got any painting advise?

Yesterday I did a little rearranging to the school area of our great room which has had me all mixed up trying to find books and put them away today :)  That book case used to be on the other side of the room- near the TV, and my cabinet with all my fabric in it was there instead, but I decided that the cabinet will work better in the living area- even if it means I have to walk across the room to fetch my fabric.  I think I like the switch so far.

And just to keep it real... this is what it looks like when you pan out... still quite a bit of work to do before I am done with this little room re-do :)

I posted this dark and depressing photo on Facebook the other day asking for input on a new color scheme and weather to keep the chair rail or tear it out (the general consensus was to keep it).  I am pretty sure I want at least half of the wall to be white (Sweet Vanilla by Behr to be exact- its the color that is in our kitchen) and the other half ?.  It is a big and busy room, so I don't want anything too overwhelming.  I actually really love the whole cottage look- white walls, brightly colored accessories, but am not sure about painting the walls all white with the chair rail.   The truth is, we have so much crammed into this space that you barely see the lower part of the walls except in a few spaces.

 We are in the  (slow) process of tearing out all the carpet and painting the sub floors (until we can afford the hard wood we really want).  Right now the plan is to paint the floors Slate Pebble (another Behr color) which is a taupe color (a shade grayer than the upper walls in the kitchen). I'd love to hear your ideas!