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A few months ago we first revealed our newly plastered and painted fourth bedroom. We’re really happy with how it’s turning out and have now finally started to add a few finishing touches. Whilst I’m in general happy with how the room ist turning out and with the ceiling being the same colour as the walls, something just didn’t feel 100% right in this room.
The bedroom would have originally had a picture rail (we saw the line where it had been before we replastered the room) but because we were worried that having a picture rail would accentuate the uneven ceiling, we had initially decided not to reinstate it in the room and instead paint everything including the ceiling the same colour.
We’ve considered painting the ceiling white – which we still may do, but the one thing that we did feel was missing was the picture rail that we had originally discounted. All of the rooms that we’ve added it to, just have a much more finished feel to them and it’s also something that’s in keeping with the period style of our home.
If you’re thinking of installing a picture rail, this is what you’ll need:
- Picture rail
- Tape measure
- Nailer & nails or No-Nails
- Spirit level
- Saw & mitre box or mitre saw
- Caulk & caulk gun
This is how to install a picture rail:
1. As always when doing any DIY, preparation is key to achieving a great finish. Make sure that the walls where you’re adding the picture rail are clean and free of wallpaper. Any repairs or plastering should also be done before you add your picture rail. We also decided to paint our walls and paint the picture rail before attaching it. This way, you’re guaranteed a perfectly clean edge.
2. Measure your wall (start with the longest one) and then transfer the measurement to the piece of picture rail. Double-check your measurements before cutting it to size.
3. To cut the necessary angles at the ends of the pieces of picture rail, use a mitre box and a fine saw or an electric mitre saw. We’ve used both methods in the past (you can read about how we installed the picture rail in our main bedroom here) and if you only have a few pieces of picture rail to attach, a mitre box and handsaw are more than enough to complete the job.
4. Hold the picture rail (get someone to help you) in position and use a spirit level to make sure that it’s perfectly level.
5. When it’s level either nail or glue it in place. If you’re nailing the picture rail, add a nail about every 50 cm, if you’re using glue, you should spread an even zig-zag pattern over the back of the picture rail and press it firmly in place.
6. Don’t expect the corners in your room to be perfect 90° angles. It doesn’t matter too much if they are slightly off, but it’s worth checking and adjusting your cut if the angles are much smaller or larger than they should be. Caulk will hide a lot, but it’s good to get your cut as exact as possible.
We’ve used both methods (glue and nails) – to install a picture rail in the past and both of them have worked well for us. Having said that, using a nail gun was much quicker as there’s no need to hold anything in place while it dries.
If you do decide to use a nailer (or nail by hand), don’t forget to make sure that you have no cables or pipes behind where you’re nailing!
Top Tips For Installing Picture Rails:
- Paint it before hanging – will ensure that you have perfectly tidy edges
- If you can, use a nailer rather than glue. We’ve used both methods and both work fine, but nailing is much quicker
- Don’t worry too much about perfect mitred joints – caulk is your friend!
What do you think finishes off a room? Do you love period features as much as we do?
Thank you for such a quick reply! That’s really good news. I have some panelling to tackle if the picture rails go well. I’ll be starting with just one room but have about 60 metres of picture rail to reinstate over time so I think it will be worth the investment; particularly as it is half price at your link and at other locations in the UK at the moment.
Sounds like it’ll be a good investment for you – it’s easily our favourite tool and we use it for a lot more projects than we expected.
Cx
Hello – this is a really useful post, thank you ever so much. I know this is a terribly old post but hopeful that you can answer a question for me.
It is about your walls and your nail gun. I’m thinking of buying the same gun for installing some dado and picture rails but was concerned that it may not work on solid walls. Are your walls solid or plasterboard? I presume they are solid from the age/era – ours are Edwardian and just wanted to check before shelling out for the gun. Huge thanks!
We’re always happy to answer any questions (on any post!)! Yes, our walls were typical solid Edwardian brick and the nail gun we used was powerful enough to nail into the brick. Very occasionally, the nail would hit something where it would bend and not go into the wall but then it was just a matter of pulling it out and adding another nail just next to it.
