Another question--chair rail

[minkydog]

I have chair rails in every room in the downstairs--foyer, kitchen, dining room and living room. I"m thinking of getting rid of most of it. I may keep it in the dining room. If I keep it, it will have to be painted because it's not in great condition and has nicks and paint spots on them. Would you remove all this chair rail? I think it makes the house look country and that's not the look I'm going for (I lean more toward the lodge look.)

 

[MAKmom]

I have chair rails in every room in the downstairs--foyer, kitchen, dining room and living room. I"m thinking of getting rid of most of it. I may keep it in the dining room. If I keep it, it will have to be painted because it's not in great condition and has nicks and paint spots on them. Would you remove all this chair rail? I think it makes the house look country and that's not the look I'm going for (I lean more toward the lodge look.)

I would remove it from the living room. I think it can look nice in a dinning room. My contractor did a wainscoting look under our chair rails. I painted it all white. Here are some ideas that you can do.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...a=X&ei=v-gaTKyqCIH_8AaE39SECQ&ved=0CDcQ9QEwBQ

 

[minkydog]

I would remove it from the living room. I think it can look nice in a dinning room. My contractor did a wainscoting look under our chair rails. I painted it all white. Here are some ideas that you can do.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...a=X&ei=v-gaTKyqCIH_8AaE39SECQ&ved=0CDcQ9QEwBQ

Hmm, that looks good. Would it look okay if I painted the chair rail and wainscoting white and left the baseboard wood?

 

[MAKmom]

Hmm, that looks good. Would it look okay if I painted the chair rail and wainscoting white and left the baseboard wood?

No don't do that. What the pictures are showing is a fake wainscoting I still have the drywall with just "picture frames" in trim...for lack of a better word. With the chair rail & trim & "picture frames in place we painted it a semigloss so it appears to be all wood. I have a Ralph Lauren Champagne color above.

IMO if you keep the chair rail any where it should match the trim. You can also google chair rails & hit image to get other ideas.

 

[bonoriffic]

If the chair rail was installed with glue, and if the wall isn't perfectly square it probably was, removing it may take a large chunk of drywall with it. If you remove it, be prepared to face lots of patching and sanding.

In some rooms having chair rail as a divider for complementary paint above and below the chair rail is a nice look. But in this case, the chair rail is usually the same color as the trim. A randomly found example: http://www.wickmanconstructioninc.com/images/chair-rail-DR.jpg