The Reluctant Dining Room Makeover

Is it any secret that I have disliked our dining room table and chairs for a long time?  We don't even use the reproduction oak pressback chairs that came with our set because a) they are horribly uncomfortable, b) they are falling to pieces, and most importantly, c) they are not my style.

The dining set came by us at a time when we really needed a bigger table, and it was truly a blessing, so I have to temper my complaints about it, but it really wasn't my dream antique round oak or antique trestle table or something else indescribable that just captivated me.  Not that I'm picky about furniture.  Cough, cough.

After much talk and some Pinterest surfing, I got up the nerve to paint the thing.  I chose to stick with the good ol' Benjamin Moore mayonnaise, partly because we had three half-used cans of it in the shop (which is mostly because underneath my furniture affectations, I'm immensely practical,) and partly because I thought a black table would be too expected, and partly because I thought a bright color (like red or turquoise) would be too, too wrong and startling, and it scared me to bits.  Plus, I had a glimmering hope that using the same shade as my paneling would make the table fade away into nothingness.

Alas.

I also redid our mismatched yard-sale-find chairs with a different can of paint from the shop.  The T-back chairs were already a lovely shade of blue, with fabulous colors peeking through, but they needed a freshening due to a replaced (and exposed and bare) support rail. The color makes me happy, but I'm not convinced it's what my dining room needed.

I was stuck on recovering the cloth seats of two of my chairs.  I had $0 budgeted for this project, so I had to raid my fabric stash.  I came up absolutely empty.  And then my eyes caught some ratty jeans.

Denim?  Nah.  Too country.  Way too country.

But it gave me another idea.  I dove into my discarded clothing pile, and came out with a pair of corduroys.

All said and done, I'm not convinced on the table color or the seat covers, but they work for now.  The table really should be finished with some sort of protective coating (after another coat of mayonnaise to cover up nicks, fingerprints, ink, and rings left from glasses.)  I'm soooo not into country decorating, but I feel extremely locked into it with this table.  Any suggestions?

At least the pumpkins on the table are cute!

And thank you, Daddy, for introducing the kids to the fabulous sound effects one can make while perched on a corduroy-covered seat.