Fans of vintage or antique wood furniture know that these older pieces come with some trade-offs. For example, older, solid wood furniture was built to last—unlike modern particle board counterparts. But because of this, it can be extremely heavy (i.e. difficult to move), and be pretty pricey if it’s in pristine condition.

That’s another part of the trade-off: Furniture that was made to be around for a lifetime (or even several generations) may remain sturdy, but if it’s being used regularly, it will likely accumulate scratches, dents, and other marks over the years. The upside of this, though, is that it means you can score some amazing vintage wood furniture—scratches and dings included—for low (or at least reasonable) prices.

If the scratches and other imperfections and signs of use bother you, there’s always the option of refinishing the piece. But if you’re mostly fine with them—or would be satisfied by something that makes the scratches look significantly better but not totally perfect, and is infinitely less work—you may want to get your hands on some walnuts. Here’s what to know.

Before we begin, let us start by saying that the walnut trick is not going to give you perfect results and make the scratches disappear completely. Also, we are aware that this is not a professional or permanent solution. It is, however, a cheap and very low-effort way to make your wood furniture look better, and is Bob Vila-approved .

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Here’s what to do:

After seeing so many dramatic before-and-after photos of these walnut transformations, I wanted to see if the trick actually produces those results in real life. So, I tried it out on an end table and a desk (both recent estate sale purchases), and here are the results:

Top of end table before:

Top of end table after:

Admittedly, the walnut trick worked far better than I had expected, and produces decent cosmetic results. With that in mind, here are a few observations and tips based solely on my own experience: