Picture rail in small rooom? Plus cornice?

[cunningplan101]

What are your thoughts on adding a picture rail and/or coving to a small room? Will it make it feel smaller or bigger?

My flat is Edwardian, and has an original picture rail in the living room but no picture rail in the bedrooms. There's one double bedroom and one tiny single bedroom/boxroom. I'd definitely like to add a picture rail in the large bedroom but not sure about the small.

Also, I don't think the flat originally had cornicing or coving, but I'd like to add this. Do you have a picture rail combined with coving - how does it look? Do you have it in a small room?

Thanks

[cunningplan101]

Small room, not rooom - dammit.

[JassyRadlett]

We have picture rails and cornices in all our main rooms, and it's lovely. Not sure about the small room though.

[morethanpotatoprints]

Our house is Edwardian and the big rooms have the original coving and picture rails along with big thick skirting boards.
We have just left all the original features inc fireplaces but not added them where they would have been taken out iyswim.
I think sometimes it is obvious it isn't original and can look a bit silly, especially if you do have some original features.
Our smallest 2 bedrooms don't have them so we didn't replace, large 2 bedrooms are original. The two reception rooms do, the kitchen/diner doesn't.
The hall and landing are original. If this makes sense.

[PrincessPilolevuofTONGA]

Bedrooms would often have not had picture rails

[cunningplan101]

Yes my flat isn't very grand - I think it was the Edwardian equivalent of key worker housing, built by the church for policemen and their families. So it may just have had the picture rail in the living room. Another flat on the street does have a picture rail in the bedroom but they could have added that.

[Blackeyez09]

Is it a flat within a house if not I think it would look strange I'm missing the original dado in my hallway which I've just replastered and was considering adding but not so sure now

[PigletJohn]

Entrance hall and main reception wall would probably have been made to impress, even in a small house, and might have had medallions or other ornamentation. So some fibrous plaster on the ceiling is fine. Coving hides the crack where wall meets ceiling.

Picture rail I think needs a decent ceiling height as it usually has a white drop from the ceiling to the rail. If you ceilings are not very high the wall will look better painted solid and you can paint the rail to blend in. Cottages sometimes had a plate shelf nearer the (low) ceiling, with wooden brackets.

I am very fond of picture-rails as they make it easy to hang mirrors and other items, not just pictures. They do need to be very firmly fixed to the wall with long screws.

In a larger house you can often recognise the servants rooms by their lack of plaster ornamentation and picture-rail.

[Woozlebear]

We have picture rail and cornice in sitting room, and just picture rail in all other rooms.

It looks nice.