Furniture Dings Covered by Walnut

"How To Cover Up Dings in Wooden Furniture"
Home Hacks, apartment therapy (February 19, 2010)

"My mom taught me this simple trick several years ago. As a fan of vintage furniture it has come in handy again and again. Like magic, watch as a single walnut covers up the small dings and scrapes in your wooden furniture. We aren't promising miracles here, but with a project this easy it is definitely worth a shot...."

The parts list for this project is "dinged up wood furniture | one walnut". I'm not kidding.

There's a five-step set of instructions. The last two are:

"4. Watch in amazement as the damaged area begins to darken.
"5. Step back and admire your work. Hey, you didn't even break a sweat!"

The first three aren't all that hard, either - although you may have to exert yourself a little.

This is one of those 'how to' guides that I admire and respect. It's simple, uses fairly easy-to-get materials (provided walnuts are part of your culture's idea of 'food'), and doesn't take much more than a mildly adequate eye for detail and a willingness to use your muscles.

I'll admit that it was also a bit of a relief to not find the word "sustainable" or "green" in the post. Not that I object to saving the planet by having sustainable wood shipped in from some exotic locale - but it's nice to see something for the rest of us, too.