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!