Timber nerds. This bench seat needs fixing

I bought this bench seat for $180 it's very heavy solid timber I believe pine and I believe probably recycled from an old floor. I'm not very happy with the colour. The structural look I'm mostly happy with however I don't like that kind of golden yellowey color. I think it would look much nicer if it was a darker colour and that would even out the distress and knots.
I believe that it has polyurethaned?
Is it possible to stain such a thing or would that but just make it look strange and the yellow still come through?
Would I be better off just painting it opaque? However the timber has some character to it.
Yes cushions will help dress it up however I think I need to get their colour and look of the thing right before I sort out some nicer cushions

 

That's a great seat. Bargain.

I had a swing seat in a similar colour. I oiled it with merbau colour oil. Redid it every couple of years and it looked fine - quite dark.

However, for the oil to be absorbed, you would need to strip off the polyurethane first.

 

Great bargain indeed.
That hinged gold colour cis most probably caused by oil based poly as you mention. Usually oil based products give a yellow tint in time so if you don't want that, sand to bare wood and then use water based poly. Finish really depends on the look you want and it's used and placement(natural,gloss, elements protection )
Also, you can definitely stain it but ,i would sand down to bare wood first and take it from there.

 

That's a good price,it looks like a match up with the sides and legs then the base and back,the simple way is have the entire item stripped back too the timber base ,then try and stain all in one shade..imho..

 

Boy, that would be a lot of sanding. Keep it as it is and get some nice cushions made for it.

 

Looks like a Balinese day bed. Good buy for $180 for a solid piece of furniture
I'd make a solid mattress/cushion on the base and along the back and you won't see much on the yellow then just the scrollworked arms and legs which are darker.

 

Something like this sort of colour scheme would look nice...

 

Is that a foot stool? Or a daybed for your cat?

 

Agree! My thought exactly!
Upholstery probably cost more than the seat itself haha.

 

How do i sand it?

 

Yes it would. I've got some old cushions on it atm but no mattress cushion. Going to keep my eyes out for something affordable

 

No idea. It's a pic I found on the internet !

 

Before even considering sanding, you might want to try and strip the existing finish first. it does look like it's a oil based poly finish that has faded a bit over time so polyurethane stripper and a scraper should do the job.
Start with a small test on a hidden area first and make sure you are wearing some safety gear(gloves,respirator...) Another type of finish could have been Shellac (gold coloured) which can be stripped with metho and 0000 grade steel wool...

You can use a handheld random orbital sander (or a finisher) for the flat surfaces(don't use a normal belt sander as they can be a bit aggressive) but for the rounded bits you will need to hand sand that. Starting with 100 grit to see if that removes the finish(in case you don't want to use paint stripper first) otherwise you will need to start from 80 grit and then do a pass with a 100 grit.
Again, as a small test, start on a hidden part of the piece like underneath the sitting board or the back of it.
If you are after a more natural look, sanding till 100-120 grit would be enough but If you need it to look a bit more mirror like and shiny, you'll probably want to move up all the way to 320 grit, and use gloss/semi-gloss poly.

You might find some gouges or dents that you want repaired too so that will add a bit more complexity to the project.

After all that, you can apply a stain if you want to.You'd want to research that a bit since different woods will absorb stains differently and might end up darker/lighter than you think it would.

Last step would be to finish it. As a general rule, oil based products tend to yellow with time and water based keep the natural look of the wood.

If you haven't restored furniture before, i would keep it as is and do what the others suggested above to be honest. Otherwise practice on some other piece of furniture first.

Not a small simple project by any means and also you might end up not liking the end result as refinishing such a piece can be very tricky not knowing exactly what type of finish it has and what type of wood it is and so on...

Hope the above helps!

 

Good thing my wife hasn't seen it then... I'll be presented with 5 reasons why our cats need this....

 

council verge pick up single mattress
Blow camping mattress

 

Great idea. If it fits a single mattress then i could just find a nice cover for the single mattress

 

Try baby mattress in Gumtree or eBay.

 

Will do. Single mattress is too big

 

A piece of foam from Clark rubber that you then cover with a sheet might be budget friendly.