Chair Rail Molding

Each home owner wonders of decorating his/her home in a unique way. Trims, moldings and paneling are amongst the commonly used elements of interior decoration. These help you to add spice to the existing home decor and also give a well-defined touch to the same. Chair rail molding is one such classy way to revamp your interior walls. If you are wondering what is chair rail, then let me tell you that those decorative horizontal strips of molding over the walls are known as chair rails. These strips often run along walls of multiple rooms. Kitchen, bedroom, living, dining and even the walls besides staircase commonly have these decorative moldings. Chair rail when installed becomes one of the prominent features of the interiors. This makes the choice of design and right placement of this molding much important. So here are some tips to help you have the best looking rooms with perfectly installed chair rail molding.

Chair Rail Molding Ideas

Molding Design
Chair rails are made of materials like wood, vinyl, metal or fiberboard. Wood being the most popular pick, those looking for cheaper alternatives opt for vinyl. Now the design of a molding completely depends upon your choice. But it is best to decide one depending upon the interior decoration as well as the width of molding. Ornately carved patterns or repeated motifs are best to be chosen if you have a traditional styled interior decor. When you have a contemporary decor, stick to simple strips of chair rail running along the walls. You can have raised stripes and fancy curved patterns for modern interior decor. So the rule is to complement the design of chair rail with the style of your home decor.

Placement Ideas
Chair rail molding height is an important factor to be considered while you work on how to install a chair rail. Being a chair rail, it must ideally be installed at the height that matches with the back of chair. But you also need to consider the aesthetics while deciding the same. 28 to 35 inches is known to be the average height for installation of this molding. Many consider installation at a height that is 1/3 of the total wall. The chair rail height is counted from floor and not from the ceiling. Most often the height where this molding is installed varies depending upon the height of your rooms. It also depends upon other elements in your room. Like in your kitchen, height of a chair rail molding must match with that of the kitchen countertop. In case of living rooms, it must match with height of your sofas and other seating furniture. In bathrooms, it can match with height of the cabinets.

Choosing Color
Chair rail molding is popularly used in combination with wall paneling or wainscoting as well. One of the common chair rail ideas is to match the color with that of wainscoting. White moldings are most popular. You can have white molding with uniform wall color when you are using chair rail alone or in combination with the wall panels. Having monochromatic scheme with darker shade covering wall area below the rail molding and lighter shade covering walls above it also looks awesome. You can have this molding done in natural wood finish as well that can rightly match rest of wooden interior decor.

With these ideas on chair rail molding you can easily beautify your interiors. You can plan installing this while remodeling your interiors or reworking the walls. Chair rail moldings are definitely the best way to have ultimate wall decor. While this molding was previously designed to prevent the back of chairs from damaging the wall paint and plaster, today it has become a common wall decoration element. So have you planned placement and design of one for your interiors?