DIY Dining Table Makeover With Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!

Lindsay Caudle
by Lindsay Caudle
4 Materials
$75
1 Month
Medium
I bought this french style dining table and chairs set and it had a lot of use showing scratches and such so I decided to brighten it up with a little paint! Mind you, this project took FOREVER (about a month, but felt longer) to complete so it's not for the faint of heart. Enjoy!

Before...
Gross table...
gross chairs...
Those brass tacks had to go! So I ordered nickel finished upholstery tacks on Amazon.
The table had a nice wood pattern on it, but you'll see later why we didn't refinish it... haha
I first did a coat of Kilz Primer then used Annie Sloan Pure White chalk paint (2 coats) to paint the chairs.
We actually tried sanding the table down and re-staining it but it was becoming too much of a hassle for my hubby (especially to try and do the edges) so we gave up haha. So paint to the rescue!
I used Annie Sloan Coco chalk paint for the tabletop and Pure White again for the legs. And I LOVE IT!
I pulled out each individual brass tack with a screwdriver and pliers, then painted all the wooden parts around the leather, carefully avoiding the fabric with a small detail paint brush.
I then hammered in the new tacks and I LOVE the way the head chairs looked after that!
close up of new tacks :)
I recovered all the seat cushions. FUN FACT: I reused the foam from the old cushions but they really stunk like that old house stinky smell so I actually put fabric softener sheets on top of the foam and then covered them in fabric and it TOTALLY took the smell away! Even 2 years later, they don't smell!
I got rope cording and sewed that for the edging and stapled them to the chairs for the finishing touch.
Then I distressed all the chairs and the table a little with sandpaper. Then I put 2 coats of Annie Sloan clear wax over everything.
And this is the final dining set! I'm over the moon about how this came out and it even matched the china set we got for our wedding!
Suggested materials:
  • Annie Sloan Chalk Paint   (Online)
  • Kilz Primer   (Lowes)
  • Nickel Upholstery tacks   (Amazon)
See all materials
Frequently asked questions
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  2 questions
  • Chantelle Chantelle on Apr 27, 2020

    Good afternoon,

    I have the same style table and chairs, that I want to give a makeover. I love your color choices. Just a question, I looked up Annie Sloan color options, the Coco on the website looks to be more of a brown tone compared to your tabletop in the photo. Is it the lighting or will I get more of a warm gray/brown look? Thanks in advance:).

  • Juli Quarterman Juli Quarterman on Jun 13, 2021

    My table top is not real wood. I believe it’s laminate maybe. The rest is real and looks a lot like yours. Can I still refinish the top?

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