Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Fixing chipped table

Good afternoon group!

Ok, I have a oval living room center table that started chipping a few weeks after I bought it from The Room Store. I thought that it was veneer, but when it actually started chipping at warp speed in flakes, I figured it to be some kind of paint of some sort. It is dark mahogany, and I would like to repaint it (or stain it) the same or close to the same color, and add a polyurathane coating so that I won't have to worry about this ever happening again. Father's Day is coming up, and I would like to fix it as a present for my husband. The last project I worked on was a pencil box in grade school, so I would really appreciate any steps and advise that's offered. If this works, I can fix the end tables and the nightstands that we also bought from that lovely store, as it is doing the same thing. Be careful of The Room Store!!!

Thanks so very much!

It sounds as if the material from which the table is made is failing. I would return it to the seller. If the finish itself is failing in this manner, it will likely need to be stripped before it can be painted. You should have gotten more service from this item.