Garage Sale Find#Diamond in the Rough# $75 #Dining Table +6 chairs#Makeover

We were on the way home from Paris in 2009 and there was a sale near Barling.  I spotted this 'pottery barn' style table, but it was brown.  I was thinking, "it's probably $200", but told my husband to turn the vehicle around and go back.  I wasn't expecting to see such a horrible sight and I thought, "oh, this is why she's selling it", but in my mind's eye, I knew if the price was right I could overhaul it, if it was real wood.  Sure enough, the price was $75 and it was solid wood and VERY heavy.  She told me that her grandkids had gotten on the table with their soccer cleats :( and her daughter didn't really keep the kids from abusing the furniture, so it was sold 'as is'.  I really could not fathom what the rest of her house looked like, but I said yes with a big smile and my husband picked it up later that evening. I took the table/chairs and used wood putty and sanded all the rough spots out.  I used an expresso wood stain to restore the original look.  Last year I decided to paint the table a lighter color to make my dining look fresher and larger.  Here is a pic of one of the brown chairs before the 2nd makeover, sanded some here.

Here is after I painted the chair using the Ace paint, Clark+Kensington, that was free. It has a primer in it and it is a medium gray.  I painted 4 of the chairs last year, but it didn't take long to wear down with no top coat or poly on it.  I liked the softness of the flat finish and I discovered a paint called "chalk paint".  I researched how to mix my own, like many diy'ers and I really am happy with the results.
Here is a pic before slight distressing and with a 2nd coat of chalk paint.

Here is a pic of the table with 2 coats of simply white Benjamin moore paint color in the Ace free paint. I previously painted a couple of coatsin the Ace free paint sample with no top coat.
  If you don't get a paint expert at this Greenwood store, you might find that all the sales agents think that white is just like all other whites: that is SO wrong. There are many shades of white and it's not just in a can with a white base with no tint, ok? I really am not a rude person, but at this point I was ready to just mix the colors myself, but luckily I had the first can with the "expert" paint person who added a touch of brown and yellow to get the formula.  I then used 3 coats of polycrylic. I decided to slightly distress this table as well and afterwards, instead of the polycrylic, I just used Johnson's paste wax on the areas I distressed and it turned out great.

This is after distressing lightly and before paste wax

And after a light coat of paste wax and 200 calories burned from buffing, here is the dried product. Don't youjust love the soft sheen it has and what a differenct there is from using poly? Amazing.  I don't know if I'll ever use a different kind of paint again.

Here's  a pic of the table/chairs together, table not finished yet

Before & After pics below

Oh yes, and since I can't stop painting once I get started and plus I've been dying to finish these paint jobs for a LONG time: I just kept going.  Who knows where I'll end?

Here's my island, sanded down.  A fake bucher block top island that needs something besides the fake yellow top. It drives me nuts.

Stay tuned for this project still in progress alon with the breakfast bar update.

 Final Results:

And here she is.  Isn't she a beaut? Perfect background for my color combo of red/yellow/aqua blue/green

So here's the before & after side by side:

Now I just REALLY need to paint the dining room walls!  Just waiting on some more 'free' paint!

Please feel free to write your thoughts here, I'd love to read them!