Wow! Antique-shop.com forums are in the big #1 spot on Google for the search term "antique shop forum", for 4 years running!Thanks to YOU.
I once had a late 1940’s vintage booklet, issued by the US Dept. of Ag, which detailed the method of modernizing your old furniture. It showed how you could remove the apron off your dining table, and then paint the whole thing gray followed by adding flower decals to the top. In the bedroom, cut the legs off the dresser, cut the bed foot board down and coat everything with paint to create the new “Hollywood” effect. Sounds like a typical government funded program.