Victorian staircase and hallway advice

4 years ago

Hi everyone,

If anyone has any experience with the following, I would really appreciate some advice please. Many thanks in advance.

I will like to add some wall paper on the staircase of my Victorian house but there is a strip of wood that runs horizontally along the hallway and staircase that separates the wall - I am not sure of the proper term for this horizontal wood feature.

My dilemma is:

Do I remove this horizontal strip of wood everywhere? - staircase, hallway upstairs/downstairs

Do I remove the horizontal strip of wood just on the staircase and leave it everywhere else or will that look odd?

Do I leave the horizontal strip of wood and do half wallpaper, half paint?

Kindest,

Sarah

Featured Answer

HU-360823388
Original Author

4 years ago

Just wanted to say thank you again for all the advice everyone. Once the work is done, I will post photos.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (22)

PRO
Rukmini Patel Interior Design
4 years ago
Hi Sarah, do you have any pictures you could share with us? Thank you
HU-360823388
Original Author
4 years ago
Hi Rukmini, after some further research, I found out that they are called dado rails! They are everywhere in the house and I just don’t know if to keep them in the hallway/staircase and even living/dining rooms. Many thanks, really appreciate any advice.
Related Discussions
Entrance hall makeover. Suggestions needed!
Q
Comments (9)
removing the door to kitchen would be easiest & cheapest way to open up & brighten the hall area. Next best, but more costly would be replacing door with one with glass panels. Look for used one in 2nd hand or @ your local Habitat for Humanity store. Keep the one you take off just in case other one gets damaged and needs to be replaced. Replacing only two panels would not achieve much I don't think. A mirror should only be placed where it can reflect something of interest & expand the room. If I recall, the staircase is what would be reflected? A photo collage frame? I think more colour is called for here. Your home, your choice. Bottom line is you decide what is right for your space. As you have likely noticed everyone has a different opinion, professional or not. Most important in re-styling a space is what the home owner wants to use the space for & to be their taste.
...See More
would paneling work in my hallway?? what colours or wallpaper to use
Q
Comments (2)
I'd look for something that looks great with the irisses in the windows, the colors at least. Something Art Nouveau or Art Deco, botanical, floral. Metallic silver/beige will reflect lots of light. But I would leave the low stairs' walls (rail) as they are (painted offwhite) and only paper on the high wall leading up and the wall without stairs (opposite side). If the wall is in good shape, no need for complete paneling, just use a chair rail and paper the part above it. Or do you want planks/panels to show?
...See More
Need help deciding what to use to floor my hallway!!
Q
Comments (8)
Maybe if you stuck to one colour scheme such as white and purple or grey and lime green, colours that compliment each other. You could have a cabinet on the larger side with some family photos or a mirror above it and maybe a single colour on the top half of the wall and a complimentary wallpaper on the bottom half. You could go for wood on the floor or a simple soft carpet but it might get muddy. You could also have a bench with storage underneath for shoes and bags, but try get a colour that matched the walls. You could also paint the banisters if they don't match the rest of the room.
...See More
Hallway help needed
Q
Comments (1)
RAL 7044 is a good chameleon colour that will pick up the grey/green tones in the tile. It is quite light and the colour changes with different lighting. Keep it simple and choose a natural coloured carpet for the stairs.
...See More
PRO
Rukmini Patel Interior Design
4 years ago
Hi lovely, ahh a dado rail! ok as you have a dado rail in your Victorian property it is highly likely to be original and therefore adds to the property's character. So I guess the question is do you want to keep these features? You can enhance them as you like, e.g. painting bottom half one colour and top half another colour painting the dado in an accent colour.

As you want the wallpaper to go on these walls you can still have the dado rail there and paint it with a similar colour found on the wallpaper. Like this image you can wallpaper the top half and paint the bottom - what do you think? Do you like this type of look?
HU-360823388
Original Author
4 years ago
Hi Rukmini,

Many thanks! Yes, I did see this photo and thought it looked lovely but I wasn't sure how original they were and whether it was dated a look when paired with a modern interior.

In a living/dining room, would you leave the dado rails white if the walls were fully painted in another colour? I cannot thank you enough.

Kindest,

Sarah
minnie101
4 years ago
Hi. If your house is listed then you may need permission to remove them. Removing them may also mean you need your walls reskimmed which is a costly and extremely messy process.

i think victorian architecture goes with pretty much any interior style and isn't dated imo. You can half wallpaper and paint or do a darker paint colour on the bottom. If doing the latter I would paint the dado in the bottom wall colour and the same if you do the wall in one colour so they'll just blend in
PRO
Rukmini Patel Interior Design
4 years ago
I think minnie101 makes a very valid point about permission to remove the dado rails and costs involved. You may want to check that with your local council office if your building is listed.

