Some people find them charming and practical. Others think they are out of date and hard to blend with modern decor. Many seek advice on whether to keep or remove them while renovating. In this post I’d like to present several fine examples of picture rails used in a fresh and inspiring way.
A picture rail is a specialty moulding typically installed 9″-20″ below the ceiling. Its original use was as a support for the hooks for hanging artwork with a cord, so the homeowners could avoid making nail holes in finished walls. The special hooks slide over the moulding, so it is easy to switch the pictures around and rearrange the art display. It is a very practical solution for renters who want to hang art and other objects without harming the wall surface.
Picture rails may not be used for hanging pictures as often nowadays, but they are a wonderful architectural feature which allows the homeowners to play with the proportions of the walls. They provide their own decorative touch, breaking up the vertical lines from floor to ceiling. If don’t care much for the practical aspects, the look of a picture rail can be achieved with any decorative strip of trim that matches the style of your room. So even if you don’t live in a historic house with preserved original features, you can add picture rails and play with two tone walls.
Painting the wall darker below the picture rail creates an optical illusion of bringing the ceiling down in a very high room and breaks up the monotony of the walls. Adding colour above the rail draws your eyes up and adds a lot of visual interest and drama with just a small amount of paint. For even more spectacular results extend the paint to the ceiling!
When painting the wall one colour up to the ceiling, you can either expose a picture rail or blend it with the wall.
Finally, picture rails look great with wallpapers. And although wallpaper on the lower part of the wall might seem like an obvious choice here, I find the accent of colour and pattern above the rail really inspiring.
