As you already know, we are trying to reinstate as many of the missing original period features in our home as possible. One of these features is the picture rail in the master bedroom.
This is how we did it:
Step 1
Determine the height you want the picture rail to be positioned at and then, with the help of a spirit level, draw a horizontal guide line around the room. We were lucky and could see exactly where the original picture rail had been attached (about 50cm from under the ceiling), as the plaster was a different colour and uneven.
Step 2
Now measure the length of the wall where you want to install the picture rail and cut to the required size using a sharp fine-tooth saw. Make sure to cut on the waste side of the moulding.
Step 3
With the help of a mitre box, cut the ends of the picture rail at 45° angles. Don’t assume that your walls are at right angles to one another! Ours corners are sometimes quite a lot more than 90°. Always double-check before cutting and gluing and try to cut as accurately as possible. It will save you time later, when you don’t need to fill holes and gaps.
Step 4
The wooden picture rails are really light, so we just attached them with adhesive. Just glue the back of your piece of picture rail and hold it in place for a few minutes. Before you leave it to dry, check that the moulding is level.
And that’s it. Now, just work your way around the room, measuring, cutting and gluing each piece of picture rail.
Because of the cutting in, it took us forever to paint the picture rail in the living room. That’s why we decided to try a different method in the bedroom. We painted the bedroom walls first and then attached the primed picture rail. I was so much easier to get perfectly straight lines this way.
And this is the finished room.
We still need to fill the gaps and give the rail a last coat of paint, but so far it really makes a huge difference and accentuates the colour of the walls.
Hi,
We’ve just moved into a 1925 weatherboard place (in Australia) and although we don’t need to renovate ours to the extent you’re doing yours, it’s been brilliant finding this blog for tips on little improvements we want to do. :)
I’d like to put up a picture rail as well so that we can hang things without making more holes in the walls (the previous owners mangled some of the plaster with some of their nails :(). But I didn’t think glue to adhere the rail to the wall would be strong enough. Is glue strong enough to make your picture rail functional, or is it mainly for aesthetic purposes?
Thanks and looking forward to reading more about your progress!
Glad you found your way over to us, Michelle!
We mainly only have the picture rail for decorative purposes, so weren’t too bothered about it having to hold a lot of weight. Having said that, we do sometimes use it to hang seasonal decorations and I just more or less hung myself of the picture rail in our bedroom for a few seconds and it didn’t budge. I think the glue is probably stronger than you’d expect, but you could always use a few nails to be on the safe side!
Hope that’s some help!
Cx
Certainly does help. Thank you. :)
What do you do if the ceiling is not level? Or the floor?
I split a long room by installing sliding doors. Measured upright beams carefully at each side of the room, put a beam across them, hung the sliding doors out of the beam. One always swung open, the other always closed. So I got out the spirit level… the slope was surprising. Now I’ve levelled the beam that the doors hang from, they don’t slide any more – but there’s a triangular gap underneath :( and the area above it is not exactly rectangular either.
So I know my floor is not level, and the ceiling is not too great either. I’m wondering whether it’s better to have the picture rail a constant distance from the ceiling, rather than being level?
I know the feeling. None of our walls, floors ore ceilings are staight – even if they arean’t quite as bad as yours. It’s really personal preference as to how you fit your picture rail (no solution is going to be perfect). I would try to install it as level as possible, but possibly slightly adjust it to match the slope in your ceiling – just keep taking a step back and check that it looks okay.
Cx
Hello! I’m wondering how the picture rails have held up over time with the No Nails if you used them to hang frames. We used your sanding floors pages on our house, and they were invaluable.
I’m hoping that you might be able to help with this new challenge–there isn’t much online about picture rails on plaster walls.
Glad to hear that our floor sanding experience was some help to you Megan!
Our picture rails that we attached with No Nails are still exactly as they were the first day. Having said that, we don’t hang pictures off them. We’ve since also attached a picture rail with a nail gun and I must say it was much quicker and easier, especially if your walls aren’t completely straight! We spent a lot of time stood on ladders holding the picture rail until the No Nails had dried, but with a nail gun it was instant.
I’m not suggesting you buy a nailer just to attach some picture rail, but maybe it’s worth considering hiring one for a weekend and attaching all picture rails in one go. Whilst No Nails did work and has held up fine, I’m not sure how stable it would be if you hang anything heavy off it. You can read the post about how we attached the picture rail with a nailer here: https://www.littlehouseonthecorner.com/how-to-install-a-picture-rail/.
We love our nailer and we’re surprised at how much we use it, but it is an investment that I personally don’t think is justifiable just for some picture rails. You can see the tools we have (including the nailer) on our Tool Box page (https://www.littlehouseonthecorner.com/18-must-have-diy-tools-for-your-toolbox/).
Hope that’s some help.
Cx
Thank you for replying. Yes, that’s super helpful. We’re not quite at picture rail stage (four months after originally posting!), but I will probably hire a nail gun once we are (although the condition our plaster walls terrifies me)
Thanks again!
I totally recommend a nail gun for picture rails (although we did glue some, too). Just remember to check for cables first!
Good luck!
Cx