I have been wanting a new dining room table for awhile. Our dark square gathering table for 8 has been great over the years. However, I found it too dark and I am not a fan of the purple nail polish and scratches all over the table. The hunt for a new table was on. I saw some I liked, but add in 8 chairs and it is a pretty penny to replace it all. As I am an avid Pinterest girl, I started looking at dining room makeovers. I decided that I could paint the table–no problem. My issue was with the chairs. They are bar stool height and one of them is a bench. The upholstery is built in and cannot be pulled off to recover. I bit the bullet and decided to chalk paint them.
I knew this was a project I would need to start while my husband was out of town for a few days as he would NOT be on board with this idea. I have learned to do now and ask forgiveness later. But really, what could go wrong with this?
Before I chickened out, I sanded the table with my trusty mouse sander. That was the point of no return. I rounded up my daughter and we headed to Home Depot. I was on the hunt for chalk paint. I went with Behrs chalk paint. For the table, I picked a shade of white and for the cushions, I did an Onyx gray. While we were there we picked up some bright yellow paint for her to redo her room. Go hard or go home!
I started painting the table white but felt it was missing something–so I added some grey over it. Then I sanded some off to show white. I finished it with an antique wax, which is a brownish wax color you apply and then wipe off. It wound up giving it a really nice driftwood effect.
So onto the chairs. The wood was pretty easy to paint. I stuck with the white and just distressed them with my sander to have some of the dark shine through. Now onto the upholstery–I followed the instructions I saw and sprayed them down with water first. You also have to dilute your chalk paint. I did about a 50/50 mix. I would up applying 3 coats to each chair. They are still a little mottled in color, but I ran out of paint and was really tired. I like to call it a rustic design. To finish the project, I did a layer off clear wax over the wood and the upholstery. I found that ironing the upholstery after the wax sat overnight, softened the chairs some.
After logging about 30 hours into this project, it was done! I just needed some new curtains and new wall decor. We found a cool old shutter at a re purposed store and worked around that. I made a new shelf for the side and a framed sign. I am so happy with my finished product.
My husband Jose is now a believer in my skills! He does not love how the cushions of the chairs feel , but agrees it has totally changed the look of our home.
Now, I want to totally redo our bedroom. I believe he will be out of town again next month……..
livinglavidachacha 