The coffe table restore

[steve b]

Having recently bought a house ive become the owner of the following coffee table. its a bit knocked about and looking at it it looks abit cheap, however i woudlnt mind having a go at trying to make it good again, and look in place in a more modern home.

It looks like it might be some kind or mdf with a veneer, Can anyone tell me if they think its worth having a go at?

I was thinking about sanding it down and trying to lighten the colour or painting it.

any suggestions would be great as im a complete beginner.

thanks

if i can make anything of it, i may take the gold glass surrounds out and spray them black or silver as the gold wont really work in the room.

 

[woodiedonald]

Hi Steve,

I think it certainly looks do-able. Wouldn't recommend varnishing it again, hard to get a good result. Painting would probably turn out better than sanding off the varnish that's there now and replacing it with varnish again or whatever you had in mind. It might be easier to use wire wool to "cut back" the surface (search web on how to do that), to prepare it for painting especially with the mouldings and turned legs that there are which are difficult to do, the wire wool will get into all the curves and gaps easier than sandpaper which would be more conventional. Use a few different grades of it, rough stuff to get the old finish off then some smoother stuff to get the scratches out.

I think the brass bits would be the first things to go if it was me, maybe you could replace the glass with clear or frosted glass instead of the brown glass that's there? I think if you are able to take out the centre stretcher that divides the glass into two bits then do that too.

As for the rattan or straw or whatever it is shelf underneath maybe you could replace that with a sheet of MDF? There are some timber merchants that may cut a sheet to size for you.

Filler and paint make a carpenter what he aint! Remember that.

Good luck with it,

Cheers
Donald.

 

[Mike.S]

Agreed - worth saving.

I quite like the rattan - you could always paint it and if naff/breaks then it can still be removed and replaced, as Donald suggests.

The tip about wire wool for curves etc is good, though i find the little pieces of wire which break off get everywhere (and rust when you paint over using w/b paint, if you don't clean-up properly. DAMHIKT.) An alternative is those sanding sponges - thinnish sponge material with abrasive stuck on the surfaces. I always used to scoff at them but received some free with an order from DecoratingDirect and they work really well.

Good luck.