Help with Handrail

[littlemum2]

my husband is poorly and we need a handrail on our stairs (opposite the banister). We are in a Victorian house. At the same time, I thought I would put a dado rail in the hall and stairs. Thought it would be good to have a darker bottom half of the wall - no more scuffs and marks!
But does the new handrail go above the dado rail or below it? Will it look silly having both?
Although it has to be practical, I want it to look nice. Someone must have a dado rail and handrail. Help greatly appreciated! Thanks

it really doesn’t look good together, but I’d say below would be better.
I’m not a fan of dado rails tbh, I know they seem to be making a comeback, but I’ve had to rip them out of two houses that were decorated in the 80’s, they make such a mess of the walls!

I'd start with fixing the new rail at the same height as the bannister, then you could get a length of dado and secure to the wall with Command Strips so you can see what either above or below would look like.

Fit the bannister at the height that he needs, then work out where the dado looks best.

Darker colours show more scuffs than light colours. I wouldn’t put in a dado rail, if you want different colours then just use tape. But I wouldn’t recommend a dark colour if you have a lot of scrapes and scuffs.

The dado rail should mirror the banister in height and angle so I would fix the handrail exactly in front of the dado with brackets that come down and are fixed under the dado, think this is the best practicality and aesthetically.