Floors

Cedar is pretty pricey - usually the reason you use it is because you like it,

Why do you want to change the color?

Water down Ebony and give that a try. It will be more "stain like" but cancel reds pretty well and will go with your dark flooring as well.

If the stains are too dark, buy lighter stains. But, then, you didn't say what shade you DO want, just that it's too dark.

why why why, do you want that dark? to cancel out the red, use something more of an ashy or greenish undertone. And don't use Minwax. that's your first mistake.

general finishes has a gel stain in walnut that would tone down that red.

Penofin has natural wood oils/finishes in tons of shades. they actually have them for cedar and redwood. try to find one w/more of that ashy tone. I got about 40 sample colors from the lumber yard.

I would try this Pine in the Verde line. it might be enough to cancel out the red. I use this oil on redwood/oak/ walnut, it's wonderful stuff. please, no more of that minwax crap.

and these are on the transparent side. you don't want to use a dark gel stain to cover that wood.

I would use this oil in a shade that enhances the natural wood tone and then apply a clear coat sealer in a satin. will look beautiful w/what you have. I definitely would not make it dark like those floors.

You might try using a pre-stain first to keep so much stain from being absorbed. I used "special walnut" (Rustoleum) on some fir to make shelves, and I liked the brown color tone. I started with a light stain - which turned the fir orange and went over it with the walnut.

Here are the finished shelves - but this was fir, not cedar - related woods but not the same.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~65270590

Listen to Beth, she knows what she is talking about in wood and stains. But I know Ebony works because it is black and that cancels out red without enhancing the tone. Due to the nature of the wood, you need to test out samples to get just the right look. But you don't have to go as dark as the floor either, I totally agree with that.

Generally have to customize the color. It all depends on what you are planning to do with the staircase and other colors throughout. Here is one that we did by blending SW Stains - Armoire Hickory and Beechwood. We played with it until we got it where we wanted it and kept up with the formula for the test sample so we could reproduce it in a larger quantity. It was ragged onto the beams.

Brickworks, nice job! Like the paper towel niche too. Good idea. Might want to make it a bit bigger for those large rolls, but the concept is great!

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I'll try lightening up the stains with water and the penofin. I love the knots and the texture of the cedar, just not the color. They are painting the walls today so I'll post some pictures with the wall color. Is there just a clear oil I could put on them to darken them up a bit? Attached are colors of beams that I like.

yes. the penofin has a natural oil for cedar.

Brickwood builders - that stain looks great! Is that cedar?

Thank you Flo.

Thank you Patty. Yes. They are rough cedar beams hollowed out on one side so they could be slipped over the ends of the sheetrock opening. We did sand them down some and also applied a sanding sealer prior to staining so that we could control the evenness of the stain application. It took at least a day for us to work out the color - we tried a lot of combinations until we matched the chair legs of the kitchen table. The little bit of gray we added (Beechwood) toned down the red and lightened up the brown a bit.

CORRECTION - I just looked up the old invoice and these are douglas fir beams and not cedar. Sorry, I know we looked at lots of options with the homeowners and apparently ended up with fir.

Hi Patty, could I ask what stain you ended up using on your cedar beams? I am having the same problem on my house. I would love to see a photo of how they turned out!