If you have nice pieces at your home with chips or broken veneer, you'll be surprised at how easy these things are to fix. I've always wanted a porch rocker from Cracker Barrel but have never pulled the trigger. I was at a consignment store and saw one and well...I had to have it. Solid wood? Check. And you know how I feel about solid wood. HOOOOOOOOOTY HOOOOOOO!

I got a really good deal on it because one of the rockers had a chipped end and needed some fixing so hey...I can fix stuff. LOL!

This stuff is pretty cool in that it brought me back to my childhood when I mixed it up. It smelled exactly like the stuff my daddy used to use to fix our boat and, I guess that's exactly what it was. Lightweight Body Filler. Has that ever happened to you? A smell takes you back? It is a weird and cool experience huh?

If you're using this, you'll need one thing for sure, Bondo spreaders. These are the only things which the hardened body filler won't stick to permanently. Whatever you mix it with and on/in will be ruined forever so yeah...whip out a paper plate or bowl and a plastic spoon.

After mixing it up, glob it on whatever you're fixing pretty good and then use the spreader to smooth it evenly. It will dry pretty quickly so please make sure you work fast. Once it's dry...SAND IT SMOOTH.

Then...well...paint it and make it purdy. You like purdy don'tcha? Yeah...you do. I painted the rocker in Annie Sloan English Yellow with a bit of a stenciled detail in Annie Sloan Pure White. Yes. It makes me happy. :)

Now that I have a rocker...maybe I'll take up knitting. LOL!

This piece just might be my favorite so far. Seriously. The lines and heft of it are just so perfect that it makes me smile. I know every inch of this table as I've stripped it and started over twice because I love it so. I just had a vision for it you know and I knew I could make it look like exactly what I wanted it to look like.

The brass hardware is original and took 3 separate scrubbing cleanings to get all of the old grime off it with Brasso, 0000 steal wool and using cheesecloth as a polishing cloth. The scratches on top have been mostly buffed out and the deeper gouges were filled in with stainable wood filler so the top is smooth to the touch. I love this piece so much, I would want it to have a custom glass top cut to put on top of it for protection.

The finished piece has been stripped with Citri-strip, sanded by hand with a 120 grit sandpaper along the base because of the carved details and sanded using my new Porter Cable electric palm sander (The Robinator is awesome!) on the top. Then it was stained twice with light sanding in between coats using 220 grit paper and Minwax Red Mahogany stain. Finally, two protectant coats of Minwax Polyurethane in clear satin were applied (first coat with a good bristle brush, final coat with sponge brush) with a light 220 grit sanding after first coat dried for 24 hours.

I cannot express how completely I love this piece. The closest online comparison of it that you can currently buy by Drexel is this cocktail table for $1,929 and it's in cherry, not rare mahogany as this one is. Drexel Cocktail Table

They call them cocktail tables now and that cracks me up. LOL! I guess people are more fond of cocktails than coffee these days. LOL!

This piece already has a home, unfortunately, as someone I love claimed it when they realized I wasn't going to keep it. They have excellent taste and recognized the quality of it immediately too. I have been doing a soft discouragement campaign using the techniques of saying nonchalantly, "You know you don't have to buy it. It might not match your stuff now cuz it came out so dark. Don't feel obligated to follow through just cause you said you were going to." But that hasn't worked. *sigh* LOL!

I am having SO.MUCH.FUN doing these pieces I'm finding! GO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOTTA KEEP BUSY! Isn't it gorgeous???????

How to fix chipped wood or veneer.

Vintage Drexel Triune Coffee Table COMPLETED!