Sense and sentimentality
Painting Grandma’s dining set won’t strip away value for the family
Q I’m 24, and I inherited a large, older condo from my grandmother. I’m using her dining table and chairs as a place to sit while I make the place my own. The table and chairs are apparently fruitwood. The wood stain always looked extremely dirty to me — even more now that I’ve painted the walls grey.
Is there a way you can help me convince my parents that it is OK to paint my grandmother’s wood set. I have zero dollars but expensive taste.
A Big taste and no money is the reason I got into the decorating biz. In fact, your question is the same kind of question I would have asked 20 years ago.
The first piece of furniture I ever painted was my childhood rocking chair my grandmother had given me. My mother would still be upset with me for painting it if I hadn’t made a career out of painting old furniture.
What I’m going to tell you will get me into trouble with your parents: paint that table and chair set. It’s your set, not your parents.
In the inspiration photo below is an inexpensive dining table and chair set we bought at Elegant Garage Sale, a consignment shop, for a dining room on Open House Overhaul on HGTV. We painted the dining chairs the same colour as the wall and reupholstered the seats with inexpensive new fabric.
I think if you painted your chairs the same grey as your walls you would fall in love with your grandmother’s set. The more you repeat a colour, the more soothing a room’s palette becomes.
After painting the chairs, if the stain on your table still looks “dirty,” paint it a neutral black, white or dark grey.
For an airy fresh look, go with white.
Black or dark grey will give your table a heavier look that will work well in a classic space.