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

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 can't say I've noticed the scheme you've mentioned before... somebody who has seen it might have a better perspective.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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

I do think it can work. Don't skimp on the lighting if the space is small or there isn't 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. That's 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 always throw a few lights off, but it's a pain when you don't have enough and its depressing. We hardly spend time in ours because the lighting just makes it unpleasant. Once that's fixed, I know well entertain more often in that room.

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

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.

I'm not sure if it's 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 because our apartment is narrow and long.. but if it is a very large room I'm sure it could go bolth ways... just remember sometimes darker paint is a lot harder to cover over again without primer

ANother question - I've been sizing this up this week to start it. I was thinking of adding a third color which would be white for the casing and moldings to break up the other 2 colors.

Pretty sure I'm sticking to dark on top, light on bottom. Just wish there was a way to see what it would be like... (like an online paint tester thing)

I went into excel and colored some cells, dark on top, lighter on bottom. The only problem I had with it is when the room was half dark and half light. Your eye is drawn to the dark, and it seemed to disorient me a little, as if my vision would be constantly drawn up toward the ceiling.

When I adjusted it so the dark was the predominant part of the wall, and the light was a lesser proportion, it seemed fine. 50/50 was bad. 70/30 seemed better. So then as long as your chair rail isn't too high (and again, I think they look better on most walls around 30-36 in up) I think it'll look good. You said in the original post you were going to do half and half. Id probably not do that, but I could be absolutely wrong. Haven't seen it... and I think you said you'd seen a pic like that before, so as long as that's true, trust you eye. Your room.

Here is an ex that does not really match exactly what you're doing, but it is a pic of a rec room with white trim that I saved for when we are deciding how to redo ours. Hope it helps. I think white trim in a rec room is fine.

http://picuploader.com/view/f29898cceb.jpg

I'll do the 30 - 36 inches for sure. I did it up in paintbrush and I think the light on top is better... now that I kind of see it in front of me...

Well, the great thing about paint is it's a relatively cheap fix if you don't like it... and usually one wall is all you need to know if its not right.

Let us know if it worked out.