In other posts I had asked for opinions on where to find solid wood table tops, advice on chairs, and so on. So finally we have it all figured out. Previously we had a table we made using an old piece of butcher block that someone (not me!) had painted white. We couldn't get all the paint off, but called it a "rustic/distressed finish" and lived with it. Also, it was too small. But it was cheap so again, we lived with it. Meanwhile, we also had gotten these "distressed finish" chairs that were not quite off-white enough (I was trying to match the creamy off-white of my kitchen cabinets/trim) and also, the paint was chipping horribly. The whole look was just a little too "distressed" for me (and was causing me some distress, LOL).

So, after much searching, I found a new table top that was solid wood, not painted, and about a foot longer than the old one. Solid cherry would have been around $700... but the beech that happened to have a fairly reddish tone was around $200, so that's what I got. Then, after searching for cherry chairs (my kitchen island is cherry, and the top of the window seat is cherry), I ended up opting for beech chairs to match the table, and I found a great deal at LL Bean. We have these same chairs, in black, at our beach cottage so I knew they were comfortable and sturdy.

Finally -- here's the before and after. I don't know why the pics came out different sizes, but the After pic is the bottom one. And the table top is not so shiny -- we had just cleaned it so it was still damp.