In honor of Earth Day, we’re shining a spotlight on our environmentally friendly, stain-grade Poplar mouldings!

I am so proud of these mouldings! The quality is amazing + they are 100% made in America. The Poplar is grown domestically and custom-milled to our specifications in Southern California. Our Poplar mouldings are not only environmentally friendly, but since they are solid hardwood, they are the perfect alternative for those who might have sensitivities to off-gassing from synthetic mouldings or glues used in engineered, finger-joint, and MDF products. Our Poplar mouldings accept medium-dark stain beautifully, can be primed and painted with low VOC paint, or my new favorite finish: Milk Paint!

Here we used General Finishes Milk Paint in Antique White on our stain-grade Poplar mouldings and for contrast, we painted the wall in Benjamin Moore’s Maritime White. One of the many things I love about Milk Paint is its versatility; most brands of milk paint can be painted over when you’re ready to change things up! Tip: For a natural, “beachy” look and to allow the natural graining and texture of the mouldings to show through, use 1-2 coats of milk paint.  

For more information about working with Milk Paint, check out our YouTube Video.

To add interest and texture to a neutral color scheme, we used varying tones, textures, and a touch of sparkle! For this neutral grey palette, the wall was painted with Benjamin Moore’s Metropolitan, the door was painted in Storm, also by Benjamin Moore, and we used our Three Piece stain-grade Poplar door mouldings + two coats of Old Masters Weathered Wood wipe-on stain gel. For the final touch, we added a pop of sparkle with a Baldwin crystal and chrome door knob.

We’re in love! Who knew stained mouldings could be so awesome?! It’s as easy as wiping the stain on with a rag or sponge, and it’s much more forgiving than paint!  Here we used General Finishes water-based, low odor, low VOC, and water clean-up wood stain in Black on our 12” and 26” stain-grade Two Piece Wall Moulding Kits. To make this DIY even easier, I’ve been using a handy staining sponge by Trimaco called SuperTuff.

Poplar is generally light in color; however, it does have naturally occurring color variations from green to purple to dark brown, so we recommend using a medium to dark stain.

When staining your mouldings or using milk paint, we recommend using clear caulking, such as Alex Plus by Dap.

Check out our blog post for more information about our environmentally friendly Poplar mouldings.