My staircase arrived yesterday from Greenleaf. I was pleased with the prompt delivery once my payment was received, but I am not happy with the staircase. It came in two pieces and both pieces are combined in one staircase. One is a very blond wood and the other is a very red wood. There is no way this is going to stain the same colour!! I knew that it would not match the floor exactly but I did not think it would come in two so different shades.
I tried a little bit of stain on each piece of wood and this is the result. The staircase is going to look terrible. I contacted Greenleaf and they said that there is nothing they could do about the variance of wood colour. It comes to them that way and they have to use what they get. They suggested that I either use a dark stain or paint. I am so disappointed because I wanted to have stained wood trim inside the house not painted woodwork.
Here are some of the walls with the wallpaper that I chose. The first is the living room paper.
The next is the dining room.
And then the kitchen wallpaper. I am also going to put tile on this floor and I found some nice tile that will match the walls but when I printed it out, my color ink ran out so only half of the sheet is printed properly. Now I have to wait until I can afford another color cartridge and they are not cheap.
My staircase arrived yesterday from Greenleaf. I was pleased with the prompt delivery once my payment was received, but I am not happy with the staircase. It came in two pieces and both pieces are combined in one staircase. One is a very blond wood and the other is a very red wood. There is no way this is going to stain the same colour!! I knew that it would not match the floor exactly but I did not think it would come in two so different shades.
I tried a little bit of stain on each piece of wood and this is the result. The staircase is going to look terrible. I contacted Greenleaf and they said that there is nothing they could do about the variance of wood colour. It comes to them that way and they have to use what they get. They suggested that I either use a dark stain or paint. I am so disappointed because I wanted to have stained wood trim inside the house not painted woodwork.
The next is the dining room.
And then the kitchen wallpaper. I am also going to put tile on this floor and I found some nice tile that will match the walls but when I printed it out, my color ink ran out so only half of the sheet is printed properly. Now I have to wait until I can afford another color cartridge and they are not cheap.
That is disappointing Doreen - could you apply a paper-thin wood veneer of your choice to the pieces? I know Lee Valley carries a selection but I couldn't find it on their site. I know you'll come up with something! :)
ReplyDeleteI love your wall paper choices, quite lovely!
ReplyDeleteThat is a drag about the stairs. What about faux painting them to look like wood?
I think their explanation is ridiculous. Why would you want an item made from two completely different pieces? I think you are being very calm about the purchase, as it has given you so much extra work.
ReplyDeleteFabulous wallpaper choices though, I have never thought of printing my own.
I was told Greenleaf is not a good wood for building. I am really sorry about the stairs that is very disapointing. I am sure you'll find a good workable soultion to this and you'll get some good useful feed back. Good so far. What did you print the wallpaper on? Looks great. Are they all printables? nice selection and colors too. You do very nice neat work and it will look lovely!
ReplyDeleteyou could try a darker stain on the lighter wood and see if it comes out similar to the other one. Or stain both really dark, I love the look of really dark stain up against white steps???
ReplyDeleteJenn
Oh Doreen, what a bummer about the wood. I feel your pain. Working on the Lily right now and my staircases were a construction of at least 2 different shades of wood, possibly 3....it's very frustrating....but I am sure you will make it look lovely.
ReplyDeleteOh, Doreen! I am so very sorry about your problem with the stairs. Who would ever have thought that of Greenleaf. I am not impressed at all! I agree with Jenn from Looking Glass Miniatures. Try a darker stain. I have never heard of anybody else encountering this problem. I love your wallpaper. You made such a good choice. I find wallpaper is so difficult to choose. You did a super job. It's so difficult when we encounter all sorts of snags like this. First the stairs missing, then being sold stairs that don't match and then running out of ink. Hang in there, Doreen! We're with you.
ReplyDeleteNot fond of Greenleaf anything! Check out Houseworks and see if something there will do the trick. Two shades are nuts even if you use a darker stain on one it would take a miracle for them to actually match. Dont they know this, duh... Very frustrating for you indeed.
ReplyDeleteI love all of the wallpaper Doreen- beautiful so far! I agree with everyone else- how disappointing on the stairs. I have seen staircases with the risers painted and then just the treads with stained wood- would that maybe work for you? You could then use a different sheet of wood and have uniform treads? Just another idea to throw out there- I hope you find a solution that works for you. Good luck my friend ♥
ReplyDeleteYou could try mixing your own acrylic stain up. I'd try matching the blonde wood to the mahogany coloured wood (do a test patch first). You want rose wood, raw sienna and some raw umber and a smidgen of black (mix without any water first).
ReplyDeleteLots of luck, but you should be able to get a good enough match. ;o)
Michelle :o))