If you’ve been here for awhile, you know I have a love for painted things. That includes – trim, doors, and furniture. There’s one spot in our house that we actually decided to stain. That spot is the railing and posts on the stairway in our foyer. I used a Minwax stain mixture to get the perfect color on the wooden elements in this space!
I wanted the posts and railing to match the flooring that we chose in our home. If we had traditionally stained hardwood flooring, we would be able to easily match the stairway by using the same stain color. One problem: Our flooring is laminate.
Our flooring is a laminate by Pergo called “Amber Chestnut”. I love this color and flooring choice so much but I knew it would be a task to match this with a stain. To see more information on our flooring, check out this blog post!
It was pretty hard to find a stain color that matched our flooring just right. First, I decided to try a few colors from Minwax because they have lots of mini size stain colors to choose from! The color that ended up being closest to our flooring was Special Walnut. After testing this color on a piece of red oak lumber (which is the type of wood we used for our posts and hand rail), I realized that it seemed just a bit too warm for my liking.
Next, I decided to create my own concoction to create a perfect not-too-warm, not-too-cool color that would match our flooring like a dream. After lots of mixing & matching I came up with a Minwax stain mixture combination that worked perfectly for us!
In the end, I mixed equal parts Special Walnut, Classic Gray & Weathered Oak to get a beautiful & timeless stain color. All of these colors mixed together turned out to be my favorite combination that isn’t too dark or too light.
This custom color could be mixed up to be used on any stain project you have in your home. Below, I have attached a few images with no editing so that the true color can be seen. I hope this helps in your decision making.
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today! Let me know if you decide to try this Minwax stain mixture for yourself. I’d love to see how it looks in your home!
Hi! I am absolutely in love with your house.
Where did you get the railings for your stairs?
Hi Sandy,
Thank you so much! We purchased our railings at Lowe’s Home Improvement 🙂
We are actually choosing stain right now for our new construction. We are using your formula after seeing your pictures! Thank you for sharing!
Congrats on the new build! You are so welcome. I hope you love the stain color as much as we do 🙂
I am considering using tis stain formula too. How did it work for you? Do you have pictures?
Yes. They are all on this blog post!
I have been trying to find a stain color like your floor for MONTHS!! We have red oak and your color is exactly what we’re looking for. Our floor guy said he wants to use Bona stains so idk if he’ll be able to match, but I’m definitely sharing this with him. Thank you
You are so welcome! I hope it helps in your decision making 🙂
Did the stain color on your red oak turn out similar to the picture?
Thank you so much. It took me forever to find a color I liked and this is perfect. Using it at my staircase project!!
You’re so welcome! I’m glad it helps 😊
Did you use equal parts of each stain color? I LOVE the result!
Yes, I did. Thank you!
Love this stain combination! What flooring did you use in your house?
Thank you! Here is our flooring info 🙂
https://sarahjaneinteriors.blog/pergo-flooring-faqs-a-one-year-review/
What color was the wood before you changed to this beautiful color?
Hi! It was a plain unfinished red oak 😊
Thank you for sharing! I am using your stain mixture on our floors in our new home! Trying to figure out what to do for our Maple handrails and pine ceiling inlays to compliment the floors.
Yay! You’re so welcome. I’m glad the blog post was helpful!
Love it! Did you use any sealer or topcoat (like a poly or wax)? If so, what did you use? Thanks!
Love it! Did you use any kind of sealer or topcoat (like a poly or wax)? If so, I’d love to know what you used!
We didn’t!
Gorgeous! We just finished a reno and did Country White on our red oak floors. They look pink. So bummed. This custom stain looks gorgeous. Did you apply any water or oil based poly on top of the stain? I am concerned that oil based poly will pull a yellow or gold tone, but water does not provide as much protection. This is our beach home so we have a ton of traffic .
Hi Joan,
Thank you! I haven’t sealed the stain yet but plan to with a water based poly. It may be worth doing a few coats on higher traffic areas but of course I can’t speak to it yet as I haven’t tried it myself.
Did you use equal amounts of each stain? Looks beautiful!
Yes, equal of all three 🙂
So beautiful! Where did you get your spindles? We’re looking for a good source. Love these pictures. Very inspiring
Thank you!! Our spindles are from Lowe’s
Gorgeous! Did you actually mix all three stains together in a separate container and then apply it or did you layer the stains, putting on one coat at a time?
Thank you! I mixed the stains together in a separate container. Hope this helps!
Absolutely love this stain color! Did you mix the colors evenly?
Hi!
Yes, all three colors are mixed in equal portions
How long did you leave the stain on before wiping it off?
About five minutes or so 🙂
This is absolutely gorgeous! Have you attempted this combination over pre-existing stains? I have orangey oak cabinets I’m hoping to try this on.
I haven’t tried that!
Beautiful! When you say you mixed them equal… do you mean all three full cans or how do you do the portion?
Thank you! Yes, I mixed equal portions of each. You could just do all three cans to make it easier – depending on how much you need!
Love the color and currently trying to match – how many coats of stain did you apply?
We did two coats 🙂
This looks great! What color are you laminate floors?
Here is a post all about them:
https://sarahjanechristy.com/pergo-flooring-faqs-a-one-year-review/
I love the color! I have a question about your staining process- how long did you leave the stain on before wiping it off? How many coats did it take to achieve that color? And what protective coating did you put on top (polyurethane? And what sheen?) Thanks!
