Keeping Your Accent Tables Looking Like New

Keeping Your Accent Tables Looking Like New

By Jennifer Akre

Quality accent tables can be a big investment in your home décor. Even though you've taken every precaution to keep them looking like new, inevitably someone is going to scratch them, a stain will appear or you'll find some discoloration that makes your once beautiful accent tables candidates for the dumpster.

The good news is that they don't have to suffer this fate. With a little elbow grease, the right cleaning agents and some helpful household tips, you can restore the beauty of your accent tables, even removing large scratches with relative ease.

First, let's look a the small nicks and scrapes. These can usually be covered up easily with a product you can purchase at any home improvement store made expressly for this purpose. You can also use some shoe polish or use Sharpie markers. Color in the scratch and watch it disappear. You'd be amazed at how well this works. You can also use an empty shoe polish applicator and fill it with stain that matches your finish. The process is just like polishing a pair of shoes.

Water spots can be maddening when you find them on your accent tables. However, once they have dried completely, take a soft cloth and dab some mayonnaise onto it. Rub it on the spot until it disappears. Use real mayonnaise. Miracle Whip might be tangy on a sandwich, but it won't remove a water spot.

Any colored rings can be removed with a little toothpaste. Rub it in until the ring disappears. You can also use cigarette ashes in cooking oil. But if you're not a smoker, go with the toothpaste.

Candle wax can really ruin the finish on accent tables. But they are easier to remove than you think. If candle wax gets on the surface, let it cool and harden completely. Place ice on it so it gets brittle. Then scrape it off with a plastic (not metal) spatula. Polish it a bit to remove any remaining wax.

Of course, the best way to fix the damage to your accent tables is to prevent it to begin with. It's always a good idea to have lots of coasters around so when guests are over, they can place their drinks on the coasters instead of on your accent tables.

When you're entertaining, you want to make sure that you don't place any hot serving dishes on an unprotected table. Always place a hot pad, trivet, a couple of oven mitts or at least a thick towel under the hot plate to prevent burning and marring.

If you are using candles to set the mood, make sure they have a large base to them. If not, place the candleholder on a dish or trivet or use hurricane lamps instead so hot wax doesn't spill out and onto the top of your expensive accent tables.

You shouldn't ever polish or wax your wood with cheap commercial products available at supermarkets. These can harm the surface or simply add a layer of waxy film that will collect dust. If you really like the look of polish, use one part lemon oil to three parts olive oil. It will do the job nicely and leave a nice lemony scent in the room.

Usually, a regular dusting is all that is needed to keep your tables looking terrific. If they really need a deeper cleaning use a very mild dish soap that is diluted in water. You don't need a lot of soap. In the words of an old television commercial, "a little dab will do ya."

With just a little care and some light maintenance when your tables do get a nick or scratch, you should be able to keeping your furniture looking like new for years to come.

Author Jennifer Akre is an owner of a wide variety of online specialty shops including that offer both items and information on how you can easily furnish and decorate your space. Whether it is console tables for your living room or accent tables for you newly remodeled home, there are many tips you can use to make any spot both functional and beautiful. Click today and indulge your senses.

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Great Ideas for Arranging Living Room Furniture

Great Ideas for Arranging Living Room Furniture

By Jennifer Akre

Getting great ideas for arranging living room furniture is something of a lost art. At one time, living rooms were the formal entertainment spaces, akin to parlors back in the Victorian age. It was used mostly when guests and visitors came by.

Today's living room is much more multipurpose, especially with modern open floor plans where the living room is often connected visually with the kitchen, dining room and perhaps even a family room.

As such, thinking up smart ideas for arranging living room furniture is a bit more challenging as it must not only serve in a more formal role, but be useful day in and day out for the family.

But getting ideas for arranging living room furniture isn't as hard as it seems. The first thing you want to do is decide if your room has a strong focal point. It could be the fireplace or a view window, but just as likely these days it's a large screen plasma or LED TV with a home theater system.

If your home has such a TV, then you will start by arranging living room furniture so that everyone who comes over for a movie can see the screen. You really can never go wrong with centering the sofa or sectional right in front of the TV. If you have occasional chairs, you can add them to the mix by placing them between the sofa and the TV, setting them out a bit so views aren't blocked. If they swivel, so much the better so you can switch between conversation and movie watching.

But what about ideas for arranging living room furniture when you have a sofa and a love seat? The traditional solution is to place them facing each other. But if you have a strong focal point you may want to place them in an L configuration instead, with the sofa on the long end and the love seat at a 90-degree angle. If you have a TV you may want to angle them a bit so all the seating faces the TV.

Ideas for arranging living room furniture don't end with the sofa or sectional, though. Few living rooms are so austere as to have just a sofa, a sofa and love seat or a sectional to consider. There are chairs and end tables to factor in as well as a coffee table and entertainment center.

So, what are the ideas for arranging living room furniture when you have a lot of pieces? The goal is to not make the room too cluttered. While it's tempting to use all the furnishings you have, you want to start from scratch, building from your largest piece set to showcase the focal point and build from there.

One of the important ideas for arranging living room furniture is to have defined traffic patterns. You want to have at least two major entry/exit points for your furniture grouping so that guests can come and go easily. Nothing's more maddening than having to make people get up or tuck in their feet every two seconds so someone can squeeze by. These major traffic patterns should be three feet wide. The lesser spaces around furniture can be 18" wide, such as the space between the coffee table and sofa or the space between occasional chairs and the coffee table.

As noted, the best way to arrange the room is to start with the largest piece and let it focus on the focal point. Then you build around it with the next largest piece, then the next. Finally you add in the smaller tables and chairs, ensuring that you allow plenty of space for traffic patterns. From there, use your judgment. You'll know when the room is right because it will look right. It's as much a feeling as it is a science.

Author Jennifer Akre is an owner of a wide variety of online specialty shops including that offer both items and information on how you can easily furnish and decorate your space. Whether it is coffee tables for your living room or end tables for you newly remodeled home, there are many tips you can use to make any spot both functional and beautiful. Click today and indulge your senses.

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