John TenEyck
10-25-2013, 12:47 PM
I imagine there are several ways to get that dark, smooth, matte finish Pottery Barn look. Here's one I found that's pretty simple.
I refinished this mahogany table using Sherwin Williams BAC Wiping Stain - Midnight, followed by a spray coat of Sealcoat shellac and two sprayed coats of General Finishes HP Poly Satin to which I added 4% Johnson's Baby Powder. I'm sure GF's matte HP Poly would have worked at least as well, but I couldn't get any in the time frame available. I can't say enough good things about SW's BAC Wiping Stain. It is easy to apply and wipe off. I was amazed how dark it was with just a single coat. It also dries in less than an hour and you can apply solvent based topcoats right away. I chose to wait 2 days because I was going to apply the WB GF product directly on it, but then decided to apply a Sealcoat layer first just to be sure there were no bonding problems. The baby powder mixed into the WB poly with no problems; I just had to stir it, let it sit a few minutes, and then re-stir to make sure it was distributed uniformly and completely. The baby powder tends to settle out a lot quicker than the normal flatters, so I made sure to empty the gun between coats and re-stir before refilling the gun for the next coat. Other than that it sprayed fine and definitely reduced the sheen.
Anyway, here's what it looks like.
273727273728273729
John
I refinished this mahogany table using Sherwin Williams BAC Wiping Stain - Midnight, followed by a spray coat of Sealcoat shellac and two sprayed coats of General Finishes HP Poly Satin to which I added 4% Johnson's Baby Powder. I'm sure GF's matte HP Poly would have worked at least as well, but I couldn't get any in the time frame available. I can't say enough good things about SW's BAC Wiping Stain. It is easy to apply and wipe off. I was amazed how dark it was with just a single coat. It also dries in less than an hour and you can apply solvent based topcoats right away. I chose to wait 2 days because I was going to apply the WB GF product directly on it, but then decided to apply a Sealcoat layer first just to be sure there were no bonding problems. The baby powder mixed into the WB poly with no problems; I just had to stir it, let it sit a few minutes, and then re-stir to make sure it was distributed uniformly and completely. The baby powder tends to settle out a lot quicker than the normal flatters, so I made sure to empty the gun between coats and re-stir before refilling the gun for the next coat. Other than that it sprayed fine and definitely reduced the sheen.
Anyway, here's what it looks like.
273727273728273729
John