Painting or colouring oiled timber

[dave_104]

Evening,

So I made a really lovely wide shelf out of tulipwood and oiled it with osmo oil, and fitted it. All looks very nice (to me), BUT the wife decides it’s too yellow and needs to either be Dulux white or have a blue-ish colour to match the blues/greys used in the room. I might as well have bought a cheap laminate worktop from B&Q!! We needed something with a very hard wearing surface, where people can chuck suitcases etc on to the shelf without it marking the surface.
Questions…..
1. Presumably to paint over the newly oiled wood I’d have to sand it and get a good key, but I guess the oil seeps in quite a bit and this would mean heavy sanding before even thinking of paint?
2. I don’t like paint as I think it’d scratch and mark easily. Can I paint then apply a hard lacquer coat? Any suggestions of what to use for both?
3. Any other good ideas please??

Cheers,
Dave

 

[mattylad]

Grow some balls and tell her NO !!
After your hard work you insist it remains with the natural wood that it is - tell her the yellow will fade (it may not but it may get her off your back about it).

 

[DiyNutJob]

Use a sacrificial piece of plywood or other type of board as a wear layer? Paint that to whatever colour you need without needing to repaint the shelf. Then tell the wife the shelf is now two-coloured that helps to blend the shelf into the room.

 

[dave_104]

You’re right there Matty, I’ve had the shelf randomly propped up on a radiator for many days and she’s walked past it several times and said nothing. Only when I go to trim it, fit it, and finally finish it then there’s a problem!