I'm having the casing going around the mid height of the room, some call it a chair stop? anyways, it will be a 2 tone room, chocolate brown and an off white-beige kinda colour.

I was going to put the dark colour on top and the light on the bottom....or is their a general rule of thimb to this paint scheme? I also plan on placing framed molding all along the bottom ... (not sure if i'm describin that correctly)

kp2171

dark on top can "pull the walls" in even more than on the bottom....as in it makes the room look smaller. ok if you have high ceilings, big room, and good lighting, otherwise it can seem like a dungeon or too small. done right and it can make a room more intimate. i cant say ive noticed the scheme youve mentioned before... somebody who has seen it might have a better perspective.

valinors_sorrow

I think the darker color on top is a mistake for the reasons that KP mentioned and for one other - psychologically its backwards from how the world looks to us and it will produce an odd sensation to those who are in touch with themselves and the environment. It would be far better if the two colors were closer in the tone range -- like two colors in medium shades, then the upsidedown effect would disappear.

lbrowne

I have Home Depot and other similar flyers that have, say a dark burgundy on top and a soft cream colour on bottom - not sure how that is any different.

Lighting will be key, I'll be spending a nice bit on quality track lighting. This room will have tons of sports portraits on the wall.

valinors_sorrow

Track lighting and portraits sounds very nice.

I am curious though, does the photo depiction in the Home Depot flyer have many windows in the room or the same proportions dark color to light color on the wall as yours? Those kind of elements can make a considerable difference in how something as fickle as color works.

lbrowne

There might be *a* window in the picture, but not lots. Also a doorway. I'm going to see if I can find a link...

kp2171

i scoured a few remodel/decor mags and actually saw something like you described, but different colors.

i do think it can work. dont skimp on the lighting if the space is small or there isnt natural light. we have a rec room in our basement that is painted white by the previous owner, with bad lighting. feels dark and gloomy. thats a winter remodel about to happen.

so i say go for it. if the trim is painted you might want to continue cream color around the door and windows to tie in the color better and break up the darker. absolutely pay for good lighting. you can alway throw a few lights off, but its a pain when you dont have enough and its depressing. we hardly spend time in ours because the lighting just makes it unpleasant. once thats fixed, i know well entertain more often in that room.

lbrowne

Is there a standard height for the casing that goes around the wall? (the chair guard or whatever is the technical term...)

kp2171

i think 30-36 inches up from floor is pretty common. you might get away with higher if your ceilings are high.

our kitchen has wainscotting on one wall with the cap at 3 ft, top of rail. our dining also had a rail, no wainscotting at the 3 ft mark. 8 ft ceilings in both rooms.

binx44

i'm not sure if its a rule of thumb or not but when i painted my partment two tone, 4 separate colors... 2 for the living room and 2 for the bedroom i painted the lighter on the top half.. i have very high ceilings 10f high approximately.. i found it works well due to the fact that our apartment is narrow and long.. but if it is a very large room i'm sure it could go bolth ways.... just remeber sometimes darker paint is alot harder to cover over again without primer