Spilled nail polish remover on wood table

Acetone Table Restore 

Spilled acetone on a wood table? Learn how I restored a damaged French Provincial coffee table with sanding, stain, and a little elbow grease.

  

Spilled nail polish remover on wood table? Don’t panic—your beautiful furniture can still be saved. Today, I’m sharing how I rescued a stunning French Provincial coffee table after a nail polish remover mishap. It involves a little elbow grease, sanding, staining, and a story you won’t want to miss.

Let me take you back to where it all began: an auction one Saturday morning. If you’ve been around Vintage Style Gal for any length of time, then you know how much I adore furniture. I used to frequent auctions, scouting out charming and forgotten treasures. On this particular day, the guns were the stars of the show, so no one was paying attention to the furniture. Can you believe I scored a gorgeous Thomasville all-wood French Provincial coffee table for $1? No joke. I still can’t believe people passed it by!

Just as I was falling in love with it, my sister spotted it too. Do you hear that dramatic music of our showdown? I told myself I’d let her have it if she really wanted it, and in a rare moment of sisterly generosity, I stepped aside. She bought the table for a buck and scored the matching couch for $2. Not only that, she nabbed a bed and nightstand for $10. Quite the haul, wouldn’t you say?

Fast forward a bit, and the coffee table came back into my life—though not in the condition it once was. My sister spilled nail polish remover (aka acetone) on it, leaving a huge, glaring blemish on that beautiful wood. She decided it wasn’t worth repairing and was going to set it out at the curb. Can you believe that? I swooped in and said, "Oh no you don’t!" I loaded Mr. Vintage into the car and drove 45 minutes to rescue the table. Five minutes later, it was loaded up and headed back to its rightful home—mine!

Here’s where the work begins.

How to Repair Acetone Damage on a Wood Table

If you’ve ever had a run-in with nail polish remover and wood furniture, you know it can leave behind a ghostly white mark or completely eat through the finish. But the good news? It’s fixable.

Step 1: Sand It Down
The first step we took was sanding the top of the table down to raw wood. You could see the damage from across the room, but once the finish was removed, the bare wood was revealed. It felt like a fresh start.

Step 2: Paint Removal (Optional but Worth It)
The bottom half of the table had layers of chippy paint—which I usually love—but for this piece, I wanted a consistent look. We used a Dremel tool to get into all those nooks and crannies, which was no small feat. Paint removal is tedious, but oh-so-satisfying when it’s done right.

Step 3: Buff and Prep
After the paint was gone, we buffed the entire base of the table using a Dremel attachment. This helped smooth things out and get it ready for staining.

Step 4: Stain
We applied a rich wood stain to bring the piece back to life. It soaked in beautifully and brought out the natural grain of the wood. Interestingly, the lip of the table top took the stain differently—likely due to being a different type of wood—but I loved that detail. It added character, and you know how I feel about character!

In order to remove the nail polish remover, we sanded the top of the table down.  The first photo in this post shows you the raw wood after we sanded it down.

More Budget-Friendly Furniture Flips to Come

If this kind of project speaks to you—where something old gets a second chance—stick around. I share DIY furniture makeovers, decorating on a dime, and all things vintage with heart. There’s plenty more where this came from!

So the next time you accidentally spill nail polish remover on a wood table, remember: not all is lost. You might just end up with your favorite piece in the whole house.

Until next time,

Cara