I tend to see chair covers used way more than table cloths when staging a home for sale. As a matter of fact, I've never seen a table cloth used at all. I would repair the finish, buy an elegant centerpiece from Ashley Homestore or Wayfair and integrate chair covers.

Thanks for the advice. When I began investigating what to do with my table presentation, I wasn’t seeing tablecloths being used either. Although the table was a mid priced table. I am not sure it is worth the expense of a redo. Do you think I could get away with running a table topper (runner) widthwise, in the center, to mask the streaking?

I'm sure that chair covers are not what you need for the top of your table. For everyday use, I would not even worry about the damage. Use placemats for meals. And yes, a runner still can look great, but I'd save it for company dress up rather than pick it up for every meal at the table.

Lol! The child was 4, no beers, lol...but you envision correctly the character that was added to the tabletop! I am currently on Pinterest exploring whether I can DIY a tabletop restoration. I am comfortable with stains, paints and lacquers , but I have never tackled trying to restore a laminate that has a refined finish. Is it even possible?

Staging a home means no one is using the table so bare is the prettiest look. For use, everyday I use cloths or place-mats non stop. Why would you ruin a perfectly beautiful wood finish?

Cotton and/or linen cloths are the hottest thing for your dining table in Europe at the moment. I think it looks great and it’s so practical. Without knowing your style it’s hard to know for sure what the best option is but it sure is a cheap and nice way to fix up a damaged table top.

Huh! Thanks for the input. The look pictured is similar to what I was doing before, it just wasn’t true linen. I had no idea I was being ‘transcontinental, lol! I will look at some linen cloths along with exploring finish repair. I appreciate the help!

Can we see your dining room?

This is a pictures of my open area, and a close up of the tabletop damage. This is a table that I loved in our old house, but just 'make do' with it in this one. We repainted recently after flood damage which spiraled into rethinking a lot of decor. The bay windows in the dining area continue to have 2" wood slat blinds. We removed the wooden shelf and padded window cornice boxes above them, as well as the vertical slat sliding door cover. I have ordered wrought iron rod for the slider and am in the process of trying to choose a grommet style drapery panel. The fireplace mantel is being restyled with a wrought iron circle mirror from Ballard Designs. The sofa's will carry us through Covid then they will be replaced, and we will order an area rug to ground the fireside seating. Because we are using a rug in the fireside area I don't think i want to mess with one under the table. I love the fresh, open feeling of the dining area without the window treatments but fear it may look stark without a table covering.

I like the looks of informal table cloths and nearly always keep one on my table, along with a simple centerpiece. How often you see it sort of depends on local trends. I photographed homes for realtors for a while and saw a lot of variations in the homes I photographed. Granted, these were all homes at the top 1/3 of the market, but the extra pizazz of the decorated table made it a lot easier to make the photo of the room look special. I don't know if you are selling but I always like to make my home look special to me as though I were selling. I deserve the treat. The last thing I want for my home is that it should look like the overly bland homes represented in too many real estate ads in which every house looks just like all the others. A table cloth and 10 minutes worth of decorating once a month keeps my home fresh and interesting to me and my family. I love to be at home, and this is part of it.

Great advice. I have ordered some eye candy for my large hurricane. I will try it with a linen tablecloth!

Tablecloths are a great way to add color, pattern, a little softness when there isn’t much or any and it’s a pretty noncommittal way to dip your toe in the water of adding these things.

Thank you. The bare floors and windows were what made me think I needed some "softening" of fabric somewhere. I didn't know if I was overthinking it. When I didn't see table cloths in photos I became concerned that it may not be a desirable look. I appreciate your help.

Williams Sonoma always has some good stuff, and good stuff on sale.