It wouldn't take long to just sand lightly with a medium to fine grit sandpaper. You are not trying to take the old paint off, just to make it less smooth (give it some tooth is what they say) so it will accept the new paint. I love the new fangled sanding "sponges", they make it very easy, you might want to try one. I would guess 3 minutes per leg more or less depending on how fancy the spindles are. Then wipe them off with a slightly damp cloth so no dust is left behind, let dry then paint. If you try to skip the sanding the new paint will probably rub off easily. In painting preparation is the most important step! There shouldn't be a need to prime in my opinion as long as you sand. Using your leftover hall and kitchen paint sounds like a great idea and it will tie your table into the rest of your decorating scheme. Whole project should take about an hour and a half assuming some fancy painting with mixed color on the spindles. Good luck kathy

Not wanted I guess. :( This post was edited by zipper_tx on Sun, Nov 24, 13 at 10:05

my hubby is a concrete contractor in central calif. the price of concrete jumped way up here also. he is charging $8.75 per Sq. Ft. for stamped and colored concrete. the more colors you add, the more cost. This typically includes colored concrete and a different colored release which gives it the two toned look. We went with 2 colors of release to give highlights here and there. this does not include the cost of sealing the concrete after it's done. We are building a pool as we speak and are expecting to pay about $600.00 to seal the concrete and add something called rhino? to make the surface slightly gritty to prevent slipping. To maintain the concrete you need to re-seal it about every 2 years at the cost of around $400. Bear in mind that this is a DIY price. If you have seen colored concrete unsealed and then sealed there is no way you are going to opt out of sealing. HUGE difference! Any concrete is going to be hot in full sun. Be sure to ask what makes a sundeck/kooldeck stay cool? (These types of names vary according to where you live) Is it because the indentations hold water which will ultimately cool it off? If this is the case then stamped concrete will do the same as long as the stamp you choose has deep indentations.

I think all dark walls would be awesome! In fact DS1 was helping pick a shade of deep blue for a decorating project and he went directly to a SW chip that I had called Sea Serpent and and called it the color of outer space. The other color that he liked was BM Polo Blue (the one we're going w/) which is a deep navy, almost black color. It will be on the top quarter of our DR walls and ceiling. I've never really gone for the whole accent wall. A deep blue almost black w/ white trim in a light filled room would look killer! This is also coming from a person who does not mind painting though. Deep colors take lots of coats if you don't use a tinted primer and vice verse if you decide to take it lighter later. Love Spitfires idea about the room being a space ship looking out into space! DS1 & DS2 have a different themed room of transportation but they do have tin planes, helicopters and a zepplin hanging fromn the ceiling. These pics are old and I've transitioned it into a big boy bedroom now (they are 3 & 6) but the planes are still on the ceiling. Proper planning is key to being able to transition it through his growing and changing tatses over the yrs. One cool idea that DS1 came up w/ last yr. after we made Halloween costumes was to take a leftover box, cut off 2 flaps opposite each other and paint it grey. He put spaceship markings on it in marker and glued leftover Wawa hot dish cups on the bottom outside of the box. They got painted grey too. These were the ships boosters. We crumpled up orange and red tissue paper and stuffed inside the cups to look like flames shooting out. We tacked it onto the ceiling. The 2 box top flaps that we left on were the wings. Now they're into antique British sports cars and the Beatles (every Sunday they listen to Lunch w/ the Beatles on the radio). They want British and American flags over their beds and a deep navy blue ceiling becuase they still love all things sky related. I'm sure that I'll have blue paint leftover from the DR so I bet they get their wish.