Vintage furniture finds, like this table, can be returned to service in your home. You’ll just need to make a few modifications to transform them from outdated to in style.
Transformed Top. Like the yellow wicker, the orange top and shelf on this table had to go. We gave the piece a fresh painted finish, and added mending plates to the underside of the top to increase stability. But the crack on the top was still a problem. Continue through the slides to see how wood veneer came to the rescue to complete the furniture makeover.
Filling the crack with wood filler didn’t get the top flat, so we decided to apply hardboard over both the top and shelf and cover them with maple veneer. To start, we made a simple trammel out of a scrap piece of hardboard, as shown in the photo at left. The hole in the scrap piece allowed us to trace a perfect circle with a marker. Then we cut out circles for the top and shelf with a jigsaw.
Once the circles had been cut out, we applied the veneer. Air bubbles will make the application look messy, so we smoothed the veneer carefully.
After we applied the veneer, we flipped the assembly over so that the hardboard piece was on top. Then we trimmed the veneer around the hardboard tabletop with a utility knife.
To complete the makeover, we glued the veneered hardboard discs to the old tabletop and shelf with construction adhesive. Then we brushed on two coats of polyurethane to protect the surfaces.
