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Extendable dining tables — The leaf mechanism decides the table
An extendable table is a compromise machine. It is a small table most of the time and a large one occasionally, and every design…
What is wrong with yours?
Start with the symptom, not the product.
Wobbly Side Table or Bent Hairpin Legs: What to Replace and How
How to Fix a Sagging Bookshelf, and the Span That Caused It
How to Fix a Wobbly Wooden Desk: Wobble Is a Joint Problem
Anti-Tip Kits for Dressers: How to Fit One Into Solid Wood Properly
Dresser Drawer Will Not Slide? Start With the Back Panel
Wooden Bed Frame Squeaking? It Is a Joint, Not a Board
Dining Tables
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Size
Oval wood dining tables — The shape that fits a narrow room
An oval table is a rectangle with the corners taken off, and that single change fixes the two things rectangles are worst at: bruised…
Wood Care
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Best Finish for a Solid Wood Table Top: Oil, Hard Wax Oil or Film
Oil, hard wax oil or a film finish fail in three different ways. The row that decides most purchases is whether you can repair one square inch of it.
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Wood Filler vs Wood Putty vs Epoxy: Which One Your Repair Actually Needs
Filler sands and takes finish, putty does neither, epoxy is the only one with strength. Which of the three each repair actually needs, with a comparison table.
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Desks
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Desks
Desk Grommets: Cutting the Hole You Cannot Undo
Grommets are sold by the hole they need, not their outside diameter. Get the size or the position wrong and it is the one desk job with no undo.
Coffee & Side Tables
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Size
Coffee Table Dimensions: Sized From the Sofa, Not the Room
A coffee table has no dimensions of its own. Height comes from the seat, length is two thirds of the sofa, and the gap is what you walk through.
Part
Metal Coffee Table Legs: Low Height, and Wood That Still Moves
At coffee height almost any metal leg is rigid enough. What decides whether the table survives is how the steel is fixed to a solid top that still moves with the seasons.