Antique French Dining Room Set in ASCP

It was restored using a lot of old fashioned elbow grease, restoration skills and patience.  This is what we started out with.

One of the chairs was beyond repair, so we kicked around ideas until we came up with a way to seat six people with five chairs.  Our solution was to build a bench using the fifth chair.  That gives us seating for six and the bench has the same legs as the chairs so everybody’s happy.

In my mind, all we had to do was chop off the top, cut a new seat, take out the cross bars and replace them with wider ones.  What’s so hard about that?  Right?  Well, we all know it’s always harder than we think.

That’s where big sister’s come in handy.  I grabbed a tutorial on how to build a bench, handed it to Cathy and wished her luck as I went up to take a nap.  I’m not kidding!   Cath packed up what she needed and went home to do her magic.  Actually I think Carter or Ty stopped by, ‘cause that carpentry work is a little too impressive for an amateur.  Who was it Cath?  Huh?  Huh?  Who ya hiding over there?

I painted the chairs and bench in Annie Sloan’s Old White, accented in French Linen.  Cath, reupholstered the seats in some of dad’s leftover fabric from his upholstery workshop  – thanx dad!

The top of the table has a beautiful wood inlay veneer, but the top coat was scratched up quite a bit.  I planned to refinish it, but couldn’t cut through that diamond coat.  That’s what I’m calling it, after two strippers and sanded like a mad woman couldn’t cut through it.

I ended up painting the top with Annie Sloan’s French Linen.  I layered the base and legs in several other colors to really play up that French look.  In this picture, the legs haven’t been waxed yet, the top has.  You can see how rich the paint becomes once waxed.

The seats were reupholstered with a high quality commercial fabric.

Our custom built the bench allows for a nice transition between spaces especially when placed in an open floor plan.

This stunning piece, showcased in our booth at Not So Shabby Antiques and Fine Furniture in Zeeland, Michigan is waiting for it’s new home.  (update – sold)