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This probably isn’t the best title for this post. The Google SEO police will probably come after me since “de-orangeing” isn’t exactly a real term. But guys, de-oranging our very naturally orange wood ceiling beams is exactly what I needed to do in order to complete this space. Do you remember what the beams looked like before?
I was being pressured by the painters to make a decision on the beams. Even Antonio said it would just be easier if we painted them white like the paneling. My design eye wasn’t going to settle for the easy solution! The easy solution would have meant giving up for the sake of efficiency. But I’m stubborn, and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer until I exhausted all possibilities!
The painters brought in some glaze & stain samples from the big box store. Unfortunately these stains weren’t achieving the result I was looking for. I went on a solo mission to find an alternative product and called out to my Instagram followers to ask for advice.
My friends @coco.and.jack and @thecuratedhouse simultaneously recommended Rubio Monocoat. I had never heard of this Rubio Monocoat before, and was immediately intrigued! I went on a treasure hunt, located my nearest retailer and not but 10 minutes later drove over to grab a couple samples. After testing 3 samples, I decided “Smoke” was exactly what I was looking for to de-orange the beams as well as match them to the undertones of our flooring. I goal wasn’t to match the beams to the floors, since our beams are a different wood species. My goal was to counteract the orange and bring them closer to a neutral, warm wood. If you can picture a color wheel, blue and orange are complementary colors and you can tone any color down with a dose of it’s complementary color.
With “Smoke being a cooler white, it helped neutralize the orange in the beams. Check out the before & after!
About Rubio Monocoat
If you are unfamiliar with Rubio Monocoat, it is THE solution for environmentally friendly wood protection. The product uses molecular bonding technology to naturally change the color of the wood. Really, the color options are endless!
Have you used this product before? I can’t wait to try this product in another project, maybe our future master suite bathroom vanity or future kitchen island or…
They look amazing! We used Rubio Monocoat when refinishing our hardwoods earlier this year and absolutely adore the finish (it’s so luxe and matte!)
I would LOVE to use this product on floors! It’s definitely an amazing product to refinish floors!
I would love to see this!
Did you just paint this stuff on that was the result?!?! No sanding?!?! Holy cow sounds easy. My in-laws have a great home up in Clearlake with huge vaulted ‘orangey’ wood ceilings . . . I will definitely try this stuff.
The product is intended to react with the natural wood, so it needs to be applied on an un-finished surface. Our beams are aesthetic only, so we removed them and planed them to remove the previous painted finish. But yes, just rub on and buff off is the process, it’s so much easier than stain!
What about on exterior shake shingles on a house?
That’s a great question, and one I know the Rubio Monocoat team could certainly answer for you! They have exterior products as well, my bet is they have something for this exact exterior.
Did you have to poly after staining?
Nope! This product isn’t a traditional stain, it’s a reactive oil that protects at the same time it changes the color of the wood!
I would like to try this on a stove hood vent cover. It has an orangey stain on it. Do I need to sand first?
Yes, in order for the reaction of the product with the wood to properly take place, the existing finish will need to be removed.
I’m so glad I found this. I have some too orange beams I need to do something with as well. What a beautiful room.
While orange and blue ARE complimentary colors, they do not tone each other down. They do just the opposite.
From the web:
‘Complementary colors are two hues found on opposite sides of each other on the color wheel. For example, red’s complementary color is green, and blue’s complementary color is orange. A painting or work of art that relies on complimentary colors will have the STRONGEST contrast. This color palette will draw the most attention and is extremely pleasing to the eye.”
Placed side-by-side, complementary colors will emphasize and seem to intensify each other.
Mixed together, or adding a color’s complement to it, DOES tone the color down! Orange with a dab of blue becomes slightly gray or brown…adding gray to orange (as in a gray wash over orange stain) is the same as adding light blue to orange. Here we are not trying to draw attention to the orange color, but rather to change it to a more neutral one. Color theory.
Placed side-by-side, complementary colors will emphasize and seem to intensify each other.
Mixed together, or adding a color’s complement to it, DOES tone the color down! Orange with a dab of blue becomes slightly gray or brown…adding gray to orange (as in a gray wash over orange stain) is the same as adding light blue to orange. Here we are not trying to draw attention to the orange color, but rather to change it to a more neutral one. Color theory.
We used it in Natural on our walnut slab bar. It took only one coat. It is beautiful and has a lovely satin finish. I would definitely use it on other products.
I already have a list of other projects to use it on! can’t wait!
Wow! That is fantastic. It looks awesome. Really intriguing product. Makes me wonder if it could have solved Emily Henderson’s mountain house wood beam woes.
We used Rubio Monocoat 5% Mist on all of the white oak floors in our house and while we were initially very happy it’s not holding up well 3 years later in a house bustling with kids, dogs, liquid spills, etc. Lots of stains. The benefit of Rubio is that you can spot refinish areas, but its not practical for me to prioritize it on my to-do list. We’ve also had some humidity induced warping of the floors in some areas and I can’t help but wonder whether that could have been lessened with a poly-based product like Bona. Anywho, we’ve applied the same monocoat stain to white oak floating shelves, handrails, etc. and it’s been great. A lovely look but I felt compelled to share some of the downsides since I learn so much from others from posts like these.
Thank you Maggie, I appreciate it! This was my first go with the product and I’m new to using it, I definitely appreciate your input! And others reading will as well too.
And I should have mentioned that your beams look AMAZING! The perfect application for Monocoat!
This is amazing. I’ve been trying to find a solution for my timber beams. Do you think this would work on my orange colored timber wood? I want to make it look more vintage grey and less “orangy”.
I don’t mean to ask for silly favors, but do you mind giving me your advice on if the Rubio smoke would work well on my ceiling wood. This is the unit I want to rehab (just bought!)
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/226-N-Clinton-St-60661/unit-117/home/12787727
THANK YOU. I know this is an old post, but holy cow this is exactly what I was looking for for our beams in our house. Husband loves the look of the natural wood but I hate the orange tone of the cedar. This seems to be the perfect solution and SEO be damned, because de-oranging my wood beams was exactly what I was looking for.
So happy to hear!!!
Hey! Did you use this on your cedar beams?? We have cedar and I’m sooooo ready to de-orange them😂
Thank you so much for this post! I recently sanded an old dark stain from a headboard. I wanted a natural raw wood look to match the dressser i recently did. To my horror the exposed raw wood was now the most hideous orange hue! I really love the look of raw natural wood and prefer not to use any kind of stain or poly. Can I use Rubio Monocoat on my pine headboard to wash out the orange hue?
Hi, hopefully you are still answering comments: These look great! I am on the site and looking through all the products but cannot find the item you listed/pictured. What is the actual name of the product? I searched “monocoat” and although several things came up, nothing looked like what you pictured or had the same name :(
Hey Amy, we used Rubio Monocoat in Smoke on the beams!