"If" you are putting bead board on the bottom, then I'd paint the bottom the lighter colour. Just remember that the darker the colour, the smaller the room will appear....also notice, your curtains should go just to the floor, not on it necessarily but "to" it...lovely room though....am attaching a pic of an extra bathroom we finished a year ago with the bead board with the lighter colour on the bottom....I used white but if you went with a cream colour, make sure you get it from the same "colour" family as the grey you used so that one isn't a cool colour and the other a warm coloru....

I would brighten with bedding, curtains (hung floor to ceiling,) and appropriately sized tables and lamps. Just doing two sides of the room will make it too choppy. and narrow looking Here's a chart about getting tables and lamps right.