3/02/2006

Idea File: Picture Rails

I'm debating whether or not to incorporate picture hanging rails into the living room. They look very nice in rooms with walls that curve to meet the ceiling, but I'm not sure how they'd look in our house (we have 90° angles where the walls and ceiling meet).

And, as usual, Rejuvenation solves my problem by providing an example. It's a Neoclassical home, but the effect is still the same.


It would save our newly-redone plaster from chips and holes, and when the upper part of the wall is painted the same color as the ceiling, it makes the room feel larger. My main concern would be what to do where the stairs are. I think it would look somewhat silly to have the rail going up diagonally, but if there are different colors above and below the rail, we can't very well just stop. Maybe we could paint the same colors above and below, and just have the rail stop when it reaches the windown next to the stairway. I'll have to play on photoshop and see how it will all look...

4 comments:

erilyn said...

what if you had the picture rail end in the corner before the wall with the window/stairs? that way the corner would make a vertical dividing line for the colors.

Di said...

I thought about that, but I still think it would look odd. Since the other three walls would be an "extension" of the ceiling, I'm afraid it would make the room look lopsided... It's definitely something to consider further, though. Once we get the walls skimmed, I'm going to get some pictures and play with ideas.

Ben Biddle said...

Our picture rails are at the top of the wall, where it meets the ceiling. Most folks think it's just crown molding that wasn't put up right. The office does have a lower picture rail, about 18" below the top of the window casings. We did a two color paint job in there - olive green on the bottom with a cream on top that followed right onto the ceiling. The stairway has no picture rails but there are walls that divide the area from the other rooms.

Christopher Busta-Peck said...

If you're still interested in the picture rail idea, we have a picture rail that terminates just before our stairs. I can't find a decent picture right now, but I can shoot one if you like.