Earlier this year we added panelling to our guest bedroom walls (https://www.littlehouseonthecorner.com/how-to-plan-and-install-panelling/) and we used the nail gun for that, too. Our walls at the moment are also brick and again it wasn’t a problem.
This is the nail gun (affiliate link) that we have and we absolutely love it. We use it for a lot of projects but it is an expensive tool and a bit of an investment.
Hope that helps and happy DIYing!
Cx
My concern is how to place rail on the saw for corner cuts. Does the back go against the saw fence? Are corners cut upside down or the reverse? Which direction for inside corners and outside corners?
It often helps to cut yourself a test corner to get your head around how the pieces go together. You can then use it as a reference.
For outer corners, you’re basically cutting the picture rail at an angle so that the front of the rail is longer than the back and for inner corners, it’s the opposite (the front is shorter than the back).
Hope that makes sense!
Cx
I want to back the original picture rail up in my guest bedroom, but I don’t have the original marks from where it originally was. Can I ask what the measurement is from the ceiling to the top of your picture rail? Looks really lovely it would really add the finish touch to my room!
I’d suggest attaching it at a height that feels right to you, Michelle. I’ll depend on the overall proportions of your room but as a rough guide, our picture rail was about 50cm from the ceiling (with 2.8m high ceilings).
Hope that helps!
Cx
But what if you have heavy pictures, old ones in ornate gesso frames? Is glue enough to hold the rail in place? I can’t thinking a lot of people put picture rail up as a purely visual thing.
The glue is surprisingly strong and we had no pictures hanging pictures from our picture rails. Having said that, if you’re hanging something really heavy from your picture rail I’d probably add a nail or two.
Cx
Great simple post. It is giving me the confidence to take the plunge and try to hang picture rails myself – especially the caulk tip, as mitring for the first time seems unlikely to be 100% accurate. Do you know what length nail you used? I’m thinking of purchasing a nail gun – a cheap one goes up to 35mm nails – would that be sufficient? I am new to diy – only tackled painting before – so don’t think I can justify an expensive gun at this stage.
Thanks Jane. I completely agree with you about the nailer – we didn’t get ours till after 5 years of DIY (although we do wish we got it sooner). The nails we used are 50mm and if I’m honest, I don’t think that 35mm would be quite enough to hold it in place well. Our picture rail is 21mm tick at the widest point which would probably mean that a 35mm nail wouldn’t be long enough to go through the wood and plaster and into the wall.
Having said that, most of the other picture rails are glued to the wall with Nonails. Whilst it did take a lot more time waiting for the glue to set, it worked fine, too! We glued the picture rail in our guest bedroom – you can see the post about it here and more picture rail glueing here .
Oh, and for when you’ve installed your picture rail you can find our tips on clean caulking here.
Hope that’s some help! Good luck with your project!
Cx
Hi! I’m hoping to add picture rail to my house too, but no stores nearby sell it. I will probably have to take a couple different mouldings and cobble them together to get the same effect. Yours looks lovely!
Thanks Jennifer! We love how it finishes off the room, but if you can’t get hold of picture rail moulding (most DIY stores in the UK stock it), I’d suggest getting some little picture rail hooks before you start the project to make sure that they will fit over the moulding you’re attaching.
Cx
Great blog, I stumbled on it last night and was up until past 2am reading over a lot of your projects. I have to replace part of a picture rail and skirting and wondered what the make and model is of your nailer? Also slightly off topic but do you remember the colour and brand of wood stain you used on your hallway stairs makeover please?
Aww, thanks for the compliment, Naomi! Our nailer is by Ryobi. We’re really happy with it, but it is by far the priciest tool that we own, so probably only an investment if you’re doing a lot of DIY (having said that, we use it more than we ever thought we would and love it).
The stain in the hallway is Fiddes Non-Grain Raising stain in Mahogany.
Good luck with your renovation!
Cx