Charcoal Painted Walls in My Dining Room

Let’s take a look at the charcoal walls in my dining room! They really make the farmhouse decor stand out!

Yesterday I took a deep dive into the new wall color I painted in my dining room: Kendall Charcoal. Today I’m sharing the full reveal of it on the walls.

If you remember the before photo from when we moved in, the walls were a wild shade of pistachio. In my opinion, it did nothing for the room. Since it’s one of the first spaces you see when you walk into my home, I knew it had to change ASAP.

Dining room with pistachio green walls — The new dining room, still wearing the previous owners’ wall color.

And this photo above shows my view from my office, which was seriously getting me down. Ha!

I’ve long wanted to use this deep, neutral shade in my home. When I first saw Kendall Charcoal on the cabinets in The Inspired Room’s old kitchen, I filed it away in my “colors I’d like to use someday” folder. Since then I’ve seen it on walls in many dining rooms with white trim along the lower half, and I loved it even more.

a Simple Summer Dining Room Tour - with turquoise plates and a gorgeous farmhouse table — My previous dining room was painted Wythe Blue

A New House, New Colors

Yes, I had wainscoting on the lower half of the walls in my old dining room, as seen here. That wall was Wythe Blue, which I loved, so I never changed it. I never wanted to change it in my old house, but I knew I wanted to try something new and bold in this one. New house, new colors!

Kendall Charcoal painted walls in the dining room

I even considered painting everything, trim and all, in Kendall Charcoal. In the end I decided to play it safe and paint just the top half. (I’m glad I listened to my gut!)

I’m so glad I did, because I think it looks gorgeous!! It’s one of my favorite rooms in the house right now, and I love getting to look at it while I work every day.

Kendall Charcoal walls in the dining room with lots of natural light

I’m not quite ready to share my full plans for the room, but I’m thrilled with how it looks so far, with paint alone! All of this furniture came from the old house, and I dare say the brass chandelier I was dying to replace even works in here now!

I still plan to replace it someday, but I’ll likely stick with something in the gold family, since it looks so good against the dark charcoal backdrop.

Large blank wall with kendall charcoal paint - perfect for some art!

Gray Walls Can Work in a Dining Room

I love how the wood tones stand out against the background too. A while back I read a post by a popular decorator and paint color expert who said you shouldn’t paint a dining room gray. I even commented years ago that Wythe Blue was my perfect dining room color.

But I’d argue that gray CAN work in a dining room. The right gray, paired with the right furniture, accents and lighting, really pops. Give it a try! You might love it too.

I can’t wait to add pops of color that will look so pretty against the charcoal. I have some lovely artwork in mind for the large wall across from the windows, but again, I’m not ready to share the full plans yet. All in good time! (For example, I have a rug sitting in my cart, but the budget needs to recover from so many other purchases first. Patience is hard in decorating!)

Kendall Charcoal dining room walls with wood buffet and large round mirror

I’m trying to tackle one room at a time, so I have to wait until my office is finished before moving on to this room. Until then, I’ll enjoy these charcoal walls and the pretty decor already here!

Have you ever painted your walls a bold, dark color?

Take a Look at It Now!

When I first started decorating this dining room around the farmhouse table and media console I built for my last house, I realized the pieces were too large and the wrong style for the space. So I sold them! Then I inherited my grandmother’s dining room set, so I reworked the space to suit its furniture and the style of my traditional home.

Before I started the makeover…