Dining Room Beginnings

I don’t know what it is about high contrast and me lately, but we’re pretty much becoming best friends. Ever since I shared our living room’s paint job last week, there have been a lot of love/hate reactions.

Some of you guys are rowing this high-contrast boat right along with me, and then there are a few of y’all who are ready to jump ship on this whole bright whites and moody darks idea. (P.S. No clue how nautical puns work in here, but it’s late and I think I’m delirious  from moving boxes all day… and I just had to Google how to spell “delirious”.)

But I wanted to share our dining room’s latest transformation that even surprised me. This is how it looked a week ago.

And after a day’s work, here’s how it looks now, all moody in its moody moodiness. I really would have never guessed I would paint a room in our house this dark, but I guess this house just makes me do things out of my norm since it’s polar opposite from our last house. This isn’t a house that I feel I can nail up white shiplap everywhere. It’s a whole new challenge.

I wanted to break up the walls above and below the chair rail to make this space feel elegant, and I think by hanging some light linen curtains and incorporating a more casual dining table, this space will end up with great balance to it. I’m still wrapping my brain around it though and am sort of flying by the seat of my pants on this one.

Without all of those furnishings and curtains to soften it up though, this room does feel very in-your-face. For the white, we painted the trim and wall below the chair rail with Benjamin Moore Aura semi-gloss paint in Simply White. I’m still deciding if we’ll eventually add more molding to that part of the wall, but we’re in no rush.

For the dark color, we painted the upper portion with Benjamin Moore Aura eggshell in Kendall Charcoal. It’s a deep gray with a rich tone that works with pretty much any color. I cannot get over how freshened up this space feels now.

Except… ya know… those glimpses of other rooms in mid-prep mode. #RealLifeYo

Some of y’all have asked if I’m going to share more “progress” posts instead of the already prettied up finished ones, so if you’re wanting to see more of the chaos and real everyday action, I usually share all of that on Instagram Stories. Maybe one of these days I’ll figure out Facebook Live, but I’m technologically challenged in that department right now.

So that’s the State of the Dining Room Address. I’m sure I’ll have more of a “plan” once this room and I get to know each other better.

What are your thoughts so far? Loving it? Hating it? Kind of meh? I guess at this point it’s a little hard to tell until the decorating part (a.k.a. the fun part) happens.

*A big thanks to Benjamin Moore for providing paint for this post.