I like LEDs 4000K for dark spaces and since you have stuff on the walls I would do wall washers to high light the art and that will make the space feel wider.

Accenting the walls usually doesn't make sense in a hallway. You have the bedroom doors and maybe a linen door as well, too much conflict with shadows and spacing. If the hallway is common 36"-48" wide, use 4" lumenaires that will spread over the floor much better than 3" or 2" spots. Easily 500+ lumens (the color temperature is not the standing factor to evaluate going from "darkness-to-lightness"). For wall art on larger blank walls, add a gimbal light or art light specifically for those couple areas. If you shoved a skinny art piece in a sliver between 2 doors, don't accentuate it.

Put lights in a narrow hallway overhead. If you want to "decorate" a hallway, consider wainscoting and your favorite wall color rather than cluttering up a small space and risking someone tall bumping their head on a sconce. You also do not want to wake up at night still getting your eyes adjusted and walk down a hallway looking into/at a light -- you want the lights above you.

You can also put recessed lights connected to multiple switches rather than using dimmers and you turn on half the lights with one and half the lights with the other, individually or both at once when you want the most light.

Also consider making these switches be three way lights so you can turn the lights on/off using switches from either end of the hallway.

I think you should reconsider recessed lights. They don't seem very period appropriate for your historic home.

What about a set of lovely pendants or wall sconces? Much more period appropriate and way less likely to look dated over time. Best of luck in your renovation!

Thanks threeonthetree and wdccruise, you gave me an idea I hadn’t considered before, ie a mix of gimbals for the art and straight down for the rest. And I am so glad you pointed out the issue about doors and closets getting in the way I wasn’t paying attention to that!

Related question, what do you in a living room that is all windows on one side, do you not place recessed lights near the windows? I am worried that recessed light will bounce off the glass but I already have gimbals on the other side of that room, to accentuate a wall of art.

"a mix of gimbals for the art and straight down for the rest."

I wouldn't mix.

"what do you in a living room that is all windows on one side, do you not place recessed lights near the windows?"

Use recessed light that have a deeply recessed bulb so the light source is not reflected in the window. I used Juno 17HZ-WH trim in a 4" housing with a PAR20 bulb. You can even use a Juno 17B-WH trim has a black reflector. The Nicor DQR2-10-120-3K-BK-BF is a black baffle 2" integrated light

I have found I prefer the mix of trims. I don’t like very evenly lit recessed lighting, and I think it’s become more popular. It doesn’t feel natural to me, even with dimmers. I’ve been starting from a wall where I want gimbals and working out from there, but I’ll admit it really makes my brain hurt, which is why I’m searching the lighting posts tonight! I really like the Juno deep 4” trim wdccruise mentioned. I think it’s Haze or something but I’ve been looking at trim for hours now so I’m probably mixing them up. I used one in a single location and almost regret it since I’m about to buy 9 housings, trims, and bulbs and now I want them all to look like that, and they’re much more expensive than what I’ve used before. Halo has something similar. I think they’d especially look nice mixed with other lights, like surface mounts or period ceiling lights, because they don’t show as much and don’t look as stark as more shallow fixtures, like the led retrofit kits.

You'd have to see a layout of the hallway, hopefully it's not like a gallery at MOMA, but just a couple focal points you've chosen to hang art. Then it's ok to mix a 2" or 3" gimbal/adjustable slot with the general 4" trims if the spacing works in it's favor as well. I don't think you should worry about the house being built in 1930 - at that time guessing only 1/2 of houses even had electric lighting, and not every house is historical just because it's old.

@EvaElizabeth - that sounds very reasonable, starting with the gimbals and going from there. My head is hurting too from all the research I've done, and my family is sick of all the boxes of various recessed trims I've bought and parked all over the house while I try to make decisions. Our electrician is coming next week so I'll report on my progress.

Since the Juno deep recessed seems popular I'll check it out.

@3onthetree I'm with you 100%, our house is old but not historic (I assume it's a McMansion of simpler times, haha), and I love to mix old and new, that's my aesthetic all over the house!

Gimbals to highlight a few art pieces. Do you have any outlets in the hall; nightlights in those can be sufficient for after hours travel in the hallway.

"My head is hurting too from all the research I've done, and my family is sick of all the boxes of various recessed trims..."

Yup. All the sample integrated fixtures I bought and tested are going to the building product reuse store.

I like occupancy sensors (Lutron MSCL-OP153MH is an excellent model). Facing down a hallway, it can turn on the lights when someone enters the hallway or exits a bedroom, and turn them off when activity ceases. This model includes a built-in dimmer and other features such as fade-on and fade-off.