around the home - Please don't shout if there is a "home"style and thread, I can't find it!

[Dozymare]

Ok ladies, here is the rub....

I have inherited a pine table with 8 chairs (2 carvers) no cushions all pine and seen better days.....no, beggars can't be choosers and all that, but what can I do to "jou jou" it up?

That'll get you thinking!

I got given a much smaller table and chairs set that was past its best to say the least. I went to our local fabric shop, picked out some gorgeous material and recovered the chair cushions and made a matching table cloth. I keep meaning to do somehting about the chair backs too, maybe stain them a nice colour but I just haven't had the time. You could make seat pads incredibly cheaply, just get some foam to stuff them, cut around the shape of the chair and use an industral type stapler to fix them to the bottom of the seat.

sand down the table top and oil then and paint the legs in farrow and ball a la here

Yep agree with Missisboot: painting pine is always a better idea than keeping it in its natural state

make sure you use fine sandpaper and a primer before painting.

yes I loathe pine with a passion! So, do I really just need to sand it down, paint then varnish??? How do I do the spindles on the chairs??

No need to varnish on top of the paint. Just use satin finish gloss paint.

The spindles can take a while because of their shape but you do them exactly the same as the table top. I have painted lots of furniture (most of it pine and second hand - quite often like the shape but furniture with an orange hue does nobodys house any style favours ) and always had success with this method.

Priming the surface first means the paint is less likely to chip.