My parents are very giving of their time and love to offer service whenever they can. They love to help others. I believe that is their main mission in life. A large dining table where they can invite others in and connect is important to them. We had given them a fireplace makeover last December for their Christmas gift, which turned out beautiful. After we finished the fireplace the dining table felt very orange and heavy, although it was a great quality table. But I knew if it were my house I would want to refinish the table, there was no way we were getting rid of the dining table. So that’s what we did! Refinished the table, which lead to painting the fireplace to anchor the room and set them up a gorgeous table setting!
Thank you Walmart for sponsoring this post
Fall Table Setting Inspiration-

- Matte Cream Dinnerware Set– gorgeous cream color, love the matte finish.
- Rose Glass Tumbler– I have given these to my sister as well, they are thick, nice quality glasses.
- Floral Plates– fun playful pop of color on any table.
- Gold Flatware Set– this is one of my favorite flatware sets!
- Gold Wall Sconce– (gold is showing out of stock) we did my magic light trick on these sconces.
- Abstract Marble Pot– great for plants or fall leaves.
- Venetian Wine Table Cloth– we sewed two together for one long tablecloth.
- Dining Chair– these chairs are AMAZING!!! Only $139 for TWO!!!! Come in black too. They are metal and very comfortable. My parents raved about the comfort.
- Rug– machine washable! Comes in a lot of different colors too.
Dining Room Before

There is no magic button to refinishing a table. If you have a quality piece of furniture it is so worth the time to refinish it. Their dining table was from a very high-end handmade furniture company that they lucked out and got on major clearance, 17 years ago. It has self-storing leaves that open up to seat 10-12 people. The table was irreplaceable!
Dining Room After

It took a lot of work to strip the dining table. Probably about 12 hours total between myself, Kevin and my dad. Totally worth it. I told my mom, we did all that work for 12 hours to now enjoy it for many, many more years!
“The dining table has always been a symbol of many things: the place where we nourish ourselves, where we come together, celebrate important milestones, share experiences, and create new understandings.” Snaidero

Stripping the Orange Dining Table

First, I want to point out that not all painted pieces of furniture or dining tables are the same. We decided to strip what was on their current dining table to take away the orange tones and the black paint. This table is a solid piece of furniture, no veneers. There are several ways to go about stripping painted furniture. This is just what we chose to do because of the low fumes and not as harsh to the table.
- First we coated the table with Citristrip and wrapped it in plastic, then let it sit overnight. We picked Citristrip because it is non toxic and gentler then other strippers.
- After it sat overnight we scrapped the table with a plastic scrapper (to avoid scratching it).
- Then sanded the table (to get it to the raw wood) with a 60 grit sand paper, then 80 grit then 120 grit.
- We chose to lightly brush on White Wash Wood Stain and then wipe off any areas that were too white, just wanted to tone down the yellow of the raw wood.
- After that stain dried we sealed it with Fast Drying Polyurathane.
- Finished!! (Also if the table has leaves make sure to do that at the same time)


Dining Chairs

I found these dining chairs I knew they would be perfect for my parents, and they are even better in real life! Very comfortable and only $130 for TWO!!!! I would say they are the best spindle back chairs I have ordered or seen before. The price and the fact that they are metal can’t be beat.

Rug- Washable

I wanted to bring in another color to their room since most of it is white with green accents. This washable rug is very nice! The colors are gorgeous, the price is great and it lays flat…perfect for dining chairs.

Fireplace

Now that the dining table was no longer dark we needed something to anchor the room. I decided to paint their fireplace in Down Pipe from Farrow & Ball. I think it turned out amazing!!! (Read all about this electric fireplace HERE).

We did my Magic Light Trick on these gold sconces from Walmart.com and they really complete the look of the fireplace. I like that you don’t need any decor on the fireplace besides a nice piece of art! (We just sat the puck light on top of the lightbulb spot, so they can easily take them out to change batteries).

The art is from one of my favorite small businesses, Lindsay Letters (she gave me a discount code too share NESTING15). It is called “Flocks by Night”. I had a huge emotional reaction when I saw it. I ordered one for my fireplace and one for my parents. They adore it as well.

Table Setting

Went out back and clipped wheat to go inside this Abstract Marble Pot as the centerpiece. Easy to swap out different clippings depending on the season.

I think I might get this Matte Cream Dinnerware Set, love how it is a fresh version of a simple white plate.




We can’t wait to gather for the holidays around this table! Lots of games, good food, laughter and connecting will continue to happen around this amazing dining table!
Beautiful! Love the fp insert. Looks very real.
Are these the high back or the low back windsor chairs. They look like high back but the link goes to low back.
Thanks
The link is going to the right chair- they are high back
You did an amazing job on your Mum & Dads makeover – just beautiful ! Great post as well ! I know you must have already shared where you got the great wicker light over the table, but I cant find it ! Do you mind sharing again? Thanks so much !
we have the same one from IKEA in Irel asnd 🙂