Saturday, May 7, 2011

Better in Black

It is well known that I have an abiding love affair for pressed-back chairs (as evidenced here, here, and here). In fact, I think altogether I have painted something like 21 pressed-back chairs, all in various shades of white! However, about two weeks ago I was seized with a sudden urge to do a set in BLACK. Lucky for me, I found the perfect dining set to fill the need!

I got a 48" round oak table with a lovely pedestal base. As you can see, the finish on the top was in poor shape.


And six of these gorgeous pressed-back chairs. They are the first of this design that I've seen!

There are two arm chairs in the set.


I wiped all the chairs down with Liquid Sander/Deglosser. It's wonderful for curvy spindles and the like. One chair required some repair work, but then I set up my "assembly line."

It was wonderful to have good weather to work outside this week!

I sanded the top of the table down to bare wood. I am never afraid of a poor finish on the top--that just makes it easier to sand down! More to be scared of are those thick, ultra-durable finishes that take hours to sand off. The base and apron were painted black.


There's not too much to be excited about when the chairs are completely painted in flat black. At this point, you might wonder what you have done...

But then you attack them all with sandpaper and a few coats of polyurethane, and look what you have instead!

Look at me! I'm so pretty!

I love that no two are exactly the same...


Without the leaf, you have a pretty round table to seat four:

Some pretty legs...



Or you can put the 24" leaf in to seat a couple more.

My kids got all excited when I brought this one in the house to take pictures (it's sitting in our front room at the moment), and asked if we were going to keep it...


If I thought I could keep it all to myself...and not have to sit at a table that always seems perpetually jam-sticky...I just might!

This dining set has SOLD.




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34 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow! That looks SO good and expensive. Awesome job.

Doodlecraft said...

I love it! So inspiring! I was contemplating doing this to my own table a few weeks ago...I definitely will now! It's gorgeous! Thanks for posting on I <3 naptime! :)

Sherrie said...

Your table set came out beautifully! Love all the detail on the chairs!

Unknown said...

this looks fantastic!

Donna T. said...

I love the chairs...I have 2 chairs similar to yours and think I'm going to have to give them a new look...

Deborah March said...

You know, this is an absolutely SPECTACULAR transformation. I have a "new-to-me" diningroom set, and had planned to do it in distressed white, but OH MY, after seeing THIS, I think I need to reconsider. THANK YOU for this inspiration!

Jennifer Interiors said...

I was lucky enough to see this table set in person and it is GORGEOUS!!!! BTW, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my chairs...so does everyone who sees them. Thanks again!

Kim @ A Brush of Whimsy said...

It looks awesome!

Rachel said...

You know, I think I actually like the black better! Then again, I'm kinda on a black freaky kick thing right now..

deb said...

OMG! They look amazing! You have a good eye my dear!
*hugs*deb

Rachel said...

Hey dear lady. May I ask you to make something for me? I would like to buy from you... a cupboard door (if you have any left) or a photo frame or anything you think this saying would look good on, (I'll let you decide--I'd like to hang it on my wall...)

I know not what the future holds, but I do know who holds the future!

I can pay you right away if it will help. :D

Cassie Bustamante said...

wow- that set is gorgeous! i can see it in an all white room with white washed plank flooring and it would totally stand out!

Grace @ Sense and Simplicity said...

I love the black and especially that you refinished the tabletop in wood - such a nice contrast to the darker base and chairs.

Stacey said...

Pretty! Love the set you created! Perfect!
Stacey of Embracing Change

Speckled Lamb said...

Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful
Lissa

Jennifer said...

Looks great!

Jen
www.dishesandsocks.com

Full Circle Creations said...

I love it in the black! Great job!
Holly

Bobbi said...

Absolutely fabulous!!!! I would love to know what you use for paint and finish. I have a table just like it and would love to transform it just like this.

Unknown said...

You did a wonderful job on this set. Love the distressing and I love black painted furniture. So classic.

Melissa and Scott said...

Nice work! I love those chairs!

~Melissa

Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures said...

I have a smilar table and chairs. I have been thinking of painting the chairs black and have never liked the others I have seen distressed except yours. You did a wonderful job.

Funky Junk Interiors said...

Very nice! Thanks for the visual. I have a similar setup and was wondering about doing the same treatment!

Donna

Homeroad said...

Wow! So nice in black! You've got me wanting to get out the black paint and attack my table!
Susan

Courtney ~ French Country Cottage said...

Gorgeous! Gorgeous! Gorgeous! I am loving this is black!! It's just beautiful with the distressing- it really shows off the details well. Would love for you to come share at Feathered Nest Friday sometime! The party was up a bit late this week because of blogger issues but is going on now! :)

Courtney ~ French Country Cottage said...

Glad you came by and linked this up! Sharing it on facebook~ thanks for sharing at Feathered Nest Friday! Hope to see you again soon!

Sanlea said...

I love white, and have been thinking about going white, but this set is beautiful. Now I have something to think about.

Perchance_to_Dream86 said...

Do you use spray paint or a brush and can? Sorry I have never refinished anything and was about to tackle my dining table and had wanted to leave the top brown, kind of like you did, except I was going to do the pedestal and the chairs an antique blue.

Perchance_to_Dream86 said...

Or what if I even decided to make the top white and make the chairs white but with the blue showing from under, would that work? Thanks!

Korrie@RedHenHome said...

Perchance, you don't have an e-mail attached to your profile, so I hope you will see this! For this project I used regular paint in a paint sprayer. I have used both spray paint and paint & brush, though, for various projects. If it were my first refinishing project--I would probably choose spray paint, and Rustoleum is my favorite by far (sold by Home Depot). You can certainly do a 2-color job--you just end up painting everything twice, and then sanding lightly to let the underneath color show through. If you want to discuss in more detail, comment again (or e-mail) and give me your e-mail address!

Perchance_to_Dream86 said...

Luckily I did see your response! Thanks! My email is Perchance_to_Dream86@yahoo.com.

Deana said...

what a gorgeous set!! wonderful transformation.

KBrown's Bad Habit said...

Hi RedHen...I'm wondering if you would mind sharing with me what you charged for this table and chairs? I'm asking bc I have someone asking me to do her table and 6 chairs that look EXACTLY like this set. I'm use to finding pieces myself and then charging, but not sure how to charge when the person has their own piece...do you have any suggestions or do you mind sharing? thx!

Urbanfarmer said...

Hello - would you mind sharing what color of paint including the finish (flat/egg shell) you used. Also what type of polyurethane. Do you use an airless paint sprayer for the paint and polyurethane? Your work is great and it inspires me. Thanks

Unknown said...

I know it's been several years since you posted this, but I'm refinishing a dining set based on your work here. I have a couple of questions: Do you use primer before painting black? Do you do more than one coat of paint, sanding between coats? How many coats of poly do you use? I just read some other instructions on doing a distressed black finish, and it was WAY more work than I was anticipating...I was wondering if you thought all that was necessary. Thanks!