If you are after a modern look, I would steer away from white and choose the same colour that you are using in the wall. This is a contemporary trend/or currently done in many Victorian properties. That way the dado rail blends in and you are still retaining a feature in the property.

The other thing to think about is when you sell your property people love character features! Whilst it is a small thing these things can actually help you sell your property. I hope that helps, let us know what you decide to do?
Carolina
4 years ago
Scroll through the photos here if you need some inspiration: https://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/query/dado-rail/nqrwns
Sonia
4 years ago
Love an original dado rail. I have them in my tiny hall, stairs and landing. Mine are painted white simply because, like you, I wasn’t sure what to do! The walls are Dulux Egyptian Cotton, a simple but rather dull neutral. People love original features so try to keep them as they will add value when, and if, you come to sell.

You can paint them the same colour as your walls, or you can keep them white, or choose a darker colour below the rail, or wallpaper as you would like to do. I would then paint them a similar colour to the wallpaper. So many options! Here’s some ideas
minipie
4 years ago
I just reinstated a dado rail in our house so I’m very much pro dado rails, especially in the hallway and stairs. A dado rail means you can have a darker colour below and lighter above which is very practical - the dark helps hide any scuffs while the lighter colour above stops it being oppressive.

If you are after wallpaper, Victorians often had anaglypta textured paper under the dado, I am not sure that is quite back in fashion 😁 but I bet it will be as again it has the benefit of disguising knocks. The current version is to do panelling under the dado (cheats version using beading), not strictly victorian but looks smart anyway.

I would also recommend using eggshell paint under the dado (especially if you go for the panelling idea) as it’s hard wearing and has a slight sheen which helps with light levels.
minipie
4 years ago
Maybe it IS back after all

https://www.dulux.co.uk/en/articles/comeback-anaglypta
HU-360823388
Original Author
4 years ago
Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for all the tips/advice. I really appreciate it. I initially thought that dados were dated but you have restored my faith and proved me wrong! The work has not started yet but I think I will go for half wallpaper and half paint along the staircase. For the hallway, I haven't decided yet if I will do the same or just do paint (same colour as the bottom half of the staircase).

@Minipie - I will look into the eggshell paint, I think it certainly needs a bit of light as it's not the brightest house.

Thank you again, really appreciate all your advice.

Kindest,

Sarah
Sonia
4 years ago
@Sarah that’s why I love Houzz. So many great people sharing their ideas and helping us all to make decisions. Good luck.
HU-360823388
Original Author
4 years ago
@Sonia - I agree but I only just discovered it! So happy that I did!

I promise this is my last question to everyone:

If I go ahead with the half wallpaper/top and half paint/bottom along the stair case - will it look odd if I don't use the wallpaper anywhere else in the hallway downstairs and upstairs? I can't find much in terms of what people would usually do. As the wallpaper is a bit busy, I was thinking perhaps I should use only on the staircase?

I will post a photo of the wallpaper I am thinking of using. With greatest thanks.
HU-360823388
Original Author
4 years ago
Carolina
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I don't think it will look odd if you do it only on the staircase wall. Beautiful wallpaper. I would however be very tempted to do it in the downstairs hallway too.

Have a look at this hallway transformation: https://www.caradise.co.uk/hallway-renovation-before-and-after/
minnie101
4 years ago
Do you have pictures of the hall as quite often there isn't a natural divide for wallpapers?You could paper under the dado rail everywhere too as an alternative If you didn't want to go full on?
HU-360823388
Original Author
4 years ago
HU-360823388
Original Author
4 years ago
As you can see, it’s a right old mess!
minnie101
4 years ago
It's not! I think you could go any way really! Why not start with the stairs and see what you think? Minipie's idea for eggshell was good by the way, the only issue with the sheen is it does highlight imperfections in the plaster but from what I can see yours looks good. We've done up rooms based on budget rather than work from top to down and the amount of times I've had to paint over marks up the stairs is unbelievable! Eggshell is easily cleaned 😊
PRO
Ovolo London
4 years ago
Hey Sarah,

I did a quick blog to explain period features back in October https://www.ovololondon.co.uk/new-blog/2019/10/15/a-quick-guide-to-period-features

Did you know they were actually called dwarf rails before dado rails?

Naturally I will be biased and lean towards keeping the dado rail. I love features which add character to a building, after al that is why we purchase period properties. Hopefully you see lots of pictures here to inspire you.

You can add wall panels and picture rails if you wanted to go 'full period features' but that can be a bit overbearing for some.

Best of luck!
minipie
4 years ago
I think you’d have to do it in the hall or at least the wall the stairs attach to, as otherwise there’s no obvious place to stop the paper.

You could just do it on the stair wall though? Could look good.

Another option I’ve seen to limit the amount of a bold wallpaper is to create a picture frame effect - so you create a large rectangle or series of rectangles using beading (bit like panelling) and then paper only inside the rectangle. Tricky on stairs though due to the slope and a lot of work!