The finished product

We are so very happy with how our table and chairs turned out.  

 It looks completely different in our dining room, but it seems as though it always belonged this way.  It's much brighter and a lot more our style.

My favorite part is the distressed details.  Okay, I also love the fabric.  But look at this:

At some points you can see all 4 layers- the bare wood, the previous dark stain (which I think adds a nice contrast), the white primer, and the new yellow.  Love it.

Kraig thinks the table turned out especially wonderful.  Ah, thank you, sir!

All in all, it was a really great project to take on.  We had a lot of fun doing it, really, despite the tedium at times.  

So here is what we did in some sort of detail:

We sanded, but ditched that plan early on.  We used Rustoleum Painter's Touch 2x coverage White Primer (it's a bonding primer, meaning no need to sand the previous finish).  Kraig sprayed 2 coats of the primer within the recommended time frame (2 hours I believe) and then started with the paint (You don't want the previous layer to cure before applying the second, so plan on doing them one right after the other to ensure a good bond)

The paint is also Rustoleum Painter's Touch 2x coverage in satin finish strawflower.   We applied 2 coats of this as well.  It's important to do thin coats as opposed to one heavy coat to reduce buildup or drips.

I distressed with a very fine sandpaper by just rubbing lightly on corners and edges until I got the look that I wanted.  It was really easy.  I also wet-sanded the top of the table to be sure it was really smooth before applying the gloss.  There were some rougher patches on the chairs that I sanded as well before the gloss.   I used a combination of tack cloth and wet cloths to remove any and all dust in between stages and after sanding.

The finish is Rustoleum Painter's touch 2x coverage clear gloss on the chairs and Rustoleum Varathane Interior Heavy-use crystal clear polyurethane (in a quart) on the table.  We started out brushing the gloss on the chairs but it was super-tedious.  When I accidentally spilled half the quart on the grass, we decided to just finish the chairs with a spray version as opposed to brushing (though we did brush on one last topcoat to smooth it out.  Confused yet?)  The table finish is very smooth and we love it.  I'd recommend brushing everything with a clear finish, honestly, but we're happy with our chairs as well.

We did 4 coats of gloss on the top of the table, 3 on the rest of the table, and 3 on the chairs.  Whew!

For the chair upholstery, I measured and cut each piece, allowing for a few extra inches on each side for folding.  I folded each side under for a more finished look before stapling, and I mitered the corners as well.  With this particular pattern it was important to keep it straight and line it up just right, but everything was really just done by hand and eye.  No fancy tools involved :)  I didn't even use a straight edge, I just cut along the pattern lines once I measured.  It was really quite easy.

Kraig sprayed a stain repellant on the upholstery before attaching the seats to the chairs.

And voila :)  We were finished!  It took a few hours of work each day for about 5 days.  I wouldn't say it was "easy" but it was very rewarding work.