Ideas for Painting Tables and Chairs

A painted table and chair set dresses up your dining room and kitchen as well as a play or craft area. It does so by turning these common items into pieces that are artful in addition to being useful. All that's required of you is a little paint plus an idea about how you'd like to use these pieces to enhance your decorating motif. Does this Spark an idea?

Crayons

Crayons give a child her first glimpse into the world of art and drawing. Bring this theme into fruition in her room by painting a table and chair set with a crayon motif. Choose a color for the table; a primary color such as red works well, because it makes the piece stand out. Paint the table that color. Allow to dry. Add a color of paint to each chair. Start with the primary colors. Then move on to orange, green and purple, depending upon how many chairs you have. Paint the stripes at the tops and the bottoms of the legs, mimicking the decorative patterns on crayons. Then paint a long oval on the side. Write your child's name in this area to personalize the crayon tables and chairs.

Stencils

Stenciling offers you a simple way to add a decorative pattern to your table and chairs. The many options include patterns such as the fleur de lis or calligraphy. Start with a couple of coats of paint on the tables and chairs so that you have an even surface to work on. After the paint dries, tape the stencil pattern onto the places on the table and chairs where you'd like the pattern to appear on these items. Lightly dab the paint into the stencil pattern, adding several layers of paint. Remove the stencil pattern once you're done. Use architect's tape to tape the stencils down; it'll hold the stencils in place without peeling the paint off the table.

Matching Sets

Finding items such as a table and chairs at a yard sale gives you a break on the price of these items. However, you may also end up with a mismatched set. If that's the case, use a coat of paint to visually unify the set. Coat the table and chairs with a color that matches the rest of the paint in the room. For example, if you have an old pie safe and a set of shelves that you've painted white, paint the table and chairs white as well. This solution works well with an eclectic or country decorating style in your kitchen or dining room.

Breakfast Nook

The breakfast nook provides you with a cozy space to drink coffee and read the morning paper. If you've found a table and chairs for this area, paint them a color that either matches the walls in your breakfast nook or contrasts with them. For example, if you've chosen tan as the primary color for your color palette and black and red as your accent colors, paint two connecting walls of the breakfast nook tan and then paint the table and chairs black and red for visual contrast.