I have completed my table project! The table was (nearly) fun to sand, and I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment and artistry from priming and painting. The chairs on the other hand, well, I got through sanding two of them and decided that I had never liked them in the first place and certainly didn't like them enough to put so much effort into them. You can see in the before photo how complicated they are. So, they can stay for now, but I am going to keep an eye out for a killer deal. Our style is more clean-lined modern with an earthy flair, and I think a lot of different chairs could go with our updated table. The point of this project was to save us money in the long run so that maybe we can avoid the expense of a dining table. I'm amazed how costly they are. I think a good compromise is saving the table and getting different chairs. Especially since I barely spent any of my birthday money on supplies. I'm torn; I don't want to care about appearances very much, but I also want our home to feel home-y. Anyway, on to the before and after photos:

 Shinobi was a good little supervisor for this project.

And our shiny new table with some cheerful sunflowers. I used Olympic's no-VOC semi gloss paint so it will be nice and wipeable, not that we ever spill food... Not bad for a 1980's hand-me-down!