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Where to put a picture rail. Long but (dull) photos!

5 replies

Myhouseonly · 15/10/2025 10:20

Disclaimer - ignore the general scruffiness, crap and spider webs. I struggle to reach them.

We are putting in a picture rail. I'm just trying to work out where because our room has lots of angles. Husband and I dont agree.

We have quite heigh ceilings. The room has open stairs. The ceiling over the stairs starts off double height and as the stairs go up, it becomes single height. There is an open area under the stairs.

I think it makes sense to put the picture rail a couple of inches above the bottom of the wooden box under the stairs. The ceiling here is lower than the rest of the room. Then follow it round at that height around the room. That would make it about 65cm deep around most of the room. This will be above door height.

Then when we get to the stairs, I think we need to continue the picture rail up the stair wall. The lights and the stairs are at different angles. I think we need to measure the picture rail height against the lights as we go up, not the stairs. That would make it mid height between a picture rail and dado rail going up.

By the time it gets to the top, rail would be more picture rail height again bit still a little lower than expected.

Then we have the smallest landing in the world so continue the picture rail around there at that height. This would be a couple of inches below the top of the doors.

Finally we have a big wall over the stairs opposite the lights. This is a massive space but the photo doesnt show it well. I suggest we just paint this and dont bother with any rails.

The picture with the sofa is what I'd like but my husband doesn't like it. Tbf he doesnt want to decorate at all but as you can see we need to!

I'd quite like a rail going up the stairs because we tend to touch the wall at the top. The stairs will be difficult to paint. If the paint ends up grubby where we touch it, we can repaint that without having to repaint the whole area.

Is there a better way? Sorry for the amount of words!

Where to put a picture rail. Long but (dull) photos!
Where to put a picture rail. Long but (dull) photos!
Where to put a picture rail. Long but (dull) photos!
Where to put a picture rail. Long but (dull) photos!
Where to put a picture rail. Long but (dull) photos!
OP posts:
Sirrah · 15/10/2025 10:34

Mine are level with the top of the door frames. None up the stairs, because all the pictures would just slide down the rail!

TMMC1 · 15/10/2025 10:58

Inline with the top of the door.

Myhouseonly · 15/10/2025 11:12

TMMC1 · 15/10/2025 10:58

Inline with the top of the door.

What door? 🤣
If they line up with the doors downstairs they will be really low and will be waist height upstairs.

Eta - there are 3 doors in the room downstairs. One has a window light above it so we can probably ignore that one but the other 2 are different heights.

Told you, lots of angles. The joy of a Victorian house that has had various unsympathetic "improvements" over the years.

OP posts:
TMMC1 · 15/10/2025 12:32

Take the door with the window light and line up with the top of that for your downstairs room. Ignore the stairs, I simply don’t understand what you are trying to achieve there other than making it easy to clean. Rather than touching the wall can you add a rail, rope or fixed?. Then deal with upstairs appropriately for upstairs.

Geneticsbunny · 15/10/2025 22:28

Normally picture rail on staircases is straight and near the top of the wall. If it was angled, you wouldn't be able to hang pictures on it?

I wouldn't put it lower than the boxed in bit. I would not picture railt that part of the wall.

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