Revamping the Dining Set

I have been inspired by several of the blogs that I've read. So many of you are constantly changing things up in your homes. I used to change the wall colors, rearrange furniture, change curtains and wall hangings a lot but lately I have gotten a bit lazy in that department. Actually, it has been quite a few years since I made any real changes, but the more I read, the more the bug is hitting me to change things up. My dining room set is approximately 19 years old, but because it is rarely used(only on the holidays when we have a lot of company), it is still in pretty good condition. My husband and I decided that when we finally make the move to our little house in Alabama, one of the things we are taking with us is the dining room set because it is larger than the one we have in Alabama now. So I decided to spruce it up a bit. I have decided to paint the chairs black. Partially because I needed a change and partially because the dining room in Alabama has a black theme already going (which I love). Because it has been years since I decided to paint any furniture, I forgot how time consuming it really is. Plus, the older you get, the slower you move. I have finally completed three chairs. Three more to go. I may start chair number 4 today or I may wait until the weekend when my husband will be home to help(though he hates painting). I am really happy with how the chairs are turning out.

I have a question though. I am not sure if I should also paint the table or just leave it, I keep flip flopping back on forth on that one. On one hand, I really don't want to have too much black, but on the other hand I am thinking the chairs looks so nice, maybe the table will look better painted too. Any opinions????

So Long Dora and Blue

Dora, Boots, Blue and Bob the Builder adorn the wall of my craft room. The room used to be my grandson's room eight years ago, before my daughter moved to Alabama. He was almost three when they moved. I had painted the mural on his wall a year before that while they were away on a trip and he was so excited when he came home and found Dora, Blue and Bob looking down on him in his bed. He could barely speak and he jumped up and down screeching, he was so happy. Well, since they left his room has been converted to a craft room for me and all the walls have been repainted to a much lighter, soothing green...except that one wall. I did sponge around the figures with the green and pink to lighten it up a bit but I couldn't bring myself to paint over it. Jesse didn't want me to either. Every time he would visit we would sit in his 'old' room and he would ask me not to paint over the characters...so they have stayed. His little sister, Sophia, has come to like it also, though she is not as attached to them as he was. Blue and Bob are no longer on t.v. but she knows of them from Jesse's old videos. Dora and Boots she knows and loves. She liked to come into the room and give them high 5's. Sophia is now 3 and Jesse is 10 and he has been more than willing to let me paint over them for a few years now but my husband won't let me. My husband refuses to throw out any of Jesse's old broken toys that were left behind when they moved out. I tried once to throw out the broken pieces and found them a few days later in a box in our garage. My husband is very sentimental and Jesse is our first grandchild. Well after a few years of trying to talk my daughter and her family into moving back to Florida we realized that it wasn't going to happen. Besides, after visiting Alabama we grew to love it there, so we bought a house a few blocks away from them and are hoping to be able to move there soon. Now we are trying to sell our house in Florida....so it is finally time to say goodbye to Dora, Blue and Bob, we have to make the house buyer friendly. We will be replacing them with a clean, crisp white. I have to admit, I feel kind of sad to see them go.