The Gardner Barnwood Table and Dining Set - Before & After

Before Our dining room has been a project for quite some time now. This is what it looked like before we started making changes. I loved this hutch until I found our new Gardner Hutch. So we took the old one and painted it black and sold it to completely finance the changes we made.

I always loved these ladder back chairs with the little spindles at the top of each chair. I had always planned on keeping these and nothing has changed thus far. However, sometime in the future I would like to find two all wood chairs and pull out two of these. I like an assortment of chairs around a table.

During

We had a client who was looking to get rid of this barnwood table and asked us if we wanted it. When she sent me the picture of it I could not believe it because I had been looking for one just like it. I was super excited. Plus the round table gives us so much more room. Way more than I expected. And because we are pretty full in our little home - this was a huge bonus!

So against one wall we had the Gardner Hutch that we finally got to finish after six months of other projects and custom refinishes. Behind the table is Brooke's buffet. It sat there for a few months until we found out we were doing the show and it was moved to its new home.

After

The plan with the table was to paint the legs white and distress quite heavily. Doing this provided so much dimension to the set. Before you hardly noticed the legs and now they are somewhat of a focal point! I had been anxious to cover up the yellowish hint in the chairs and give it a fresh clean coat of white!

Mike cleaned up the table by restaining it and lacquering it to provide an extra durable finish. It looks brand new in its old barnwood way. :)
To match the white legs we painted the chairs white; however, we only lightly distressed them. I made a few trips to the store looking for new fabric for the chairs. I decided for now to leave them as is. We had recovered them last summer so I did not feel an urgency. Plus this darker chocolate color holds up better with seven of us eating around the table anyway.

I love spindled legs. And I think the legs on the table match up nicely with the legs on the chairs. In our house, not everything has to match. I rather like some randomness but these compliment each other nicely. The little farmhouse recipe books were .99 pounds and I picked them up years ago when I visited Hampton Court in England. I love little keepsakes like these. And if I found something like this at a garage sale I would probably buy it. I told Mike the other day - I think I treasure people's keepsakes more than they do. I said this as we were walking away with a sweet little rocking chair we got from a man who said his mom raised him in the chair. My first thought was - then why are you selling it to me for $10? It is super sturdy and will looking amazing once it has a fresh coat of paint on it. We are very pleased with our new dining area and even more happy we were able to do it at no cost.

Next up we are finished with our new desk. The transformation is stunning!

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