Evolution of a Dining Set or How I Spent $100 and Got Two Benches, Two Chairs and a Table that I am No Longer Ashamed of

My dining area has been less than inspired since, well, I left home to go to college.  After college, I moved into a duplex (fondly known as the Boo-plex) with my college roommate and best friend, S.  During the move, a friend donated his less-than-wonderful-but-still-better-than-nothing dining set (a table and two chairs) to our cause.  

The chairs looked like the ones in the picture.  The table was the same finish as the chairs, but I couldn't find a picture.  Just think boring, probably from WalMart, generic table with four legs.

 The table had been used for four years of Quarters playing.  The top of the table was pretty well dinged up with thousands of marks, but it was better than eating on the floor!  We use it as is for years there - including cupcake frosting and maybe a game of beer pong or two in the yard (where it may have stayed for a few months, what can I say?  I'm just keeping it classy).  

Wine and cupcake party:

Chairs in our living space for party seating:

When I moved to Austin, I brought the set with me and it stayed in its condition (dings and now some kind of discoloration on the feet of the table due to its stint as lawn furniture) until I got the brilliant idea of redoing it before my mom came to visit.  Alas, my energy waned and I got through one sanding session and ended up painting the top white with one layer of spray paint.  And didn't finish it with any type of varnish.  A week later,  after being used for dinner about twice and by the cat for daily cleaning sessions, it looked worse than when it started.  I bought some spray paint in blue and yellow and, brilliant decision once again, decided to test on a chair and the table which color would look better.  These test streaks were less than professionally done and added to the character (ghetto-ness) of the table.  The chair I managed to get the seat tested before losing interest.  Alas, my set stayed this way for a bit as I had no spare time or energy left over from work.  I did bring home two storage benches from IKEA (on sale for $39 a piece) that I used as additional seating:

It's not your imagination or your computer monitor playing tricks on you, the wood finish does not match the set.  I used it anyways and hoped that no one would notice.  

I finally decided one day that enough was enough and set to refinish the table.  After some inspirational searching online through my blogs, I settled on not blue or yellow but black as the finish for the table and chairs.  I sanded, primed (key step, I've learned!), and painted the chairs and table.  Then finished with two layers of Wipe On Poly Varnish (I use this religiously).  The benches I left their natural wood state, but finished the top with some fabric I had laying around after some apron making.  I think it turned out well:

(ignore the cat box)

The chairs have been moved (until needed for a dinner party) to flank my console in my bedroom:

All in all, I'm very happy with the results and so glad that the evolution has ended well!