Apartment Story: Staining my Kitchen Counter

Since I moved into this apartment about a year ago, there's one thing I've been wanting to do but have just kept putting off. As you can probably guess from the title of the blog, that thing is staining my kitchen counter. The counter is essentially just wood that the previous tenant built over top of the mini fridge. The wood was bare, unsanded, and unsealed. This meant that any spills soaked right into the wood, and I was always hesitant to put anything on it while cooking.

The only photo I could find of my old counter. Will I EVER learn to take before photos?!

This past Friday I had a surprise afternoon off, so I schlepped my lazy butt to the hardware store and bought two cans: one wood stain, one polyurethane gloss.

Then I got to work. I first applied the stain, let it dry for an hour, and then applied the gloss. It was honestly so easy, I don't know why it took me a year to get around to doing it. 

My only problem was that I ruined a paintbrush (you have to get special remover to remove stain/gloss, otherwise it's impossible to get off of anything).

Here's the finished product:

Ta-da!! I love it. I'm obsessed. I want to stain everything now.

So if you're considering staining any wood in your home - go for it. It's so so easy. Just make sure you open a window because it's very stinky, and be sure to buy the remover so you don't ruin your only paintbrush like I did!

XO
K