I have a vintage dresser I bought at the thrift store a while back. At the time, I was intending to paint it, so I didn't care about the condition of the finish. There's a lot to love about this dresser- it's got 10 huge drawers, made of solid hardwood, so it's super heavy. Dovetail drawer construction, super smooth drawer action. Huge mirror. It's drawer pulls and general style sort of nod to an Asian style without being cheesy.

But it has this odd finish that I've kind of grown to love. It's black, but without being solid black. It sort fades to gray, like an ombr� effect, in the center if the drawer faces and you can see the wood grain somewhat through the finish. It's kind of shiny, like lacquer, though it isn't lacquer. No idea what it actually is.

Over the years, it's gotten a lot of nicks and scuffs and I'd love to be able to make them at least less noticeable. I tried the obvious solution of going over the nicks with black marker (in a less noticeable test location) but it looks like what it is- like someone drew on the dresser with a Sharpie.

Any ideas for fixing it up a bit without completely redoing, because I have no idea how I'd get the cool ombr� effect again. I try and post a picture later. I can't now because my husband is asleep in the bedroom where it is.