Not too long after we moved in here, I decided to stain our stair railings from the plain & boring oak that they were to something more rich & exciting. So, I bought some Polyshades by Minwax. Not sure how long this product has been out, but it is pretty neat in that it has stain & poly all in one step. You don’t have to do a lot of prep work to change the color of something & the results are pretty amazing. Thought some of you might like to see this project. It was very easy to do & only took about 2 or 3 days working a couple hours at a time. I didn’t tape off the spindles, but used a small cheap chipbrush that could be thrown away. Did I mention that I’m a lazy painter & hate cleaning brushes? Especially oil based paint brushes. So, you can buy these chipbrushes very inexpensively & throw them away without a lot of waste. I mixed 2 shades together: Bombay Mahogany & Royal Walnut. The Mahogany has a lot of red & I was trying to get more of a deep dark brown. It turned out a little more red than I wanted initially, but I’m still happy with the results. It’s a whole lot better than the boring somewhat blonde oak color we had to begin with. 
Here’s a pic of the railings before I started. Boring oak. Oak is not my favorite, especially this color. I have some old furniture pieces of oak that are rich & mellow, but the new oak in most houses today leaves a lot to be desired. No offense to any of you who love oak, it’s just not my cup of tea.
And here are the After pics. I think you’ll agree that they look a lot richer & have much more depth of color with this new stain. My railings were not shiny to begin with so all I did was wash them down before I started & then just stained. Keep a rag handy to wipe any drips.
You can see how they contrast with the floor. I wanted them to be darker than the hardwoods. This product is a little bit runny, so you do have to watch the drips as you are going along. I did one coat overall & then went back & added more where it was streaky. All in all, it turned out just the way I had planned & I’m very happy I did them. This color above on the railing is very accurate to how they look in person.
They aren’t quite as orangey-red or streaky as this pic shows with the flash, but here’s a closeup. I’d suggest you get small pints of any colors you are looking at & mix them until you get exactly the color you want. It doesn’t take a lot of stain either, so small pints, not quarts will do this job easily. I’m working on a small side table that is not real wood, so I’ll show you that one when it’s finished. I do notice that the Bombay Mahogany really does go on darker & more saturated than some of the other colors, like the Royal Walnut I’m working with now. So, the best advice is to experiment with the colors before you get started. I do think if you wanted a darker brown shade that you could easily mix one of the darker ones in with the Mahogany to get the look you want.A big THANK YOU to Angela at Cottage Magpie and Des at Peeking Thru the Sunflowers, for giving me the “You Make My Day” award. I’m so appreciate of all the awards I get, even if I don’t always pass them on. Thank you for the honor!
Hi Rhoda,
Just to let you know I’m giving away a pendant for Valentine’s day now through Sunday. Enter by commenting!
Thanks for all these great ideas! I have a table to stain. I think I’ll try this.
Take care!!
Lori
Hi Rhoda. Just popping by to say hello. Hope you had a great day. Rhondi xo
Rhoda,
It all looks great and your house is so pretty. I enjoy seeing your projects!
Oh and I forgot, loved reading your meme. It’s fun to learn more about each other.
Wow Rhoda,
What a change. I love the new darker color. I love those kinds of changes. Simple and effective.
Rosemary
Oh fantastic job it looks amazing!
xo
mary
hoganfe handbags
What an amazing transformation!!! I love the bannister stained darker…so elegant and rich looking!Gosh, I wish I had a project to use the gel stain on…….Can’t wait to see the lamp!
~Des
You did a wonderful job with the railing.It is stunning.
I love how those railings turned out, and I’m really glad to hear how you did it. I’ve seen that Polyshades stuff and wondered if it would work! And, I’m so glad you got the award! You deserve it!
~Angela 🙂
What a great project! They look so rich and elegant. WE have that lighter oak. I am a fan of oak but do wish I could make these look richer or older or something! You are SO creative!!
Hugs,
Sue
This is my first time to leave a comment.
I recently found your blog after I painted my own front door knobs with Sophisticated Finishes Bronze (I love it!).
I’ve found a lot of inspiration from your blog and would love to redo my oak railing. Right now I’m attempting to do cabinet refinishing like some of those in the book “Creative Finishes” by Kass Wilson.
Thanks for the inspiration! Now I have so many ideas (but so little time).
Vicki
Hi Rhoda – I came across your blog while checking into Polyshades. Have you ever used it on a hardwood floor? I want to improve the looks of a 50-year old floor without actually sanding down. Any comments? Thank you in advance for any help you (or one of your readers)can offer.
Hi, Anon, thanks for the comment. I’m not sure that Polyshades would be good to try on a hardwood floor, as it would be hard to control all the brushstrokes and keep it looking even in color. I don’t think I’d recommend that. There’s another product by Minwax that I can’t remember the name of right now & you apply it with a cloth, although I can’t imagine doing a whole floor like that. You might check into that too. There’s a Walnut shade that I’ve heard about, but it does sound like a lot of work, but probably trying it on hardwoods with a cloth would be better than using a brush. I’m really not sure what to advise you on that one! Good luck with it!
Rhoda
I have the same type of banister and I love how you updated yours. I thought you had to sand it down first? I plan on doing mine sometime this week. 🙂
Hi, Rhoda!
I followed your link from your latest post. I have light oak cabinets and trim in my entire house…and detest them! 🙂 Just for clarification: if the cabinets are glossy, do I have to sand them, or can I apply this Polyshade stuff right on top? Thanks for the advice!
Tana@Crafting R&R
Your railing looks amazing! What type of prep work did you have to do? I am contemplating on doing this with my stock oak kitchen cabinets from the 80s. Did you do alot of sanding? or liquid sandpaper?
So I came across your website and I LOVE IT, you have inspired me to do so much more to my house. I am heading to Home Depot right after work! Keep up the good work and I look forward to looking at what else is to come.
Eve, Texas
I just did this project for about $8 and it took under an hour!! I love my “new” Stairs!!