Greetings,

I'll start by saying I'm 100% brand new to the world of furniture restoration, but I'm very much looking forward to diving in!

I have two rather ornate end tables that I would describe as Ottoman in their design. While most of the detail appears to be painted onto the wood surfaces of the tables, there are some inlaid pieces which I believe are mother of pearl. In addition to this, there are some missing pieces of wood from the top of one of the tables, which would need to be replaced.

The primary issue with these tables is that the clear finish on them has begun to bubble up and come off. As such, I would like to remove the clear finish and replace it. Along the way, Iwould like to replace the (very small) wood ornament inlays that have fallen out, and of course I do not want to damage either the wood, the paint on the wood where it's painted, or the mother of pearl inlays.

I have a number of pictures of the tables that I will post as a follow-up to this thread just as soon as I figure out how to do that.

Any help from the experienced ones out there would really be welcome, as I'm just trying to figure out my direction and come up with a solid plan.

Thanks!

Mike