Picture rails - keep or remove?

[satsumasaturday]

Our house is a 1930s detached house with significant extension from around 2010. Picture rails throughout but so far we've only decorated one room and decided to take the picture rails out - this room was the extension which has clearly been done quite cheaply and the picture rails looked pretty bad with gaps/bad joins etc.

Now starting to decorate upstairs and I'm wondering whether we should keep the original picture rails up or also take them down. I found a thread from 2011 where the consensus was to keep them, so just checking whether trends have moved on. Thanks!

Definitely keep them, I love them and think you should keep period features whenever possible.

Keep the original ones!

Keep them. They add character

Keep them. We have them in every room in my house (they are original)
We’ve recently been brave & decorated with colour rather than cream/grey everywhere. Having a picture rail with white above & colour below looks great & stops the colour being overwhelming in a room.
They are also really great for actually hanging pictures!

100% keep them

I’d always remove them, it’s the only original feature I would, I think they look awful.

Keep them. They're integral to the character of an older house.

Definitely keep them they make the room look much bigger and are brilliant for ..... hanging pictures!

Keep them.

Keep them, I had them in my previous council house which was a 1930's semi & I loved them.

It's entirely up to you but personally, period features are what appeal to me about period houses, so I find it really sad when they've all been ripped out. It depends a bit on whether you ever envisage selling this house - if you do I'd definitely say keep them.

Keep them. We have them. Painting and papering is much easier. No ladders required! And it makes for a smart line between the ceiling and wall above the picture rail and what you put below.

Gaps can be filled, unless they are a real bodge-job.

Keep them

Keep them. I had them in my old bedroom at my parents. Always refused them when they wanted to take them down like the rest of the house. As soon as I moved out, down they came. Looks awful now.

The only problem with removing them is that the plaster may not be the same level above and below ie they may have nailed the rail in place and then plastered up to it and down to it.

If that's the case you'll have a bumpy wall.

Keep. What's the point of a period house with no period features?

@Bluesheep8

Keep. What's the point of a period house with no period features?

Well you’d have to assume there were other period features and not just picture rails...

There aren't really any other period features that I'm aware of - fireplace and doors aren't original so I think it's only the picture rails left. The consensus seems to be in favour of keeping them so they shall stay - it will make getting the straight edge to my paintwork easier!

Absolutely keep them.

Well you’d have to assume there were other period features and not just picture rails...

Why? I actually thought the opposite from the op as no other period features were mentioned.

They sound original, so I would keep them, but if they were added like fake beams & picture rails in a modern house I would remove.