Stain Disaster

I was prepping my closet doors for staining and had to get some kind of pre-stain so that when I did finally stain, it would go on evenly. Did that and then went to apply stain. It was too light almost clear and not at all what the picture showed on the can. I was racing for the hardware store before it closed for the day, went and got a darker stain. Raced back home because I had to apply the stain within 2 hours of the pre-stain.

Again the stain was too light. I kept applying it but it never got darker. Not only that but the stain was uneven in places. The prestain did not do its job!

Thankfully, I have a back-up plan and that is to paint the doors the same color as the walls. I think that will be the best option but OMG what a headache and of course more work for me. The temperatures are hitting the 90's so I am going to wait until evening to start painting the doors.