house updates + templeton gray

A few updates on our house...

1. We got the Stendig chairs! As I wrote about in this post, I found such a deal on 4 side chairs (no arms). I then did some digging and was able to find another set for not as great of deal but still pretty good. So we now own 10 matching dining room chairs (5 armless and 5 with arms)!  I have been looking for dining room chairs for so long its sort of crazy that we now have a complete set (remember this post, this post and this post?). Of course, things are never that easy as the chairs are currently in Michigan with my parents and I have yet to figure out how to get them to Missouri...
2. I am still painting the landing. I have put in probably 12 hours so far and I don't even have the first coat of paint on the trim completed. This is the first area where I have attempted to do something with the old, thickly painted trim and it has been much more time consuming than I planned. I opted for what I thought was a partial improvement strategy meaning I didn't strip the molding or rip it out and replace it. Nor did I just leave it alone and paint straight over it. Instead, I used Durham's Pudding to fill in a bunch of cracks and holes and then sanded over it to smooth it all out. What I discovered is that the pudding works pretty well for fixing cracks but not great on major inconsistencies like rough paint areas and damaged plinth blocks. Hopefully, I will finish painting this coming weekend.
3. We have disposed of only one more mouse since the major extermination spree so I am hoping that the situation has been "handled".
4. Our basement took in water AGAIN and this time it wasn't after a really heavy rain. So we put the dryer up on blocks and are currently searching for a recommended professional to advise us on what is going on. Best guess is that we need a sump pump.
5. Our kitchen sink is currently clogged so Jeff will be playing plumber this evening. Because these are joys of home ownership...

Now that we have gotten reality out of the way, I am currently dreaming of Templeton Gray - the sort of gray more greenish Benjamin Moore color I am thinking of painting the trim and armoire in the other guest bedroom. Since pretty much completing the project room, I have been thinking about what to do with the other guest room. I wrote this post and remember how I thought "it just needs a good coat of paint"? Well, after working on the trim on the landing and taking a closer look at the actual condition of the walls and trim its going to be more time consuming than I thought. I haven't decided how involved I want to get with refinishing the trim in the room but my thought is that if I paint it darker and leave the walls light the poor condition of the molding won't be as noticeable. I don't want to give the wrong idea that I don't care about the quality of the work but in an almost 150 year old house you have to pick and choose your battles. You also have to know that part of an old house's charm is that not everything is crisp, clean, smooth, straight or anywhere near like new. 

I also am in love with the below image of Phoebe Troyer's entry. The color is apparently called Greenbrier from Olde Century Colore. I am not familiar with the company and couldn't find any other examples but it might be worth looking into...Darker and a little more green than Templeton?