[quiltmaster]

You could cover the whole thing with a paintable wall paper then spray lacquer it. Then you wouldn't have to worry about how the bubble repair looks.

But, sometimes it's just easiest and cheaper to start over. The 21" Lack coffee is just $30 new,

[quiltmaster]

OK, I admit it. Now I'm obsessed.

Check out this hacker blog for some good tips. ikea hacker: same table, different styles

In particular Diana's table near the bottom recommends a glue.

Good luck!

[RubrikGreen]

Dear Mesmerized..

Sounds like your LACK table has de-laminated.
If you don't want/need "woodgrain", you really don't -need- plywood; masonite or paperboard or any other smooth-surface thing will work - it just needs to be thick enough to cover over the delamination. Cut to size and glue down.
If you try to remove such large "bubbled" areas, I think you'll just be taking the table down to it's paper core. So cover it up!

If you're going for any solid paint finish, you don't have to be so particular about the cover-up substrate. So whatever you have access to. If the square piece for the top is cut to the right size, the most you'll need to do is apply some putty/wood filler/etc. to the edges to blend it in with the sides for a smooth transition (depends on how thick the top piece is. This might -not- even be necessary!!).

Yes, a glaze finish will provide a dark mocha color. The thing with glazes, tho', is that while the finish has added depth and tonal variation, it is not as smoothly consistent as a single color paint. You could get a very very dark color by putting a black glaze over a med-to-dark brown, for e.g..

You'll certainly be able to find some sort of dark brown solid color paint in a latex or etc. Coupla coats of latex and a coupla coats of polyurethane, and you're good to go. (you can get an extremely smooth finish w/water-base poly if you're patient enough to let it dry, sand very fine, coat, dry, sand even finer, coat.) Poly is great because it's basically waterproof, so water rings from glasses, etc, won't be a problem.

That's my thoughts. There are lots and lots of possibilities if you're just using the LACK table as a basic structure.

Paint is good because 1) it's readily available; 2) it's reasonably cheap; 3) if you don't like it you can *paint over*. So if your first color isn't what you want or not dark enough... try again!

- RG

[MesmerizednConfused]

Thanks again everyone for all the great advice!

I think I've finally established a plan. I know everyone's been debating about whether I can sand down the bubble or not. I'm telling you, it's too large. I've decided to scrape the bubbles off and adhere plywood to it for the added height. I prefer something thicker than paperboard. At the moment I can't recall which glue I've decided to use, but it can easily be removed with nail polish remover, so I'm opting for that because I imagine the glue may spill out on the sides. Then I'm going to prime it and ask the sales associate at the paint store to mix it with a bit of the brown I'll be using, so the brown color will be richer (since I'm going from dark to lighter). Then I'll coat it with the the actual brown paint. The finish will be lacquer.

The reason why I'm uninterested in replacing this coffee table is that I don't actually need one. In fact, I picked it up from a deserted sidewalk. I thought it would be a challenging but achievable project. I'm really looking forward to it. I appreciate everyone's suggestions and contributed knowledge. I doubt I could've have devised a plan as quickly and successfully without all of your help. I also appreciate the links of other reinvented LACK coffee tables. Maybe over time, I'll texture it and if I get bored of that, I might use wall paper or decoupage it. I do like purple, and purple coffee tables aren't very popular. Some floral stenciling or dotted floral imprint might be nice. Anyways, thank you again!