I'm in the middle of staining and polying woodwork for a trim project in my kitchen. I have finished half the project, but need to hold off on the remaining wood until the spring. The remaining pieces are long and I only have room to store them in the garage, off the floor on a shelf. Outside temperatures will drop in my area to the teens and below zero in the Minnesota winter. The wood is red oak. Do I need to be concerned that delying the staining on the unfinished wood will give it a different appearance than the wood that I have already finished? Can anyone give me any tips on storage so that I preserve the wood in a way that when I stain the pieces next spring/summer that the newly stained pieces will match what I have stained so far? Or maybe this should not be a concern? Thanks.

 

I would only have 2 suggestions. Cover the wood with a dropcloth so that no light or dust can get to the wood. UV can affect red oak, and dust just makes it difficult to prep prior to staining. Then secondly, when you go to stain it, ensure that the wood has been at room temperature for approximately 24 hours before staining. You wouldn't want to apply stain to cold wood in the dead of winter when you are trying to get an exact match with the last batch.