Thank you both so much! Both of these were really helpful I also found a couple of things about prepping stained and sealed furniture, in case they are helpful to you, deedee. Here's a Q& A from doityourself.com: Q. I have a dining room set from the 70's that is stained oak. I really hate the stained color and was thinking of painting the set a cream color and sanding the edges to give it an antiqued look. I plan on starting with the hutch. I am going to wash it with TSP, then sand it because it has a shiny finish and then prime it with Killz so the stain does not leak through. Do I need to strip the stain off, or can I paint over it? Should I then sand after the coat of primer, especially the edges to begin the antiquing? Or should I prime, then lightly sand and then antique it after each coat of paint I do? A. You can paint over the stain and finish. Wash the piece with mineral spirits to remove all the grease, grit, and grime. For the shine on the finish, scuff sand it with a green scotch brite pad to knock down the sheen. Use a primer so that the paint has a good surface to bond to. Start sanding after the paint is applied. Stripping will make the job more durable, but I have had long-term success painting over an existing finish. Surface preparation, primer, and good paint make all the difference. Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/qnadecorate4#ixzz0kRGUZFZs and a link to advice about painting a finished table in the paint forum. Here is a link that might be useful: Paint Forum Posting

"they are paid a salary for doing their job." My apologies but this is an assumption. The guys who delivered our furniture many moons ago were off-the-book friends of the store owners' son. They got 50% of the delivery charge and whatever tips they earned. Another store I used to do business through had a similar policy. It would be unfair to say all delivery people are paid employees of the furniture store they are delivering for. That is unless it's a brand like Levitz or Ashley.

Post on the Paint forum. The pro's there are very generous with their great advice.

Please give dimensions of the space. Two things off the top: Skip the loveseats. They are nothing but oversized chairs for one. You can get two chairs in the space of a single loveseat and seat more people. I would probably not mix pure white with cream. It's going to look like a mistake. You can go all neutral, but choose neutrals that aren't so close in value.