homersmom - Thanks so much for the pic. That settles the question for me. I love your look! oceanna - We do have an antique painted black rocking chair and I know what you mean about the dust. The table is being made by an Amish gentleman in PA and he will not start until August so I have no pics. I've seen a table he made for a friend and it is gorgeous! This six leg table (42 X 54) opens up to 16 feet with 12 leaves and has the most amazing opening mechanism. The chairs are called Bent side chair and bent arm chairs and I will order them from a store in Friendswood that carries Amish furniture. Sis2two - Thanks for letting me know you also have a similar combination. katrina ellen - well, casual but not country. We are just finishing a new build and replacing furniture after Hurricane Ike. I like different kinds of woods and styles mixed thru out our home. I don't want this home to look like we bought all the furniture at one time or built all the cabs at one time. Dovetales - I'd love to see a pic! Sounds beautiful. Thanks to everyone for their comments. They really are a great help to me.

Definitely don't use high gloss if you want a distressed look...I somehow missed that in your post! Oops! Thanks for correcting me nanny, so that she didn't end up with the wrong thing. Is there a way to use enamel in a flat or satin I wonder? SW told me to use it, so that it would "stick" better and since it's dries to a harder finish, it doesn't chip or rub off. I guess you can still have an idea of what the end product will be--black with a wood top (yours darker than mine) though. As for the painting, I brought the chairs outside last summer for 2 or 3 afternoons and did it there. It didn't take long and they dried much faster being outside. I did not do it on the really hot days of summer though, so it was actually a nice way to spend my afternoons. I found it to be relaxing, once I stopped stressing over whether or not I was doing the wrong thing! I brought 2 neighbors over to give me confidence that my DH wasn't going to freak out when he got home!

An update to the above. The pottery barn website states (in the Q&A section) that the table top is smooth. Mine most definitely wasn't. Pottery barn has said they will refund me (including the shipping). It's so weird because other pictures online seem like the top is clearly smooth. I wonder if something changed about the finish??. I thought the legs might get in the way but they really didn;t and when extended six chairs easily fit. Anyways the table was basically perfect in every way... except that horrible, rough, plasticky, weird, sandpaper-rough finish on the top. If the top finish was normal it would be an awesome table. Sturdy and looked great. Oh well.

@flarobyn - that’s true - once painted there’s no going back. I hoped that person would have discussed the value of the piece - it’s not a cheap decorator item to paint up to fit a decor theme. I hoped that refinisher told you that white washing this beautiful oak wouldn’t look good - all that detail in the claw feet & the center post egg & ?? not dart - just won’t look good with a white wash.