What’s the Right Stain for Your Wooden Plaque?

Recently, we’ve talked a lot about our new backgrounds for acrylic plaques. However, we here at That’s Great News do more than just acrylic plaques. Over the years, we have helped many customers commemorate their achievements with wood featured article plaques.

Why Use a Wood Plaque?

Wooden plaques have a solid, classic appearance that’s right at home in a professional office setting. These plaques match up well with a visitor’s expectations for what an office award should look like, making them ideal for setting a professional tone in your office as . As a solid, opaque object, a wood plaque can add gravitas to your décor that a clear acrylic plaque might not have.

Beyond being a great piece of office décor, a wood plaque is a durable safeguard for your featured articles. The articles in a wood plaque are the highest quality and protects your article from the effects of exposure to the elements.

What elements does a wood plaque’s laminate protect against? Here are a few examples:

  • Water, Coffee, and Other Wet Spills. It happens every day. You, an employee, or a client are enjoying a cup of coffee during a meeting and accidentally drops the mug, usually right over the award you were showing off on your desk. With a newspaper clipping, the award is ruined, soaked through with dark, hot coffee. With a wood plaque, however, you can simply wipe it off and get back to business once the desk is cleaned up.
  • Oxygen. Over time, as paper is exposed to the air, it will begin to degrade. This is especially true of newspapers, which are made from a low-grade pulp that is specifically designed not to last. By sealing the article within a plaque, the paper is protected from exposure to the air, preventing the yellowing that is characteristic of a simple paper hanging.
  • Rips and Tears. Usually, when reading an article, people want to flip through the pages of the publication with their bare hands. Every time a page is bent or flipped through, there is an ever-increasing risk of the paper getting torn. Putting the article in a plaque eliminates the chance that a page might get torn by placing it in a solid object.

Choosing a Wood Stain

Wood featured article plaques from In The News come in five different stains:

  1. Black. Our darkest stain for wooden plaques. Blends in neatly with darker office décor such as black marble desktops. On the other hand, makes for a great visual contrast with white or other light-colored decorations to help the article within pop visually and draw a guest’s attention.
  1. Mahogany. A warm, deep reddish-brown stain color that pairs well with many different pieces of natural wood furniture. Helps to create a warm, inviting atmosphere to welcome visitors and put them at ease while they learn more about you and your company.
  1. Walnut. A rich brown color that is suitable for a variety of decorative styles in the office. Walnut fits in well in most office settings, and is a popular choice for many of our clients.
  1. Oak. This pale, almost cream-colored finish is a great choice to compliment your articles when you want the presence of a wood plaque, but want to convey a somewhat less serious atmosphere.

Which of these stains is right for your plaque? To be honest, the stain that you use for your plaque depends mostly on your personal preference. You can choose to use a stain that will complement the colors of your article’s images, contrast with your décor, or even just pick the stain with the color you like most.

Whichever stain you want for your next wooden article plaque, That’s Great News is here to help you get your order just right. To get started, simply click the link below.