- declutter/organize/rearrange -- I took everything off of the table, putting away the winter-ish items (pinecones, candles, evergreen and berries topiary)
- clean/dust/polish -- I was all out of furniture polish, so I used olive oil to which I added a drop of lemongrass essential oil for fragrance. I detailed every nook and crevice of the table.
- repair -- this table has some water stains and moisture damage. After dusting with the oil, I worked some furniture wax into the finish, allowed it to dry, and then buffed. While the work with oil and wax doesn't eliminate the damage, it does minimize it considerably. In a couple of the patches where damage had lightened the wood, I also used a dark brown crayon, rubbed in hard, and then buffed. In addition, there were 2 small support pieces which had broken off. I used wood glue to repair both.
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| repaired shelf support |
- cover -- Sometimes, the best way to improve a surface is to cover it. With this table, I added one of my mother's cutwork placemats to cover the moisture damage. I also added some spring-like decor pieces.
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| All ready for spring! |
What's great about using these traditional methods of housekeeping to perk up your environment is they work both on the small scale (like this one table) and the large scale (a whole room). I sometimes like to rearrange the furniture as a way to freshen up the look of a room. Moving the seating arrangements allows us to see out the windows from different angles and bring more natural lighting to new conversation groups or private reading spots.
Anyway, I love how clean and polished my entry hall table looks now. It has inspired me to continue with cleaning in this little space of the house.
