Light- and mid-tone stains with a reddish hue can give maple the look of cherry, while darker versions of red-based stains can mirror mahogany. Use deeper brown- or black-based stains for a maple look that resembles the appearance of natural walnut or ebony.
Transtint dyes work wonders for maple. They have a ``colonial maple'' dye that is quite beautiful. It makes the wood look like it's been pantinating for a hundred years or so.
In this video, we are showing you how we like to apply gel stain to harder wood species such as Soft Maple and Rubberwood! Gel stain is a good option for harder and more dense woods as it tends to penetrate deeper into the wood pores, giving you better color and consistency on your project.
For the do-it-yourself finisher, the best stain for maple is not a stain at all but a wood dye. We recommend using a wood dye instead of a pigment stain, which can help you achieve a darker finish since the smaller particles in a wood dye can better penetrate the wood.
Type of Stain: Water-based stains are often recommended for spalted maple as they tend to highlight the wood's unique grain patterns and colors. Oil-based stains can also be used, but they may darken the wood more than desired.
Because maple has such tight grain, pigment type stains don't soak into the wood, except where there is a spot with more open grain, as you found out. Try using dyes, such as TransTint or Transfast.
Use Dewaxed Shellac for Your Best “Clear” Finish On Curly Maple. Of all the basic clear topcoats you can choose from, dewaxed shellac provides a surprising chatoyance that you just don't get with other finishes.
Treating the doors with a sealer also plays a key role in limiting stain penetration. Two of the best sealers are Minwax Pre-Stain wood conditioner and dewaxed Zinsser Sanding Sealer, cut 50% with Denatured Alcohol.
A maple kitchen can be turned into a modern kitchen simply with a coat of paint. You can't go wrong with painting them in a crisp white shade. Add some stainless steel appliances and hardware to that, combined with contrasting countertops, and you've got yourself a super stylish modern kitchen.
Typically, birch, maple, and MDF are recommended as paint-grade wood. Paint colours tend to be more vibrant than stains, and so they're the logical choice for homeowners wanting to build a colourful room. With paint, all colours, like blue, white, and even custom colours, are possible.
Gel stains are thicker and spread easily across less porous surfaces. Liquid stains work well on porous materials like wood, but they don't absorb well into painted or metal surfaces. The gel does less to bring out the wood's natural grain.
Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner can be applied over any wood, but especially necessary when working with soft or porous woods such as pine, fir, alder, aspen, birch and maple.
You will have a better chance of matching the color of the maple to the oak by using a dye instead of the pigment-based stain (either oil- or water-based). Matching the color will require a bit of experimenting, as it is unlikely for you to find a dye that will be just the hue that you want.
Less expensive than hard maple, birch is often substituted for maple in furniture and kitchen cabinets. But, like hard maple, birch wood does not absorb stain evenly and should not be stained with dark colored stains. When staining, first apply a pre-stain wood conditioner, then select stains lighter in color.
The wood cabinet trends of 2024 run the gamut from light, farmhouse-inspired styles to richer and more sophisticated hues. Many homeowners, however, are seeking a middle ground: neutral earth tones that make the most of oak and maple. This provides a great opportunity to achieve a rustic aesthetic.
White/Cream
Homeowners with smaller kitchens often opt for a more neutral countertop color, such as white or cream. This is also a nice contrast with the warm tones of the maple cabinets. Light colors are known to reflect light and make the small space feel larger.
One of the first suggestions we have to make your kitchen feel fresh and bright is to paint the walls. The dark red color is making the cabinets feel more orangey than they actually are and painting the walls a lighter color such as a warm white or a light gray will help alleviate that problem.
FROM GF UNIVERSITY: HOW TO ACHIEVE A DARK, EVEN STAIN COLOR ON MAPLE. Please SHARE with your painting friends. Maple is a notoriously difficult wood to stain, as it tends to absorb stain unevenly, especially with dark colors.
Maple is one of the most difficult woods to achieve a dark, uniform stain color on because it is a dense, closed grain wood and often absorbs stain very unevenly.
Avoid conversion lacquer, which is the amino-alkyd resin with nitrocellulose added. Nitrocellulose will yellow significantly over time. A final option is a dewaxed colorless shellac. Ultrapale and super blonde will have just a hint of color, while bleached shellac has virtually no color.
Maple hardwood tends to yellow with oil-based finishes, so water-based polyurethane or lacquer are recommended options. Water-Based Polyurethane: Offers a clear finish that retains the wood's natural colour.
Like cherry, maple will darken over time, though far less dramatically.