287.

In college, I was lucky enough to get a beautiful coffee table from my stepmom. 

It’s a piece with quite a history — built by Drexel Heritage Furniture in 1960 (see the notation on the bottom of the table?). 

Unfortunately, I didn’t quite realize this for the first few years I owned this piece, and brimming cups of sangria, spilled mugs of green tea, and the occasional dinner mishap took their toll on this poor little guy. The evidence is above. 

So I decided to do something about it this weekend. After poking around online a bit for various water/heat damage fixes on antique furniture, I found a mild solution that I thought wouldn’t cause too much damage if I messed it up. 

First, I mixed a tablespoon of baking soda with about a teaspoon of water, to make a thick paste. 

After cleaning off the table, I took the paste and carefully rubbed it (with the grain!) on all of the water and heat rings, slowly buffing them away. 

After washing the baking soda off, I gave the entire table a good coat of lemon furniture oil (this stuff smells great). 

Voila! Isn’t the change amazing? I was ridiculously proud of myself. 

Of course the oil does soak in over time, so I’ll have to keep up the maintenance — but with the occasional rub down and vigilant coaster use, I should be able to keep it looking just like this.

xo