DIY - white tables & chairs

On top of taking care of my little cherubin, I have also been busy re purposing some of our old furniture by giving them a fresh coat of white paint.   Everyone seems to be doing these modern traditional take on black and white furniture so I thought why not join the bandwagon!  I've been looking at several different inspiration and i am drawn to the distressed white look. It looks antique without being scrappy.  I love it!

Some of my inspiration:

 
Ryan and I are very happy with the results of my first DIY project at home!  Even though it was difficult at first because it's the first time I painted wood furniture!  There are several things I learned during this entire project/exercise.  And I would not have learned these without the help of my husband.

• The first is it will save me many many hours using the electric sander versus sanding the wood by hand.  Thanks to my husband because I am just planning on sanding all the furniture by hand!  It's daunting!  Especially that all our furniture have thick lacquer applied on top.  It took me just half a day to finish sanding the three tables that I will start painting first. 
• The second task is to pick the right kind of paint, which I ended up just buying oil-based enamel with primer so it will just be two to three easy applications. We went to Walmart coz I just wanted to experiment on the cheapest paint that they have. 
• Third thing I learned is that the more you sand your wood, the more that the wood grain will show.  Wood grain is the actual alternating region of dark and lighter wood.  Those rings and waves and ripples that you will see on natural wood is what defines the wood grain.  I ended up sanding down the dining table until the actual grain of wood shows.  The smaller round table which I use as a side table in our living room, I just sanded it to where it will be easier to paint.  
• Last thing I learned is that painting un-sanded wood is a total bitch! haha.  I got lazy and thought I'd just paint the chairs without sanding them (just because I cannot use the electric sander on the small crevices of the wood carvings!).  i did a total sloppy job but it turned out really well!  it looks antique and definitely home-made! :)

Well, here are the final results.  Now I am so excited to do more repurposing and DIY recycling here at my house.  I still have one coffee table (in our living room) to paint white as well so that should keep me busy over the next few days. :)