You might try cross-posting in the woodworking forum to get a real expert opinion. Expert I am not, but in my experience--the SANDING is the most critical part of the process. You will need to sand off every tiny bit of all finish in order for your paint to adhere properly. Otherwise, you will have flaking and chipping very soon after...or even right away.
I've used several types of paint to paint furniture. Spray paint is very easy to use--take a look at the aisle in Lowes or Home Depot--brands and types are well marked for furniture.
On the otherhand, I'm currently refinishing a set of Pottery Barn Napoleon Chairs and am using Benjamin Moore Aura paint--and they are turning out beautifully (although I think I might change the color again!)
Sanding Sanding Sanding is my best advice for a nice finish.
Good luck!

I can't speak to the painting part, but when you're done, you might consider getting a glass top for it. I would think scratch marks from pushing items across the table could be a problem. That and dust showing. I painted my bedroom furniture black and went to a glass shop and had tops made for the dresser and nightstands. Just something to think about!

Is that table all wood? It looks like its a nice solid table. Have you thought of staining the top and painting the base and legs, more work but that way it would be easier to maintain.

First, I'll agree that you'll get more up-to-date info on the woodworking forum. But I'll share a bit of what I know.

You can paint over varnished surfaces (if it is indeed, varnished) but it's still going to be a LOT of work!

Step one is to make sure there isn't an iota of wax on the surface. Then, if you don't want to completely strip the finish off (a nasty job, but the most effective way to leave a nice surface to work with) you can sand down the finish and prime with an oil base primer. Sanding all of those nooks & crannies in the table & chair legs, & the round pieces on the chair backs, will be a long & tedious process. I'm not trying to discourage you, but to do it right this will take some time & effort!

You can then paint with either a latex or oil paint - oil will be more durable & look better, but it's harder to work with.

I've done projects like this before, so it is do-able. I'm too old to tackle something like this again, though! ;-D

I have painted many pieces of furniture my kitchen table is black and so is my coffee table. I sanded and them primed with kilz or the WM primer then painted with a sponge roller. I love the distressed look so after I painted I sanded it off. Then I sealed with a poly type sealer, I like the Deft brand because it is water based but you can probably use any water base. I don't notice my kitchen table looking dusty because I use it and and wipe it off almost every day. I have chairs similar to yours and I left the seats stained and only painted the back and legs. I decoupaged the top of my kitchen table with wallpaper prints so it probably does not show as much dust as a solid black, but my coffee table is solid black.

We did my daughters table set alot like the above table . The only difference was I stained the table top instead of decop. but I love that idea as well. There is a stain remover that home dep. sells I think its called called Clean Klutter. I stripped down two tables to bare wood with it and it was just like scrubbing a dirty table. I ended up taking back all the sandpaper because it just wasn,t needed. I think it took about two hours to completey strip each table. You have to learn to use it though the first thing I did was the table leaf and it took longer than the whole table. The trick is too put it on let it set the perscibed time.Then remove it and put on a light coat scub the coat with steal wool then paper towels.That will being you down to clean bare wood that doesn,t need sanded unless you have scratchs. The other thing we found was alot of the custom mix blacks turned out dark grey not a true black so we ended up buying Rust-oleum America Accents black for the dressers I did this week. We used sponge rollers . Good luck and have fun. You can get the prettest table by rehabing a old one. I wouldn,t hesitate to do it again.

I love the dual-tone look of RDSSO's table and chairs above! I think it's more interesting than unrelieved black . . . does that appeal to you?

I think I'll save this thread -- lots of good painting suggestions!!

Arlene

rdsso, what a neat table! I agree with Arlene it is alot more interesting than just black.

lol, sugarbreak! sounds good to me.

Dear rdsso,

I LOVE your kitchen table, and want to do the same thing to mine. Would you mind posting complete directions on how you did the decoupage on the tabletop? Also, did you remove the old stain before you did the decoupage?
Please reply!! Thanks so much!

Andie