Oak is a fantastic, versatile timber and it’s great to use for handrails as it’s strong and polishes up well. For a sharp modern look, it can be too light in it’s natural colour, especially age turns it to honey tones. This handrail in Fulham is a great example of how staining the timber to a dark colour before polishing can really sharpen the look but also retain the lovely oak grain and figure.

French polish really lends itself to this modern look as it brings out the grain and accentuates the curved sections, especially when it’s taken to a satin rather than glossy finish.

The handrail is constructed of a thin section of timber, so the surface area is small. This meant that although it spans four floors, we polished it from start to finish in just two days.

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