HELP!

I need your help. I heard a designer say once that, when decorating your house, you should buy pieces you love and somehow it will all fall into place. Ok, so I found a piece I love. And I bought it used for only $100. Here it is.









I love it. We're going to put it on one side of our kitchen table for seating instead of chairs (We only have 4 chairs and now 5 people and I decided to go this route instead of adding more chairs). But here's the deal. My kitchen table is covered in blue tile. Which is beautiful and my husband worked very hard on it, but it's not that practical and the grout is stained and coming apart anyway. So we're going to put a new table top on our table and try to match the table top and chairs to this bench. Problem is, neither of us know for sure how to get them that way. Do any of you know 1) how to get this black/natural distressed look? Is it just sanding? Is there a special way to sand/paint/glaze to get this look? (Em, will you ask Josh?) 2) where I can find a website that shows me how to do this?
Any feedback would be appreciated. You don't have to do a comment for all the world to see...just email me. dodiajackson@yahoo.com Thanks!!!