Thank you! We left the stain on for 5/10 minutes and used two coats. We haven’t sealed yet but will probably use a polyurethane. Hope that helps 🙂
So I used your stain on my floors. What do you think?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XfokVxYuV7SMxj-63pPMhbxXc_0m_AR-/view?usp=drivesdk
Looks great!!
Beautiful! Thank you for posting. We will be refinishing ours this spring and wanted to see this on flooring. Thank you!
Sure! I’m glad this was helpful
Trying to have our contractor copy your beautiful hardwood color! Did you use an oil or water based stain? He is saying he usually does water based for the gray but it will cost more. He was concerned the oil based gray could yellow over time. Thanks!
We used oil based. Haven’t noticed any yellowing, but I am not a professional 🙂
Can you tell me the wall color in your foyer ?
Sure! It is Ivory Lace by Sherwin Williams
Hi
Please can you let me know where you got the spindles from – they are fantastic.
Thanks
Sure! We got them from our local Lowe’s Home Improvement store
Thanks for the idea.
I love it! Did you sand stain then paint it? What was you finish? Satin, matte, semi gloss??
We didn’t sand – just wiped clean & went straight to stain. Then painted in a matte finish 🙂
Sounds like you purchased new railings? These weren’t sanded and redone to this stain concoction? My flooring guy is supposed to bring by a sample of this mix. Can’t wait to see it.
Yes we purchased new railings 🙂
I’ve tried15 different stains on my rough sawn Douglas fir beams and most are too dark , I love the stairs color on these stairs. I tried your mix and it didn’t work too dark , any suggestions? I building a new home with beams, help.
Hi Kathy! I’m sorry, I’ve never worked with Douglas fir wood so I don’t have any suggestions for you. Hope you are able to find a stain color that you love 🙂
Hello!
Thank you so much for sharing your tips and photos! We have the same floor and I have been researching to a find the perfect stain to match our post and railing. I’m so grateful I found your website! One question- did you use equal parts when mixing all three stain colors?
Thank you!
Just saw your already answered my question in previous comments! Looks great! Thanks!
Sure thing! Thank you 🙂
I used this mix but only applied one coat followed by two coats of minwax clear ultra flat water based poly acrylic. It’s perfect and goes well with my life proof vinyl plank floors in fresh oak. Plan on doing the stair treads in the same mix . Thanks !
I am so happy to hear that! You are welcome!
Love the color mixture on the oak. Have you tried this on pine wood?
I haven’t!
What percent did you use of each stain color?
We used equal amounts of each!
We are in the beginning stages of standing. Our contractor suggested the same 3 stain combination for me to look at. I think I’m in love with it with my sample!
I’m so glad you love it! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
This is beautiful! I’ve been looking for something that will work with our floors and I think this could be it!
Yay! I’m so happy this post was helpful 🙂 I hope it works out as well for you as it did for me!
Hi Sarah, I’m on Google searching for the perfect stain for our railing and found your photos which looked like what I’m needing. I just realized that your laminate is exactly the same as ours! I can tell by the marks for “aging” and the color; I’ll bet you have Rare Vintage Fawn Chestnut :).
I’m about to pay a painting contractor $1200 to stain our railing (also, exactly the same newels and railing you have, go figure. Our balusters are plain, no knuckles). And that price is if we mask off the balusters for them, otherwise it’s double that.
I’m a pretty good painter/handy person. How hard would you say it was to stain the wood yourself? After you stained, did you add a protective polyurethane? Thanks for any help with this. Time is of the essence for me here.
Our flooring is “Amber Chestnut” by Pergo. We were able to stain ourselves with no issues. Saved us lots of money! We did add a polyurethane to seal as well. Hope this helps!
Hi what colour is the stain
It looks great!!
Thanks
Combination is written in this article
I love the carpet on your stairs. Where did you get it and what color is it?
Hi! I got it at a local flooring shop – I’m sorry, I’m unsure of the color. It is a light gray
Thank you so much for sharing this post, we are currently building and wanted to stain our oak post and staircase, but I couldn’t find that one stain that I was really in love with. We bought oak interior doors that we are going to stain as well, to bring some warmth to our farm style house. I’m so glad I ran across your pin, thanks again, and I can’t wait to try this mixture today!
Yay!! I hope it works out for you as well as it did for us. We love it!
Absolutely love!!!! We are updating our 101 year old home and this brought exactly what I was looking for to the table! Couple questions though, what color is the paint on your walls? What color carpet do you have on your stairs?
The carpet is a light gray color and the paint is Ivory Lace by Sherwin Williams. Hope this helps & best of luck with your table!
Can I use the three min wax colors for the oak cabinets?
I suggest testing on a sample of your wood before committing. This mixture will look different on varying types of wood!
Hi Sarah Jane!
Could you send a photo of what your floors look like now? We love this stain! I’d like to see it after it’s been on for a couple of years. Thanks!
Our floors are laminate!
I love the railing stain color and the floor. Can you please tell me the name of your Prego floor.
Thank You
Linda
Sure, it is “Amber Chestnut”
What color are your walls and trim?
Walls are “Ivory Lace” by Sherwin Williams. Trim is a custom mix by our builder.