The driftwood farmhouse table look is still very desirable and achieving it can be a process! In this post, there is a step-by-step and a supply list showing you how to achieve the driftwood look easily using Fusions Stain and Finishing Oil.

Supply list

• TSP Alternative
• Sander
• Stain and Finishing Oil in: Ebony | White | Driftwood
• Stallmeester wall brush or similar
• Fusion Mineral Paint: Lamp White | Coal Black
• Staalmeester Oval Brush
• Mineral Spirits / Odourless Solvent 
• Gel Stain and Topcoat
• Clear Glaze

Prepping the table

The first step as always is to clean your piece well with Fusion’s TSP Alternative, it might seem counter-intuitive to clean before you sand, but there is a method to the madness. Cleaning first ensures you are not impregnating the wood with the contaminants that may be present before sanding.

Next strip the old finish from the top ready to accept the Stain and Finishing Oil. As the final finishing coat is going to be a solid coating of Gel Stain which is a tinted polyurethane, there is no need for it to be perfect.

We decided to paint the base and brighten it up! Two thin coats of Lamp White Fusion Mineral Paint to the table base and skirt offered full coverage, for more info on painting a table click here. When painting, wait at least 2 hrs between coats. using a good quality brush such as the Staalmeester Oval gives you excellent coverage, fewer brushstrokes, and really helps get into all those nooks and crannies

After painting the base we decided to enhance the carved details on the skirt of the table with some glaze. We made a custom glaze by mixing 3 parts of Fusion’s Clear Glaze and adding 1 part of Coal Black. The glaze was added to the detailed areas with a brush and wiped back with a cloth. It really makes the details pop.

Top Tips

Before using a glaze make sure your paint has had at least overnight to dry, that way the glaze won’t re-activate the paint.

To remove more glaze for a cleaner look you could use a damp cloth, to remove less glaze use a dry cloth.

Breaking the rules

As with all our products Stain and Finishing Oil comes with instructions on the side of the can and lots of blog posts, videos, and tutorials on how best to use it.

With that being said, we are going to ignore all the best advice and use this product differently from how it should be used. Rules are meant to be broken!

Stain and Finishing Oil is a penetrating stain with some resins in to seal/finish it. It should be applied to prepared sanded wood and wiped back off after 10/15 mins or so. For this technique, we are going to leave behind a solid coat which will take longer to dry and cure.

How to achieve the Driftwood look the easy way using Stain and Finishing Oil

Apply the Driftwood SFO with a Staalmeester wide wall brush going with the direction of the grain of the wood. Using a wide brush will give you straighter lines and cover the surface quicker. Apply enough to cover the wood.

Sprinkle the Ebony and White SFO across the top of the table in a random fashion. Using your wall brush lightly drag the brush from end to end, softly blending the 2 colours over the top. You will get a stria pattern which is what you are aiming for. Just keep blending it until you have the look you desire!

Add more White SFO or Ebony depending on the desired outcome. You have a lot of working time with this product so no need to rush. Have some fun with it. Be sure to go end to end with your brush as you will see the start and stop marks of your brush otherwise.

The last step

The Stain and Finishing Oil would usually be dry to the touch in hours and cured after 5-7 days, but because we are leaving the excess on the table and not wiping back, you should expect the dry time to be longer, approx 12 hours to dry to the touch, and longer for the cure time. The end look is worth the wait.

This last step is optional, Stain and Finishing Oil by itself is a very tough finish and perfectly tough enough for the wear and tear of a dining table. We decided to add the Gel Stain & Topcoat in Patina to matte the sheen and add some extra protection.

The finished look of this driftwood effect table would look great in a modern setting like this or a farmhouse-style space. The pretty pink glass wear on the table was also painted with Fusion and you can the tutorial for that coming soon.

So would you try this paint technique? We would love to see your projects, pop over and join our community on Facebook –  Paint it Beautiful