Here's a photo that might be helpful. Shows a sort of medium-gray color with different sheens.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paint Sheens

Thanks Sun, it was very helpful seeing the various finishes next to one another. I still can't make the decision and am putting this project on the back burner until the first of next year. Maybe by then I'll have my mind made up! ;o)

If you don't have to worry about wear, tear, and burnishing, this is the place for Farrow and Ball Estate Emulsion. I have heavy texture on my walls and used Red Earth in the powder room. It acted almost like a skim coat--really smoothed out the walls, relative to how they were before, and has a wonderful velvet texture.

KD, thank you sooooo much! This could be the perfect solution. In reading about both products, I'm thinking the modern emulsion may work best in the DR. I'm sending F&B an email requesting a recommendation since the color closest to what I would use(Almost Black)is very saturated, something with a slight sheen might work best. Would love lacquer!

If you are thinking about lacquer, the walls need to be absolutely perfect first. We weren't up to that process at all, nor would it have worked in a house that's a blown up version of a nineteenth century Texas Hill Country German farmhouse. However, in the right dining room, I would so love it.

A cautionary note: One of the posters here (my three apples) had a difficult, splotchy time with dark F&B colors in her new build. I'm not sure what the resolution was, but I was surprised by her troubles.