We have some chairs left from a 1960's blond veneer dining room set we got when we were first married. I had them painted a white (BM Impervo in Acacia white) along with other chairs we've aquired. I upholstered them with black and white fabrics, (covered with clear vinyl---I have 3 kids)and I think they work well with our black dining table (we didn't paint that). I like the combination of the painted black and white together. Here is a pic of my kitchen cabs we painted the same color, truer representation of the white, more cream than lighting in dining room.

If you are starting with bare wood (unfinished furniture) milk paint can give you a similar look. Here are a couple of manufacturers with excellent websites: http://www.milkpaint.com/ http://www.realmilkpaint.com/

I like pulls a lot, from both a visual and functional standpoint. Pulls add a lot of character to otherwise plain cabinets. However, I agree that visually, knobs help to break up the dominating look of the hardware as pulls provide more of a visual presence that can be overwhelming. So we're going with all knobs on our cabinet doors, then a mix of knobs or pulls on drawers.

Thanks suezbell! Because the trim is painted the Edgecomb Gray, the doors and all the built ins are also that color, so it’s does break up the white luckily. I’ll take some pictures and post them tomorrow to give you an idea! You are right about white though. I was going to do something similar in our living room, but we have so many off white furnishings in there that it may be hard to blend it all together. I’ll probably paint it Edgecomb Gray or a sage green, which I’m thinking I should have done in our bedroom to make life simpler 😂 thanks again!