A light sanding was enough to remove the honey-toned varnish, but the large-ish chip in the arm was trickier to fix. As you can see in the picture above, I ended up fudging it with sandable wood-filler. Basically, I glopped on the filler and and shaped it until it roughly matched the curve of the arm. Once the filler was dry, I lightly sanded the area to create a more seamless contour. After a coat of primer and two coats of glossy black paint, you can barely tell the chip was ever there.
Better, no?
I'm still working on this set-up - the table currently lives in our entryway and is usually piled with mail, keys, scarves, and hats. I'd like to get some baskets for added storage underneath, and maybe a small tray to go on top.
I think it works for now, though - especially considering what a cheap fix it was!
