Coffee Table Gets a New Life- Part 1

A friend of mine asked me to take on a little project for her.  She has this beat up old coffee table with 4 matching stools that slide under each corner of the table. This table has A LOT of meaning to her and she knew she couldn't get rid of it so we decided to give this piece a NEW LIFE!  She trusted me to take on this project...GULP!  j/k I'm a pro =)  So the plan was to stain the entire table a dark walnut color {more like an espresso/cherry look}.  The only problem was we had some trouble getting it DARK! The wood was so porous that it was just soaking up the stain and not stacking the way a normal piece of wood furniture would.   Here are some shots of the stools before hand. 

Yes, I plan on reupholstering them as well.  These stools have seen WAY better days. 

Here is the color I picked. I thought for sure it would completely darken the stools but after 2 coats it wasn't doing anything.

Comparison shot: obviously the leg is sanded down pretty well and the side piece has two coats of stain but it looks exactly the same color as the stool's original shade. So frustrating! 

Another shot after 2 coats of staining....

In the picture below the stool on the left has 2 coats of stain and the one on the left hasn't even been touched yet and they look almost exactly the same. NO GOOD! 

That's when I had to re-route our entire vision. I searched for inspiration shots and so did Heather.  She sent me this table and we both agreed it was the perfect color black.

Time to bring on more sanding, two coats of primer and two coats of a gorgeous black paint color called Black Suede by behr.

One coat down....

Sanded and then primed another coat {I waited 2 hours in between EVERY coat}....

Lightly sanded again and then I was FINALLY able to see some progress on these stools by adding my first coat of black...Hallelujah!

I was so excited after the black went on that I immediately pulled out every fabric I had in my house and started to play....

I really wish these were my stools so I could change out the fabric every couple of years.  All of these fun prints are gorgeous against the newly painted legs. Aren't you LOVING the black now?!?! 

Here are the stools back in my friend's living room. My next project is to paint the table black and reupholster the stools with some new fabric.  We are in search of a durable leather fabric in a solid creamy tan color, which will really break up all of the monotonous black in the middle of the room. My friend has two kids and she wants to get a good LONG life out of these guys, so that's why we are going with a durable leather material.    

{side note: How awesome is her new area rug? The black table will look so striking against the rug.}

I'll be back once the table is painted and the stools have been reupholstered.  I might even share this living room reveal if my friend gives me the "okay!"