decisions, decisions

Our dining room is boring. A total snoozefest. Almost two years into ownership of this house and the dining room still has no art on the walls. The only colors (and I use the term loosely) are white, beige and brown. I don't know why I've given the dining room the shaft, but it's finally getting the attention it deserves.

We have a chair rail in the dining room, which is pretty pointless when both the upper and lower sections are painted the same (boring) color. I've decided to paint the lower section a darker version of the beige on the wall.  But the wall with the windows doesn't have a chair rail, and it's a focal point in the house (in fact, the first thing you see when you walk in the front door). So, the question is: Should I paint it the darker color or leave it as is?

Here's a "before" (aka "right now") of the room (this color is also in the living room):

Here's my mockup of the room with paint on the walls (plus curtains I plan to add). This is the version without new paint on the window wall.

And here's the version with new paint:

And for even more comparison, here is what the room looked like when we moved in (with the window wall the same color as the upper half of the other walls, which was also the same color as the living room):

I like how the darker color highlights the white molding. But I also like the idea of not having to paint. Decisions, decisions. What do you think?

Update: And then I went Pinterest browsing this afternoon and found this dining room (that happens to be Keri Russel's).

I'm digging the really light walls with the dark furniture (and I must have those chairs). So perhaps a better option would be to keep the color I have on the bottom of the chair rail and paint above a lighter color. (And, for the record, I really would love to have wood floors like hers that aren't orangey brown and match none of the color palettes in my house.) Hmmm...