Quick And Easy DIY Guide To Lightening The Stain On Sofa Legs

I recently lightened up the stain on our sofa legs, and it was so much easier than I imagined!

This post may contain affiliate links. For my full disclosure, click here.

Today’s post isn’t the prettiest, but I wanted to share it with you guys in case anyone else is in the same boat! Are there little things in your home that bother you, even though no one else probably ever notices?? No? Just me? Well, I finally took care of one of those little things that I have always wanted to change, and I’m so happy about it!

Whenever I post pictures of my living room on Instagram, I get questions about my sectional couch. We got it at a furniture store here locally, but the piece of furniture itself is made by Craftmaster Furniture. I fell in love with our couch because of the relaxed lines on the arms and the beautiful gray upholstery it had. It felt modern yet still casual and cozy.

The only thing that I never liked about our couch were the legs. Yes – those tiny, two inch legs that probably no one ever noticed but me. Ha! For whatever reason the wood stain on the furniture legs just messed up the look of the entire piece for me. I know, so silly!

The legs were stained a dark cherry/mahogany color that was beautiful, but just didn’t fit our home’s cottage style esthetic. Again, I realize that the tiny wood finishes on my couch are not a real problem and I am incredibly blessed we were able to afford and purchase this beautiful sectional!

Don’t get me wrong, I love mixing wood tones! I don’t think everything has to be match-y match-y. All the tones of wood furniture in my house are just much warmer and lighter. I have nothing dark or cherry toned in my house at all. Even my red oak flooring‘s old finish has been sanded and stained to a much lighter color.

SO I randomly decided to do something about those little legs. I flipped my couch on its back and my first thought was to remove the legs and work on them downstairs in our basement. For whatever reason it was extremely difficult to loosen the screws that were so deeply  recessed into the couch, so I decided to work on them while they were still attached. 

As I got to work on my couch’s legs, I thought sharing my process would be helpful to anyone else who wants to strip or remove stain on furniture that doesn’t quite work with the color palette in their home. This technique can work with most pieces of furniture, but my blog is filled with lots of posts all about removing or lightening stain (and general finishes) if this tutorial doesn’t work. From wood bleach, to citristrip, to steel wool and soap…I have just about tried every method haha

Lightening the Sofa Leg Stain – Step 1

I simply took some 80 grit sandpaper and began sanding off the finish in the direction of the wood grain. To my surprise, the topcoat finish came right off!!

I followed up with some 120 grit sand paper just to smooth the surface, and then cleaned the leg with a damp wipe and warm water. I was so happy I didn’t have to fuss with a chemical stripper. This was so easy that I didn’t have to pull out an orbital sander, but you certainly can use one if you are looking to cut some time!

Lightening the Sofa Leg Stain – Step 2

Next, I dipped a tiny portion of my rag into some “Early American” stain by Minwax that I picked up from the hardware store, and I really worked the stain into the wood making sure to wipe off any excess residue. You can wear gloves for this step, especially while you buff the stain into the wood with a soft cloth. Full disclosure, it can stain your fingers if you aren’t careful haha

Guys, this whole project took about 30 minutes! Something that has bothered me for so long finally feels right. I could not believe how easy this was, especially compared to some of the other furniture projects I have tackled. I can’t tell you how many Facebook marketplace pieces I have spent hours and hours on trying to get the stain just right, pulling out all kinds of things from household bleach to a plastic scraper. Thank goodness this project was a breeze!

Plus, I really think it made a huge difference, right? 

I love that the lighter stain has a more rustic, casual look now. It really flows so much better with my English cottage style home decor and the other wood tones throughout my home. Plus, we have made a few changes in my living room and this really felt like the perfect final touch that this space needed.

Again, I know it’s a silly, little thing to be bothered by a two inch strip of wood at the bottom of a sectional couch, but I guess that is just the perfectionist in me haha I am so glad I decided to take on this project though, because it ended up being such a breeze and really made me fall in love with this sofa all over again. This couch was a pretty big investment for us, and so making it look exactly the way I wanted it to look was definitely worth it for me!

I can’t wait to share some photos of our refreshed living room with you guys. I told you a while back that we repainted it using “Halo” by Benjamin Moore and I just love the new color. I switched up some decor as well including a new DIY sign for above the couch and a new coffee table!!

Lots of fun changes – I’ll be sharing them all with you very soon!

Thanks for stopping by sweet friends!! 🙂

PIN IT FOR LATER

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE