Learn How to Break up Tall Walls by Installing Chair Rail

By Mark J. Donovan

This weekend I installed chair rail in a powder room. However I didn’t install it at chair rail height. Instead I installed the chair rail 18 inches from the powder room’s ceiling. The powder room is fairly small, only about 20 square feet, however the walls are over 9 feet tall. As a result the room seemed somewhat small, but giant at the same time, when you stood in the bathroom. So to add a little flair, and more specifically, to break up the tall walls I installed the chair rail.

Installing chair rail is easy to do and doesn’t cost that much, particularly in my case since the powder room was so small. After fastening the chair rail to the walls I caulked the nail holes and seams and then painted it a brilliant white. The chair rail stock already came primed.

I then painted the walls a light earth tone color, both above and below the chair rail. Between the earth tone wall color and the brilliant white, the chair rail really stood out nicely and really added some character to the room.

Lastly I installed a new bathroom mirror that came with a wood frame to complete the powder room make over. The wood framed contrasted nicely against the earth tone wall paint.