Are dado rails are good idea?

[Zeeky]

Was thinking of putting them in on upstairs hallway. It is a huge, wide hallway running the length of the big barn of an old farmhouse we have just moved into. The walls are currently painted a dark chocolatey colour, which is too dark and oppressive, but was worried that if we painted them a pale colour the hallway would be too stark, as there is such an expanse of wall. We thought maybe a dado rail would break it up a bit, and then we could have a darker shade on the bottom half and paler shade on top. Or are they just not the thing anymore?

very.... retro. :)

how about a mid colour and some pictures?

I'm not convinced they would work in a barn conversion. Wrong style. Big pictures would be better.

Rhubarb sorry I meant it is a big old 18th century farmhouse, not a barn conversion. It is grade II listed, and has some beautiful period features in some rooms but in others is very bare (totally stripped of its original features) and crying out for some features to be put back in e.g. the upstairs hallway. We have a few pictures up, but they look totally lost on the vast expanses of brown walls! The main living room also needs something - maybe some coving and a ceiling rose, as it has very high ceilings. It must have been quite a grand house in its hey day, as has really high ceilings and wide corridors, but was rented to a few generations of farmers, who must have stripped a lot of original stuff out. The people we bought from have fully renovated it and started to put back some features, but stopped short of the finishing touches that the place really needs.

I wouldn't have dado rails in a hall as they were originally intended for use in dining and sitting rooms to stop chairs from marking the wall.

I have picture rails in my 1850's house and they are useful for breaking up the walls and hanging large pictures. In my hallway I have loads of old framed maps which take up large amounts of wall space.

Ah, I see! Still not sure about dado rails though. A less oppressive colour (without going pale) might be better, and could you invest in larger pictures? Or how about wallpaper?

I think the Victorians did often have dado rails in the hallway and stairs (with anaglypta underneath to hide any knocks). Not sure about Georgian.

I'm not sure I'd put one in though, these days. Pictures and mirrors are a better way to break up the expanse, I reckon. Another possibility is panelling like this.

Thanks for your feedback ladies. I think I will try a lighter shade and more/bigger pictures to start with. It would be a shame to mess up the walls, as well as th expense of putting in the dado rail, if it will look wrong.

Good plan, at least pictures are easier to reverse if you don't like it! :)