Too bad I had already removed the wallpaper border above the chair rail; it was a magnolia floral, and really set off the taupe and cream stripes of the wallpaper below the chair rail. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but just not our style. Chair rails seemed to go south somewhere in the 90's, and are too traditional for our tastes, anyway. I disliked the jarring feeling that accompanied the walk down the hall, when I "noticed" the chair rail there. There were so many reasons why it had to go, first and foremost, the Feng Shui aspect of it. I was dying to remove it, but Tim was adamant that it stay put. I compromised; I told him I would not bug him to remove or paint the paneling in the living room for a whole year.
Our hall runs down the center of our home, and for Feng Shui purposes, it really needed to be yellow. This is better for the health of the female occupant. I really could use any help I can get, whether medical or esoterical.
Here is the "after": I have since hung my beautiful collection of oil paintings of the French Quarter by a Chicago artist I discovered on Ebay. We changed out the hall light fixtures to something a bit more modern, and ditched the 80's country dome fixtures made to resemble cut glass. I am very unimpressed by the orange-y color of the woodwork that is all the same in this house. I intend to improve it, either by staining it a rich mahogany, or painting it.... something. I would like to get some nicer doors down the line; these look old and bland to me. I did this paint with Eddie Bauer paint in satin Pecan, then glazed over it lightly with a combination of mocha and ochre. It seems to have affected my health, already. I feel calm and subdued walking down the hall, now, and I'm glad the strobing effect of the vertical stripes no longer effect me.
