Are the window treatments in the lounge staying? In the photo it appears that that space is also fairly dark. Wondering (assuming the privacy lace and pelmet curtains aren't required for practical reasons) if they could be swapped for something that allows more light to flow through the archway into the hallway. Dulux ghosting, grand piano, white duck or similar could be used at full strength for the lower half and quarter for above the rail.

Your home has the proportions to wear more colour than very pale neutrals (ie: all whites), and I would absolutely paint below the dado rail in one of the following:

These are Sherwin Williams colours, available at Masters, and the only reason I'm suggesting them is because I have the swatches in front of me at the moment! (I know Dulux is easier!)

*Stone Lion - mid-neutral colour with a slight grey undertone.

*Be bold with either "Porpoise" or "Web Grey" - these are both very deep colours, one is inky, one is grey.

*Inverted like your reference image, however I would make sure all artwork above the dado rail is in a white picture frame for balance.

Keep all trims and wall above dado rail in the existing colours.

If you paint a warmer colour rather than off white, the area below your dado rail will recede... actually expanding the space and making the hallway appear wider. Don't be afraid to try it.

The worse thing to do will be to test out paint patches on the wall. You will need to paint the whole bottom of hallway to get the overall look, once it's finished it will 'settle' and look correct.

If you need to 'balance' it afterwards, you can do this easily with artwork, and perhaps a floor rug.

Hopefully this helps!

Thank-you all so much for your advice so far, i've already gained so many ideas simply from reading your suggestions.

oskuee: The house is a single story, and we have spoken about solar tubes before but weren't too sure how to incorporate lighting fixtures within the hallway as well. How did you go about it? Did you just install the 2 solar tubes with/without lighting fixtures?

scottevie: the windows in the lounge will be remaining the same, we will eventually change the colour of the curtains but not straight away, either way the styling and shape will remain the same. Surprisingly there isn't a whole lot of natural light than can enter from that point of the house. There is a very large verandah at the front of the house which this window backs on to, plus the amount of trees from the front of our property and next door's front yard makes it difficult for natural light to seap through. I just had a quick look at some Dulux White Duck examples, i definitely favour something around this colour tone.

telperien: i really like the ideas of mirror(s), this would be a great idea to distribute that natural light. I think we are going to try our best to steer clear of knocking down any walls for now unless we really need to!

Embrace interiors: Thank-you so much for the recommendations in paint colour and for re-assuring us that we can paint below the dado rail in a darker colour. We've had a closer look and Stone Lion is definitely the tone we are trying to achieve. If we were to paint the bottom half in Stone Lion, what would you recommend the colour of the picture frames for the artwork be on the top half? We definitely would consider painting the top half in a warmer white as you have recommended.

Once again, thank-you all for your suggestions and recommendations!!

And thank you for your feedback JeanPaul - I would suggest a crisp white picture frame which will essentially pick up the trim 'colour' nicely. You could experiment with a matt colour within the frame that resembles your chosen colour below the dado rail.

On a side note - it would look fantastic to have your photo gallery pictures all aligned perfectly at the top edge, but various 'lengths' ...hard to explain but hopefully it makes sense! It would create some visual texture while still keeping the lines clean. Keep all the frames the same colour & moulding if possible.

Good luck with your home!!!

skylights