How to do Vintage

The DIY restoration of a carved walnut wreck is nearing completion. Madeleine Price presents the final result – and counts the cost.

I thought a brass framework would be best to support the glass top I had found for my new table.

I flipped through the Yellow Pages for blokes who worked in brass and found one with a workshop nearby. On the phone, he told me his main job was manufacturing brass edging for very old cars whose front windscreens flipped down. This was a whole new departure for him and he sounded intrigued.

So I took the table and the glass to the workshop, showed him what I needed – a supporting frame that would hold the glass in place a couple of inches clear of the top carved surface – and left him to it.

Madeleine's Beautifully Restored Vintage Table

His solution was utterly ingenious; four hollow brass rods that screwed into precisely drilled holes under the base, topped off by angled ‘lips’ to hold the glass firmly in place. To cushion the glass and stop it rattling if anyone nudged it, he even suggested fitting those small polyurethane buttons that stop your kitchen cabinet doors slamming shut.

I assembled the whole thing and stared at it for hours. It was gorgeous.

Now that table smiles at me whenever I look at it. If you’re very quiet, you can even hear it purr…

I do try not to gloat over my handiwork but I had turned this sad hulk of carved wood into a gorgeous table and, like all rescued creatures, it was grateful.

So love your DIY vintage – it will surely love you right back!

And the cost of all this love?

Extortionate – but definitely worth it!

• Auction price £20
• Wood carving (£35)
• Nitromors, wire wool (three different grades) probably £50
• Glass top £35
• Brass frame (around £200)
• Drawer knobs (around £1 each)

Madeleine is a Managing Partner of Text Engineering, a writing and editing service for individuals and small businesses…and a Vintage DIY enthusiast!

DIY vintage restoration is not always a cheap way to bring style and originality into your life – your bank manager will think you’re being blackmailed. But once it’s finished, the rewards just keep on coming, says Madeleine Price.

It cringed at me from a dusty corner of the auction house and begged me to take it home and love it. It was clearly in pain. It was very dirty and badly damaged. One of its ‘arms’ had come off, the other was missing completely. The carved feet were in a bad way and its coat was dull and lifeless.

So naturally, I had to buy it.

This was how it looked when I got it home:

Restoring a Vintage Table

Like most of my reckless endeavours, I hadn’t really thought it through, but here it was.

It turned out to be made of walnut and I spent the best part of one summer, removing layers of dust and old varnish from every inch of the intricate carving with Nitromors, paint scrapers, sandpaper and wire wool. I got a talented amateur wood carver to replicate the missing piece (in cheaper, softer pine).

Then I wood-glued the adrift ‘arm’ back in place, attached the newly carved one, varnished the whole thing – and then looked around for a suitable top that would fit the ‘profile’ of the table.

Visit us again for part 2 of this three-part mini-series from Madeleine, on how to restore a Vintage Table.

Madeleine is a Managing Partner of Text Engineering, a writing and editing service for individuals and small businesses…and a DIY Vintage enthusiast!