Yard Sale Scouring Leads to Another Chair Pair Score!

Surprise!  Time for another chair pair redo (sarcasm font).  I only say that because it feels like deja vu that I found these chairs while yard sale scouring on Saturday since they look a bit like the set I found at Bauer Brothers a while back.  Well that, and Alex gave me specific instructions before heading to the garage sales- "Now remember, don't bring anything home that you think will fit in the living room after painting or refinishing it.  Our basement is full of those type of things."  WHOOPSIE!!! 

The other chair pair set I refurbished shown in the smaller photo

 But seriously- how could I resist?  This type of chair is so easy to refurbish and with the right touch they can have a classic elegant look!  Not to mention I was able to haggle the price down to just $25 for the set!

I'm so pumped to get started I already popped the seat cushions off so I can get moving! 

With that, I also ordered new fabric for the seats from a great online fabric store my friend Alex recommended (not to be confused with my hubby Alex, this Alex is a gal with a great eye for style and deals!).  The site is FabricGuru.com and they offer fabulous, high quality fabric in a wide variety of stylish prints/patterns, and the prices are amazing!  I had about five fabric options selected but finally narrowed my purchase to Robert Allen's Ikat Fret Upholstery Fabric in Charcoal priced at $16.46 per yard. 

I loved the idea of adding an Ikat pattern of some sort and think this will be a nice livable choice!  Now I just have to wait 3-5 business days for it to arrive... boo. I'm too impatient for online shopping sometimes. 

Okay, I covered my fabric selections for the seat so you might be wondering about the wood right?  I decided that even though the wood is okay as is, I just can't keep it that way- and not just because we don't have a single thing in the house with the same wood finish & color but I also can't help but envision the chair pair looking so much fresher if painted a chic color- which means I am not painting them white either!  Yep, living dangerously here :) and besides, we already have a white chair pair look covered in our house. 

So I'm thinking a bit on the darker side of decor because I love the look of these antique chairs featured in the May issue of House Beautiful's Color Code article.  Simple, classic, and very eye catching in the photo...

It appears in the photo that they aren't dark black or brown but maybe a very dark navy or gray? I think I might have to stick to a dark gray but I'll know for sure once I get the fabric but I'd love to know if someone out there can help with a paint recommendation that has a dark look with a subtle hit of color?

So if you can, please help a gal out!
What color should I use to get that dark look on the wood but still has a hit of color when light hits? 
Or, would you choose something totally different to go with the fabric I chose?

Note: just in case anyone wondered, no one from FabricGuru contacted me or compensated me for sharing their info, their fabric selection is just awesome!