Stain?

Its time to select a stain, folks. Consider the challenge:

• Winter time - freezing garage
• Basement houses the furnace i.e. blow fumes all over the house
• A tight schedule - self-imposed but hey, its not that fun storing all your kitchen stuff in boxes on the floor
  
• Open floor plan - kitchen is effectively in the living room with its wood floor and lovely mantle
• Stainless appliances and hardware

What's our solution??? - {drumroll} water-borne polystain... Its a multi-tasking solution for sure. Water-based, so no fumes.. Dries super-fast in our zero-humidity climate. Beyond that, think of it as tinted polyurethane - stain and protection rolled into one. The downside is, its a little unforgiving, easy to leave brush strokes that end up VERY visible... The other downside is the cost.. sigh...

So, want to see the first test sheet?
The left side is one coat, the right side is two. Its hard to tell from picture, but two coats are a definite improvement over just one. I don't know, maybe too redish again? Its not a horrible clash with the mantle or floor, but I wonder if we could do better. Here are some of the options available in the polystain:

......Fruitwood............ Pecan......




........Maple.................Walnut.....




Help me out here, which would be the better? Vote in the poll to the right!! p.s. Walnut is the one we already tried.