Another Vintage French Provincial Dining Table…

I have chairs to go with this table.. Yay.. and I think I got some pretty good before pictures too…

This is a vintage cherry table and 4 chair set. The table and chairs were in overall very good condition, they just needed a little updating and TLC!

Before

Sorry about this super blurry chair picture.. but it was all I had!

The first thing I did was turn the table over and paint the apron in a very light grey..so light it ALMOST looks white. I then flipped the table back over and sanded the top down to remove the old finish and scratches.. no stripper.. just sanding!

It has a beautiful cherry grain and great lines!

Here is where things get a little “crazy”.. I wanted to try something different and I had this “sun bleached” stain I had picked up a while back just waiting to get used.. the color looked like driftwood to me.. so I applied it to the table top… didn’t really like it.. it made it look like pickled wood…YIKES! So before the stain had a chance to set I applied a coat of special walnut to the top and removed most of the sun bleached stain plus the walnut stain with paper towels.. lots of paper towels… Did you know you can remove stain with more stain.. I know kind of weird and it doesn’t make sense but it works.. so I let the table dry overnight and applied another coat of special walnut stain. What I thought was really interesting is that the grey was still there but more of an undertone..I liked it… it looked different.. not TOO different.. but different enough to catch your eye… I REALLY like it! Sorry no pictures at this stage, I think I was a little freaked out! I finished the top off with two coats of paste wax and then buffed it.

I then went back to the apron and legs and lightly distressed them and then applied a black glaze to help deepen the grey tone.. just love the way it hangs out in the crevices.. the glaze part is always the most stressful part to me.. you have to hurry, work in small areas and can’t stop once you start.. but the final result it is so worth it!

I also sanded the chairs, in order to remove the nicks that occur over time, and painted them in Duck Egg chalk paint… I did 1 1/2 coats.. you know… one good full coat then a 1/2 coat to touch up where you see brush strokes… I then lightly distressed them, waxed and buffed them.. man did my hands HURT after all of that!! The seats were in great condition, WHEW!, so all I did was add new fabric to them (this is a Waverly print) and reattached them once the chairs were buffed.

So here she is in all of her glory… Dinner in the garden anyone?

Can you see the grey undertones in the wood grain?

I love the combination of the Duck Egg blue with the grey…

OK.. so the set is doesn’t match, but it coordinates beautifully! I love the look of painted pieces mixed and matched together.. What about you?

Thanks for stopping by guys…until next time!

PS… This set is heading up to Lucketts if anyone is interested.. 😉

Parties I am linking this to:

Between Naps on the Porch, Stylish Once Again, Coastal Charm, Vintage Wanna Bee, Primitive and Proper, Savvy Southern Style, Domestically Speaking, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy,
My Romantic Home, French Country Cottage, Chic on a Shoestring, Miss Mustard Seed, Decorating Insanity, Stringtown Home