Finish Guide — Colors & Stains

How to choose your finish

Every Downsized Designs piece is cut from real wood and finished by hand in our Carmel, Indiana workshop. The finish you pick changes the whole feel of a piece — the same design reads light and Scandinavian in Natural, warm and traditional in Cherry, or bold and modern in Black.

Two honest notes before the colors:

• Wood varies. Grain, knots, and tone shift a little from piece to piece, so your finish will be close to the photos here — never a photocopy. That's the nature of real wood, and it's part of what makes your piece one of a kind.
• Screens vary too. Phone and monitor settings shift color. If you're matching an exact tone in a room, tell us what you're matching and we'll steer you.

The stains

Unstained — bare wood, exactly as it comes off the laser. Lightest possible look; the right choice if you want to paint or stain it yourself, or love raw wood as-is.

Natural Stain — a clear, light finish that warms the wood slightly and lets the grain do the talking. Closest to the wood's own color.

Golden Oak — a warm, honeyed medium tone. The classic "oak furniture" look; pairs well with traditional and farmhouse spaces.

Red Chestnut — a rich reddish-brown with real warmth. Deeper than Golden Oak, with a red undertone that shows in daylight.

Gunstock — a warm medium-dark brown with a hint of red-orange in the grain. Rustic, substantial, forgiving of busy rooms.

Cherry — much darker than the name suggests: a deep black-cherry that reads almost purple or maroon in low light. Velvety and dramatic — if you want "dark cherry furniture," this is the one; if you want a medium red-brown, pick Red Chestnut instead.

Jahara Brown — a brown with deep orange undertones. Rich and warm with a glowing undertone that comes alive in daylight; a characterful step darker than Gunstock.

Walnut — a rich chocolate brown, cooler than Jahara, with the elegant feel of walnut furniture. A safe pick with gray and white palettes.

Smoke Gray — a soft gray-brown ("greige"). The bridge finish: it sits comfortably between warm wood tones and cool gray rooms.

Slate — a deeper blue-gray. Cooler and moodier than Smoke Gray; strong with white walls and black hardware.

Ebony — near-black, with the wood grain still faintly visible up close. Dramatic, and it makes engraved detail pop.

Black — fully black. The boldest, most graphic option — maximum contrast for wall art, and the finish that reads most "modern."

Quick picks

• Light & airy room → Unstained, Natural, Golden Oak
• Warm & traditional → Golden Oak, Red Chestnut, Gunstock
• Dark & rich → Cherry, Jahara Brown, Walnut, Ebony
• Rustic / farmhouse → Gunstock, Jahara Brown, Walnut
• Cool, gray, modern → Smoke Gray, Slate, Walnut
• Bold & graphic → Ebony, Black

The metallic paints

Four of our finishes are metallic paints rather than stains — they cover the grain instead of tinting it, and they catch light the way metal does. They're the statement options, most often chosen for wall art and Art Deco / Mid Century pieces.

Bright Gold Paint — a vivid, true gold. Glamorous and warm; the Art Deco finish.

Bright Silver Paint — a clean, bright silver. Cool and crisp with gray and white rooms.

Bright Copper Paint — a warm copper with a rosy glow. Between gold and silver in feel, and the most forgiving with warm wood floors.

Bronze Metallic Paint — a deeper, antique bronze. All the metallic light-play, in a darker, more understated tone.

Still not sure?

Tell us the room, the wall color, and the look you're after at Steve@downsizeddesigns.net and we'll point you at the finish we'd pick — we've finished thousands of pieces and we know how these read in real homes.

Handcrafted in the USA.
Made by Downsized Designs in Carmel, Indiana.