Updating / Painting (And Distressing) Kitchen Table and Chairs

Suggestion: take a picture of your furniture and then print it out on plain paper. Using pencils, markers or crayons, color the picture to simulate your idea. Then compare the pics and see which you think is going to look best.
Instead of paint, consider using a colored wood stain. They come in all sorts of funkly colors now. You would just sand off the green and then stain it with a fun color - maybe even red. The stain would look more natural and be colorful without being too bright and contrasting with the natural wood finish.
Have fun!

I paint and distress a lot of furniture.

A lot of people do #1, where they leave the tops them same and just paint the legs/spindles. That look usually looks best if the black is not distressed, b/c the other wood is usually left undistressed. But that feels so overdone to me.

If it were me, I would paint and distress everything the same color. I have a hard time changing a color, so if I were to paint chairs/bench a different color and I don't like it in a year, I wouldn't likely change it back but just deal with not liking it. Maybe you are more ambitious than me!

OR< I would do the chairs or bench a different color, like a dove gray or white. Would look pretty with beautiful with a black table.

You can add in a fun new color by painting a large canvas and hang it next to the table, get a colorful table runner for the table or a large red vase/jug.

Keep in mind, black gets dusty looking quickly, so even if you distress it, you still want to seal it.

I compiled a bunch of black, white and gray painted furniture on my blog when I was making these decisions, maybe one idea will pop put at you:
http://littlelovables.blogspot.com/2010/04/white-black-gr...

LOVE this all black set:
http://asoftplace.net/2009/01/the-painted-kitchen-table/

I have a painted kitchen set (not distressed) and I don't know if it was done wrong but it has chips in the paint on the chairs from moving. Doesn't look good. Based on this, I would use a stain. BUT...I am certainly no expert and maybe there is a way to paint so that it doesn't chip at the slightest bump!
KP

My personal opinion is, you probably already know how much work all that really is, by the time you give it a quick sanding, prime, paint, distress,etc. So probably the option of painting it all black, then distressing , and doing your bench a fun color.As far as cleaning it, I have found that warm water and soap or what works best for me, although it matters more depending on if and how you seal it.In which case you would want to go by recommended directions of the sealer, glaze whatever . Good luck!:)

In cabinets (my field) they will paint the dark color first (2 coats) then the light color. Let it dry for the total curing time and then sand your edge and corners down to the dark color. You can let a L. or alot show through based on your taste. It is really attractive. Look at magazines and the web for ideas. I guess what I just described to you would be antiqueing not distressing which implies dents, etc. Have fun, it sounds like an interesting project.