Development of Doors/Cupboards

A few weeks ago, I designed a set of doors and cupboards that I would need to present my work in the exhibition. See sketchbook for designs.

As the doors are now nearly compete, I have been testing the best tecnique for staining. I wanted to make the wood fairly dark and look quite worn. I have been using a stain called Jacobian Dark Oak. As the doors are made from MDF, they have no texture, so I plan on using sand paper to create a range of grooves in the wood, which is a technique I have tested. I have also hit a problem with the smaller cupboard structures, as the wood they are made from has a coat of white paint on the surface. This stops the stain working as it should, so I will experimenting with techniques in order to create a darkened, textured look.

I began staining my doors using a soft rag creating a smooth application of stain; however, my technique changed once I got to the small cupboards. At this point I began using a brush, as it applied much faster, thicker and created the effect of wood grain over the thick white paint. This was very useful and continued with this technique on my larger doors. This means that most of my doors are quite different from one another. Although this may seem like a downside, I am happy with the outcome because it gives each one a little bit of individuality.

The large doors are also very different from each other. After completing one door, I began using a new can of stain, which turned out to be a lot darker than the original. This was initially very problematic, as it was also much harder to spread and dried quite patchy. Fortunately, there are two doors darker than the others. This has allowed me to balance the layout on the wall, by putting the lighter one in the centre.