# Chair rail and wall boxes



## Brad Nailer (Apr 13, 2013)

I wanted to get some ideas on standard design for using chair rail and wall boxes. I'm most interested in when is it ok to use them.

We're redoing our master bedroom. New furniture, color and flooring (from carpet to hardwood). 

There is one feature that is a little out of the ordinary. The one window in the room is 35"x70" that is oriented horizontally with the sill being about 4' off the floor, or right at the perfect level to rest your folded arms when looking out.

Every picture I've seen of chair rail with a window is to run the rail in to the window frame, usually just above the sill. For our situation, that would be way too high for a chair rail, as it would be over 4' above the floor. It's a standard ceiling height so the proportion is way off. So, I'm thinking of adding the chair rail about 24" off the floor., which is a 4-to-1 ratio of wall height to chair rail height.

What I want to know is whether a chair rail would look right at all with the window we have in the room. And if so, is the 24" height about right?

As for the wall boxes (that go under the chair rail), I wanted to know if there is a time when wall boxes is too much for a particular room design. Or does the shorter chair rail height make the wall boxes a design no-no.

When I see nice chair rail and wall boxes, I think elegance. Our motif is going to be more laid back. 

This is the bed:








These are the night stands:









With the chair rail, we're going with a light shade of gray on the upper part of the wall and a slightly darker shade of gray on the bottom. All the trim is white and the ceiling is white. The floor is going to be handscraped, very similar to this:









My wife wants color in the room. Our daughter and I have convinced her that she can add the color with furniture, bedding and wall decorations rather than with wall color. So the room isn't going to be a showroom for bedroom furniture (where everything is the same color and design).

I'm thinking that wall boxes would be too much. Like I said, I view them as an elegant feature. Am I being too discriminating or would wall boxes be too much? The footboard of the bed has a wall box design, so would that make it work?

Thank you for your time and consideration.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

What do you want the focal point to be? 24 Inches is too low for chair rail IMHO, it will make the room look taller and the window higher off the floor. The boxes will make the room look smaller. I personally would opt for no boxes. 

If you have a 4 inch margin above the boxes to the chair and 4 inches above the base, the boxes are going to be very small. Just a thought.


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## Brad Nailer (Apr 13, 2013)

Thanks for the reply, BigJim. The plan was NOT to do the boxes as I didn't think the feature would fit the overall room design. Your point about spacing making for a small box is another big strike against the boxes.

As for the height of the chair rail, I read this article: http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/12/03/misused-confused-chair-rail/ and settled on 24".

Everybody thinks a chair rail should be 30"-36" off the floor, or the height of the chair used in the room, when in reality it's about proportion. 

The window, I mentioned in my original post, is 43" off the floor at the sill. The bottom of the molding is about 38"-39" off the floor. That is obviously too high for a chair rail if you want it to butt up against the window trim. But if I make 36", then it's only 2"-3" below the trim of the window and that, in my mind's eye, wouldn't look right. 30" off the floor would be better but it's still under 12" from the trim of the window and I don't see that looking much better. That's why I chose 24". Even that is higher than the proportion that should be used for an 8' ceiling. If I use the formula in the article, it should only be 18" off the floor. Given that, and the horizontal window, I wonder if chair rail would be even be a proper design feature.


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

I like the bed and nightstands.

How high are the night stands? I would tape a piece of the chair rail
to the wall (with duct tape) behind the bed and night stands. 

Your window is high, so I would concentrate on how the chair rail
looks in relation to the night stand and bed rather than the window. 

I think I would start with the bottom of the chair rail about 4" above
the top of the night stand.


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## Brad Nailer (Apr 13, 2013)

I never even thought of that! Thanks, Two Knots.

It would definitely look odd if the chair rail went right by the level of the nightstand or just below it. It makes a whole lotta sense to see the nightstand within the wainscoting area rather than the nightstand being taller than the wainscoting.


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## Brad Nailer (Apr 13, 2013)

Here is a preview of the finished room. Paint and chair rail up. Floor is next week (sample in the bottom right corner of the picture).

The nightstands are 27" high so I went 31" off the expected floor height.

I was worried how the chair rail would look with the window so high off the floor but it looks just fine passing underneath.


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

That looks gorgeous. Perfect height.

I love the color too. :thumbsup:


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## Brad Nailer (Apr 13, 2013)

Two Knots said:


> That looks gorgeous. Perfect height.
> 
> I love the color too. :thumbsup:


Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you. :wink2:

The colors are Casual Gray (lower) and Ground Fog (upper), from Behr's pallet. 

The trim is the standard trim color used by KB in our subdivision. I have no idea what it's called I just know I can go to Sherwin Williams and tell them what subdivision I'm in and they can supply the color.

I'll post another picture when I get the floor down (next week, hopefully) and then another after the furniture is delivered (two weeks later).


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