Do you have Dado rails.

CanadianGran that looks very elegant I do like it, my ceilings are quite low.

Who cares whether dado rails are in fashion or not, if you want them you have them.

We have always liked old and antique brown furniture and we have a houseful of it. Desperately old fashioned, you cannot give this furniture away these days, but I do not give a toss, much of the furniture is inherited, replacing our less beautiful initial purchases and I could not give a toss what people think.

I don't care about fashion either. We've just had bookcases built in - the full length of a wall and into an alcove, so a lot of wood. We used walnut, which is dark, but we love it, and we're the ones who are living with it. I'm not planning on selling (or giving them away) any time soon, so I don't care if it's fashionable or not.

If you like dados, bikergran, get them? Are you planning to sell up soon? If so, and if you think they might put off the sort of people who would be interested in your house, then maybe think again, but otherwise, I wouldn't let fashion sway you.

(my sister was telling me that those Hilda Ogden ducks are very desirable now, so what goes around comes around anyway )

Doodledog
We had these Edwardian pattern lincrusta panels on our boat.

lincrusta.com/dado-panels/edwardian-dado

I have Dado rails in both the dining room and lounge but nowhere else. My stairs are in the dining room, that's how the house was built. My dining room isn't difficult to heat even though the ceiling is very high going up the stairs. I have 3 shades of paint, darkest at the bottom, lighter above the rail and lighter still above the rail going up the stairs. My Dado in that room is a light natural wood. The Dado in the lounge is painted grey, the walls are not grey. I like it and that's all that matters to me. No one has ever said they dislike it and I wouldn't care if they did. I put the rail up when I moved in in 1979 and never felt inclined to remove them. I don't find them old fashioned as there is nothing old fashioned in my house and the rails blend very well with everything.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202301/medium-28679-20230125-171654.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202301/medium-234381-20230125-183912.jpg

I too don't follow trends with decor/clothes/colours. I do need something to break the wall up. (ignore the dappled effects it is the lighting)Oh and ignore my junk on the stairs, I am about to put new plastic windowills on the inside.

Nope not thinking of moving as yet. I think I will take a look at some kind of wall art if all else fails.

Some interestingf ideas about, my house is very small, I used to call it my dolls house.

I agree that if you want/like dado rails, just go for them. We had them put in the lounge here, as this house was built with odd bits of exposed wood. At first we went for stripes on the bottom half and a smaller, pattern on the upper - very Laura Ashley, Sanderson. Last time, we went for a plain gold paper below and above. I’ve just arranged for my decorator to come in March and he is going to take the dado rail off and I’m going with a plain green, slightly textured paper.
I’ve got a set of 3 swallows from Next on the family room wall - a modern version of Hilda’s ducks.

It is your home so you can do whatever makes you you happy

Not a fan of dado rails. I ripped them out when I moved into my current home.

But yes, each to their own.

Do you mean those dust collectors half way up the wall! Yes I’ve got them in our 80’s built house.
They do collect dust (especially behind doors you forget to look behind)
They also mean that you can’t have bookcases etc flush against the wall.

MerylStreep

Doodledog
We had these Edwardian pattern lincrusta panels on our boat.

lincrusta.com/dado-panels/edwardian-dado

They are lovely. Very Art Nouveau.

On a boat? It sounds like The Titanic! Was it a very luxurious boat?

I don’t find they collect any more dust than skirting boards, and a quick flick round with a duster soon sorts it anyway 😁.

CanadianGran

If anything, I would paper above, not below the rail. I found an inspiration picture on line. I think it only works if you have quite high ceilings, otherwise it could make the room look out of proportion.

I like that.

Perhaps we don't mind rails as we've a very old home, very high ceilings, lots of trimmed out windows and casements.

What about panelling? That is a similar effect to a dado, but definitely in fashion if Instagram is to be believed.

Look on Pinterest for ideas - there are loads of photos in different heights, colours and so on. That would go around the room too, if you wanted it, or you could just have it on the stairs.

I would be boxing the stairs in before i done anything else.

I agree with Doodledog, panelling is very on trend and there are lots of styles to chose from. Have a look and see what you think.

We had dado rails 30 years ago wouldn’t be my choice now but if you like them go for it

grannypiper

I would be boxing the stairs in before i done anything else.

Me too. Our stairs go up off the lounge and the amount of heat that went straight up to the landing was horrendous. We soon fitted a door across the bottom and the difference it makes is huge.

kittylester

I'm with J52, if you want them, have them. We put them in the hall of our house which is a converted Victoria's school.

And very nice they look too!

I’ve got them going up the stairs and on the ‘landing’ (is that what it’s called?)
I think they look good up stairs as you have such a large expanse of wall going upwards.
I firmly don’t believe in what’s in fashion / what’s not in fashion.
My mom used to say, ‘if it’s not in fashion, it won’t go out of fashion’.
Stick with your own style and preferences

I love Lincrusta.
I’d have it pretty much everywhere in my dream house (note to self - buy a Euromillions ticket)

I do, in the hall and up the stairs. Love it. There is a picture rail too, the rails are also in the bedrooms.
We have painted the bottom third in mid-green, the middle third light green and the top bit/ceiling in white. People always comment how fresh and pretty it looks.

We had dado rails in our old house, back in the Laura Ashley days of tie-backs and fabric pelmets.

They wouldn’t suit our current house or styling, but if they did I wouldn’t hesitate in having them.

Have what you like and don’t worry about fashion or what other people think.

Doodledog that does look quite nice and modern. Yes had a look on Pinterest, some interesting ideas.

V3ra you took the words right out of my mouth (as Meatloaf said)

I have sat here all Winter thinking about boxing the stairs ( I can do it myself) trouble is it would make my lounge look a bit odd, but if I am staying here (been here 24 yrs )then there is a real possibility that I may seriously think about doing that.

Appreciate all your ideas.

We don’t follow trends at all, but I’m always pleased to hear that we’ve hit one! I guess it’s time to give the wood panelling in the hall a lick of paint.