It really is for aesthetic purposes. I think traditonally cornicing and skirts were used to cover any flaws in the plaster where the walls met the ceiling/floors. It can also give a roundness to the room and avoid shadows where the wall and ceiling meet. On the flip side, if painted white it can give the appearance of a bigger ceiling ceiling and therefore shorter walls. Nowadays a lot of contemporary homes do not have coving. I think it depends on what you like, personally I love it in the right space. What do you mean by low beams btw?

How faithful to the period are you hoping to keep your renovation? Many homes from this time would have only had coving in "the good room" and as such it would be totally in keeping to leave the other rooms without. If you do go ahead and install I would definitely go with your plan of keeping the design simple and without too many curves (curves would be more in keeping in a Victorian style home). Good luck!

I agree with Victoria - it all depends on the house. If it’s a Victorian property with high ceilings and the original coving has been ripped out, then yes - replacing it would be great. However if it’s a more modern property with lower ceilings, don’t add something that wouldn’t have been there. Personally I really don’t like it when modern properties have had fake historic features added - it looks a bit odd, and it could even devalue your property.

Thank you, I think this must be the only suitable solution. Will keep looking to see if I can find any images of this sort of thing. The coving will be relatively dark