I adore picture rails (only original period features though) ...especially with picures hanging off them. lovely. if you do remove them it usually brings the plaster off and would have to be skimmed as you can't get the walls flush with just polyfiller

Hi Shelley Your room looks lovely - very light and airy and I love the architectural details! I love using a slightly deeper colour on walls that have exquisite skirting boards and coving - I actually think it looks really good in the colour of the plaster! Alternatively if you want a lighter colour, a warm white or grey would look great too. I've put some pics below of the kind of effect I'm talking about with the slightly darker neutrals. Your best bet is to get some samples and paint them on big sheets of card *not the wall!*, place them in the room on different walls and see what they look like at different times of the day, that should give you a pretty accurate idea of what the whole effect will be once it's all done. Look forward to seeing some photos of the completed project! P.s. I reallly do love that coving...*sigh*

I think you can use a deep colour. The trick is adding pictures and a mirror to break it up and make it feel dressed

Sorry, I've just found out that this one is not yours. Post some photos, it will really help. Black next to white creates the strongest constrast possible, so not a good idea for anything you want to disappear. I would look to your flooring to see what colours are in the concrete affect tiles (they won't be pure grey, viirtually nothing is).