{ Dining Room }

I decided to paint the kitchen and re-paint the dining and living rooms over Memorial Day weekend. I cleared my schedule and mentally prepared myself for three.grueling.days. {I knew Mike had to work Saturday and Monday, and I felt like this was kind of my responsibility...after all, I'm the one who chose the bright Easter green color that we both despise!} After two days of almost nonstop painting, Mike very graciously put aside his Monday commitments and helped me finish the living and dining rooms. Thank you, babe! With 25-ish-foot cathedral ceiling, I was beginning to feel like I was going to be painting walls forever!!

The color is Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore.

Can I tell you a secret? We literally had camping furniture for the first five months of our marriage. We borrowed a small oval table from Mike's parents. We had two camping chairs {any idea how low to the ground camping chairs are?} that were given to us as a wedding gift. They totally did not fit at that table, but that's where we ate from July 'til December. I'm so happy we took the opportunity to buy this solid oak table, six chairs, and sideboard {used for less than one week} for $300.

But....

It's kinda too matchy-matchy for me. I had no decorating taste whatsoever at that point. I was just desperate for a real table and chairs. I would love to have a big old farm table, with mismatched chairs and a vintage sideboard with antique drawer pulls. Something like this {I know it's a headboard, but you get the idea}

via

or this

via

But for now, I'm really thankful for the beautiful matching set that we have.

{Do you think Mike would ever let me paint these chairs? Maybe the table?......}

I searched long and hard for the perfect true grey. The internet is a great source for both inspiration + direction when looking for paint colors. Some links that were especially helpful for me are here, here, here, and here. Obviously there are thousands of blogs out there with millions of great ideas for paint colors! Anyway, Revere Pewter is a little more complex than I expected; a little more ambiguous, a little less grey. It's almost taupe/dark beige in some lights. I guess that's a bonus; I get walls that are multiple colors instead of just one! When you compare RP to the hallway {Benjamin Moore's Hot Spring Stones}, RP is clearly more grey and HSS is clearly  more pink/tan. Which is what I wanted. So I'm not complaining. Just explaining.

This is the beginning of our gallery wall. Originally, I wanted antique-looking silvery frames {like we have in the hallway}, but Mike prefers dark wood frames. I'm really glad I agreed to his preference--I like the way they pop against the grey. Silver would've blended in too much.

And there you have it!