun-bleached oak floor patch under those new LED shop lights. He ended up mixing a little bit of coffee into his final stain coat to warm it up.

graygonzalez1mo ago

Coffee in the stain? That's a new one. Murphy.blair is right, those lights will mess with your head so bad. I would have just given up and gone home.

murphy.blair1mo ago

Remember that old diner booth restoration where the vinyl was two totally different shades of pink? We had to mix acrylic paint into the conditioner and spray it in the worst fluorescent light... felt like we were colorblind by the end. Sometimes you just have to walk away for a day and look at it in normal window light.