I have a fun reveal for you today… a little sneak peek at one of the pieces I’ve painted recently! A two tone dining room table and chair set that I’ve painted Rust-Oleum chalk paint linen white and distressed with gray wax. This is a classic table with a gorgeous stained top and painted bottom… so it works in just about any room.
Although we did spice it up a little bit with a pretty yellow and gray damask styled fabric for the chairs. I just had to get that sunny yellow in there!
If you’re looking for tutorials for achieving these finishes you can check out this post: beginner tips on how to use a paint sprayer or this one on how to use dark wax for chalk paint. In the meantime enjoy!
Supplies:
- Rust-oleum Linen White Chalk Paint
- Homeright Sprayer
- Dixie Belle Grunge Gray Wax
- Rag for Wiping off Wax
- BEST DANG CHALK PAINT AND WAX Brush EVER
- Minwax Dark Walnut Stain
- Rag for Wiping Stain On and Off!
- Minwax Spar Urethane Satin Spray
- Furniture Painting Wheels
- Drop Cloth
- Fabric for the Seat Covers
- Staple/Upholstery Tack Remover
- Staple Gun (and staples!)
- Sand Paper
- Multi-Purpose Cleaner
Painting the Table: Rustoleum Chalk Paint Linen White
This table has beautiful detailing (just wait until you see the feet!) so I wanted to highlight the details while showing off the classic lines. I decided to keep it simple with a painted base and a stained top.
While you can do all of this painting by hand I did use my sprayer to put two coats of Rust-oleum’s linen white chalk paint… it gives it a beautiful brush-stroke free finish.
Linen white is my go-to color when I want a nice, bright (but not stark white) white…. so that was an easy decision. I went back and forth on whether to use gray wax or a dark brown (since the table is dark walnut and the fabric is gray I could see both working). At the end of the day I decided the detailing on the chairs would be prettier with a gray wax and ran with it.
To top it alllllll off we stripped the top and re-stained it with a beautiful dark walnut finish. I love how that dark wood gives it just a little bit of warmth (especially when most of the other colors are so cool).
Check Out These Other Linen White Chalk Paint Projects:
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| Large Armoire | Pet Food Station |
Waxing Chalk Painted Furniture (with Details!)
I think this is my absolute favorite part of the entire table and chairs set… just look at these beautiful floral details on the chair! Using a furniture wax will take those details and bring them out like you wouldn’t believe.
Furniture wax was made for waxing chalk painted furniture… with details. Dark wax for chalk paint is literally my favorite thing.
Each and every nook and cranny is highlighted in the best way possible. I love distressing every single piece of furniture I can get my hands on but something with details?
I mean just look at these little feet! Without furniture wax you wouldn’t even see those details all the way by the floor…
They would be invisible.
Covering Replacement Dining Chair Seats (the quick and easy solution)
Now let’s move on to the chairs. The wooden portions were easy… they received two coats of linen white paint with a grunge gray wax finish just like the table did. Then it was on to the seats! These chairs had replacement dining chair seats (which is quite the tongue twister) meaning they weren’t the original seats.
Oh well, not a problem for me! I removed the three layers of fabric that were already covering them and replaced it with a pretty gray and yellow damask patterned fabric.
Taking new (pretty!) fabric and re-covering the seat of your dining room chairs is the fastest (and easiest!) way to update your chairs. Whether you’re simply recovering your existing dining room chairs, working with replacement dining chair seats (like these) or upholstering brand new chairs it’s a simple fix.
Just wrap your fabric around the seat base and staple it to the bottom! When it comes to replacement seats a board cut to size and a bunch of foam padding makes a great solution… then you can place it right down on the base of your chair.
Easy peezy lemon squeezy!
Now the replacement dining chair seats are gray and the chairs are linen white… so I suppose you can call these two tone chairs to go with my two tone table!
Sealing the Table and Chairs
Once you’ve painted and waxed the whole shebang it’s time to seal it… so that you don’t accidentally scratch the paint off doing simple things! You can use a clear wax but I find that a spray sealer is super easy and works beautifully over a dark wax.
I just take these babies out side and spray them with a few light coats of sealer so that they’re protected allllll the way around! Then you can put your seat covers back in place and volia! You’re finished.
All that’s left now is to enjoy your pretty new table and chairs! Or in my case… haul them over to the antique booth where they’re waiting for someone to love.
