How would you do this picture rail? (Stair well)

[Rennovating4Eva]

Hi, hoping for some design inspiration!

Currently doing up our house - 1930s with nice high ceilings and most of the period features previously removed . However, the hallway does have some picture rail remaining, and we'd like to put the rest of it back before we decorate. I'm trying to work out how to manage the stairs though.

The current arrangement is in my first sketch, and I want to extend the picture rail to the right of the door. I need it to be "closed" though (rather than stopping in mid air).

The other three pics are different ways I've thought of doing it. Are there any right / wrong / typical ways? What do people think looks best?

And as a follow-up, where's the best place to get picture rail from to match the existing? We have a router and are pretty handy so we can have a go at matching the current profile, but whenever we've bought wood from the usual B&Q / Wickes type places, the quality has been rubbish.

I can't follow your drawings - you aren't showing the original dado. Dado in mid-height, follow the floor level.

Ours (old and original) goes up the wall behind the stairs. It stops at the first vertical point it reaches which is a door around at the top of the stairs.

Would that be an option?

Ours is more like the green line. Only the dado goes up the stairs. There is no picture rail on the upstairs landing

The blue is the best of the bunch but not quite right

in our house the blue continues up the stairs to become a picture rail on first floor

The photo shows both a dado rail with panelling and a picture rail. This stops at the point where the ceiling stops, following the angle of the stairs. Have another look at your stairwell. I think your drawing might be out there as there seems to be no ceiling!

Sorry, forgot the photo!

In our house there is picture rail in the hallway downstairs but it just stops dead at the nearside of the doorway nearest the stairs. You can't have slanty picture rail because it won't work! I don't think I have ever seen slanty picture rail going up a staircase.

The stuff in @Soontobe60 s pic looks like decorative trim rather than picture rail but it is her house so I am probably wrong.

If you are putting in decorative trim I would go for the red or blue line. If it's picture rail then it probably isn't missing in the first place.

Yes, I think some people are confusing a picture rail with a dado — a picture rail will never continue up the stairs because obviously you can’t hang pictures on something slanted. I can’t really follow your diagrams as it’s not clear what is ceiling. Could you post a photo?

This is mine -1930s - pretty sure it's the original

@corlan is there a dent in the top for a picture hook to sit in?

That looks very neat and a sensible way to finish a picture rail at a stairwell.

The rail slants down at the top edge so you can put a hook on it..

Can't it continue up the stairs or am I being daft?

Oh it makes more sense now after @Soontobe60 photo.

Hi all, thanks so much for the replies! Sorry if my pictures were confusing - we have no electrics ATM so I couldn't take a decent photo (dark) and I'm at work now. Hopefully the new diagram is a bit clearer what the problem is?

There's no dado anywhere (that was the stair banisters in my original pic, which may have confused the issue). Downstairs in the hall I want the blue paint below thr picture rail, and the ceiling white paint above the picture rail. This is fine until it comes to the stairs - the blue needs to continue up the stairs wall as far as the landing picture rail, but somehow the white (between the downstairs ceiling and the downstairs picture rail) needs to "end".

@corlan's photo is showing exactly what I mean, thank you! And @Soontobe60's also shows how the picture rail terminates (also thanks!)

After I posted last night I had a look with a torch and it looks like there's a dent in the plaster to the right of the door where something's been removed, I'm convinced there used to be a rail there originally. They've been removed from all the rooms except the hall and landing and in the right light you can see the slight unevenness in the walls where the plaster has been patched.

I wood panelled my hall up to picture rail height, and decided to transition by extending the line until it met the stairs. We have wall paper above. So in upper hallway it’s full height wallpaper. It is much complemented.

I’d do it the same as the photos that have been put on by other posters.
Some of the old picture rail styles and profiles are no longer made. If you can’t get it in somewhere like B and Q (pick a decent, straight length, the quality will be fine when painted) then try a local timber merchant, as they usually have a better range. Or they could probably profile one for you for a small price. I had a piano leg from the 1920’s remade like that 😆

Thanks @MumonabikeE5 , that sounds lovely.

Yep, that's the next challenge, @gluenotsoup , finding something that matches! I've fallen into an internet rabbit warren of places that cut bespoke profiles...