what colors are you working with in the rest of the living space?

For me, a dark flat/matte (a deep rich teal/green, like a midnight green (think NFL Eagles) for the chairs and apron of the table, sand and re stain with dark walnut for the table top.

You could even leave the seats of the chair unpainted, stain the same as whatever you choose for the table top.

BM Beau Green

My living space is medium oak floors throughout. BM Revere Pewter an all walls. then mostly whites, beige, taupe and black. my accent color is rust.

Your color palette is so neutral. Show pics of adjorning spaces.

I’d do a soft matte black (paint sprayer makes this so easy - my basement paint project is below) but i would be tempted tocover the backs with white duck slipcovers to soften them up a bit

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I dislike painted wood except maybe in a farmhouse but then I also do not like bench seating . To me transitional is a mix of some traditional and some modern and neither of those have painted wood as a rule. A butcher block table top will for sure outlast and painted top .

Painted table and chairs will not age well. I would use them as is or if you absolutely hate that, buy new factory finished.

You mentioned you would like a transitional feel and your chairs may not lend themselves. After all the effort/cost of kitchen, it‘s important for the dining set to enhance its feel.

If painting, keep it light so kitchen draws attention vs the table. Be sure to ask a paint consultant for their paint type recommendations.

Re-staining table (ask for a low sheen finish) is another idea and just paint the chairs (can be more easily touched up).

A way to achieve a transitional feel would be to sell/replace the chairs.

I hold off on any decisions until kitchen is finished and you have a better sense of what will enhance the space overall.

The table was a gift from my parents 40+ years ago,since it is a simple table I would like to make it work. i am thinking of sanding the wholentable to raw wood now. Chairs are very solid maple and honestly most chairs now are not made nearly as well. i need to make these work. i want to paint now as there is not much else I can do during construction. natural wood table and soft black/taupe?

You should be aware of how difficult maple is to stain. It's a very hard wood and can be blotchy when stained. Maple also has a tendency to yellow when it is left in its natural state. I would look for tutorials on how to stain maple effectively.