60s Melamine Table and Colour-Drenched Chair Set

An old table and sideboard heading for the skip and a set of mid-century chairs buried at the back of a garage.

I picked up the table along with a matching melamine sideboard from a house clearance several weeks ago. I actually was't overly bothered about collecting them but they were being sold by a lad on behalf of his gran's estate following her passing and he needed them gone quickly before the sale of her flat went through so I nipped round with the van.

As it turned out, the table in particular was in lovely shape so I just gave it a clean up and then painted the old brown finish on the legs and frame with a quick-dry black gloss, doing the same with the legs on the sideboard.

Now for chairs.

The buy didn't include the original chairs and so I kept an eye out for a set of four that would either match nicely (unlikely), or could be upcycled to make up a complete dining set. A neighbour was selling a set of four 1940s chairs having left them to sit in his garage for years with the unrealised intension of up cycling them himself.

As you'll see from the recent Etagerie upload, I'm a bit obsessed with dark maroon-toned reds at the moment and so decided to spray the chairs following a fill, sand and removal of any damaged veneer with a matt claret shade and then seal with spray lacquer. I hunted online for some textured vinyl leather in the same shade and reupholstered the chair pads - to great success if I don't say so myself!

Amazing what a coat of paint can do!

This unusual and colour-drenched dining set, with extendable table is still available to purchase, although the sideboard sold separately a while ago.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I cut little rectangles of vinyl and glued them into the handle spaces where the original finish had eroded so that the sideboard matched - turned out great!