mel bell's Profile

i'm going to second the walnut/pecan comment. i've used that technique successfully with many of our dark wood pieces - dining table, crib, chair legs. just rub the shelled nut back and forth over the scratch. works like a charm, plus it's cheap and eco-friendly! :)

something easy you could do is to set up a meal calendar for them (if they don't already have one) through a website like www.carecalendar.org or something similar. find out their meal preferences and get an email list of their friends, and round up the troops to bring them dinners!

and if you can't bring a meal yourself, having a pizza or takeout delivered to them at the hospital is always a huge help.

this concept is so fun and fits well in certain homes. i love the idea of picking a chair based on mood/personality. like in the first picture - having a gloomy day? brighten it up with the red chair. birthday? you get the white throne. each chair has a story, and the room feels so inviting!

i can't see this style working for someone like my mom, who loves the matchy-matchy, well-polished, museum-house look.

one option (if sanding isn't possible) is to cover the top with a fabric or paper cut to fit. use spray adhesive to lay it over the formica, use a box cutter to trim the edges, then paint over the top with mod podge or sealant.