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jilld_gw

Dark color above plate rail or below?

jilld
14 years ago

I thought I posted this, but it is not showing up.

We have a 1923 colonial revival 2-story home. We are finishing up a remodel/addition and all that is left is the painting.

In the dining room, we kept the original plate rail (about 5' above the floor) and the wainscoting, which consists of 4" wide pieces of oak that run vertically from the plate rail to the baseboard. They are spaced about 18" apart.

So, on the top I have solid wall to paint, and below I have vertical rectangles framed in oak to paint.

I have a dark shade and light shade of the same green color picked to use, and everyone (the painter on the project, a friend whose is a fabulous decorator, my husband, my mother) says I should use the dark color on the bottom to "ground" the room and a light color on top.

I swear that I read a sidebar about this in Old House Journal that said the "period" way to paint this would be to put the dark color on the top to create "depth" and use the light color on the bottom.

The woodwork is darker, a little darker than what I would call medium oak. I think a lighter color on the bottom would set of the oak better, but I have no design sense and don't want to do something I will regret.

I figure that if I go "period consistent" I won't regret it, so, anyone out there know what the 1920s period consistent way of painting a dining room is?

Thanks.

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