Hi Jen04.

Welcome to the boards as a contributor, not just a watcher. Handing out answers is great, but without new people and new questions, it can get pretty boring around here, especially around the holidays, so thanks for helping out. Still, even though it's nice to hear from you, I'm sorry to say that I think you already know the answer to this question: Yes, in an open-plan house, a chair rail is generally out of place. Oh, sure, I know that, these days, lots of people do it, but that doesn't make it right.

These days, chair rails are a stylistic artifact, a leftover from the old days when they were totally functional and served, in smaller rooms in smaller houses, to keep the paint & plaster from being scarred by chairs pused up against the wall when not in use. Basically, chair rails are the architectural equivalent of sleeve buttons on most men's suits. Today, although most sleeve buttons are non-functional, a traditional suit without them looks odd. So a style feature doesn't need to be currently functional to be right, but it shouldn't be grafted onto something of a totally different nature. In other words, while sleeve buttons on working suit cuffs are a necessity, and non-working sleeve buttons are standard on a suit's non-working cuffs, the same sleeve buttons attached to, say, a sweatshirt would just look silly. A traditional tuxedo needs a cumberbund to hide the suspenders but, worn with khakis & sandals, a cumberbund will make a guy look like a dork. So things have to be considered not in isolation, but in their overall context. Same with chair rails & other traditional architectural features--6-panel doors & comically underscaled "Victorian" mantels come to mind--in houses of contemporary design. That is, open-plan houses. In the immortal words of Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind: "It wouldn't be fittin'."

Anyway, so that's probably the reason you don't see many of the kind of inspiration pictures you were hoping to find: because most photos of chair rails installed in incompatiable modern rooms seem to carry the hidden message "Don't Try This at Home." And when it comes to their own homes, that's not the kind of mesage most people want to send. So, even if they did it, once they see the results, they're often not likely to post a picture. Ignorance is bliss. other people's ignorance, that is. Designers & decorators & builders may not bury their mistakes, but they're not likely to advertise them either. And why is that?

Easy: most people can look at a picture and tell that there's something wrong, even when they aren't able to explain--or even identify--exactly what it is that's off. They just know that it is. Anyway, that's what that little inner voice is trying to tell you. Don't do it.

Can you go ahead & do it anyway? Of course you can. That's one of the great things to be thankful for this time of year: that we live in a free country where, when it comes to our homes, we can do just about anything we want. And, better yet, be assured that, right or wrong, out of 200-something million people, somebody's bound to like what we do.

Regards,
Magnaverde.

Do you have a pic of the area where you want to put the molding? That would be a great help in deciding whether it should look right. If you're looking for pics, there is a builder who does a lot of molding. Their website is rewardbuilders.com and if you go to their gallery section, look at the homes there and you'll see that in many of them they used wainscoting and chair rails in the entry, dining and even living areas.

Just wanted to say I enjoyed Magnaverde's thoughtful and informative response. That's why I love this site- so many bright people with so much insight that they are gracious enough to share!! Happy Thanksgiving, all.

Yea! I love reading about chair rails and panel mouldings because I am a h-u-g-e fan of them. Love them!

I live in an eleven year-old open floorplan spec house. The layout works for us and we love love love our neighborhood and the local schools (why we chose this neighborhood). However, the finishes inside were depressing, so we put lipstick on this pig and honestly, I think it's pretty terrific!

My partner and I are gaga for architectural details -- casings / millwork / mouldings, etc. Naturally this house was lacking all. It also had orange peel / knockdown texture walls, so we had the house (interior) plastered (smooth coat) and details galore added! Window & door casings, crown moulding, beefy baseboard and chair and panel mouldings were added, and I think it works. I also think I have a beautiful eye (of course I'm biased!) so would know if it just looked like crap, but because we were thoughtful and thorough I think it works.

I think plastering (smooth coat) all the walls / ceilings made an enormous difference -- I think chair rail / panel mouldings look ridiculous on orange peel / knockdown (apologies to those I'm offending). Additionally, our chair rails / panel mouldings are painted in the same color as the walls, only one sheen different (from eggshell to pearl).

Here's a close-up of the chair & panel mouldings, new baseboard and front door casing:

and more in situ:

We also added the moulding on the curved stair wall, to help it fit in with the rest of the house:

In our dining room:

And then the wainscoting in the kitchen:

We have an awkward transition from the kitchen to the family room as we have those rounded edges (it would've been really expensive to change all the corner beads to sharp edges, so we let that one go ...) but I think our wonderful carpenter truly made the most of it!

Don't know if this has been any help ... but I'm another fan of chair rail / panel mouldings, even on open floorplan houses!

I agree, put your picture up before you make any final decisions on not doing it. It may end up looking great!

I'm another huge fan of chair rails and wainscoting. I love woodwork; the more, the better. I have lots of pictures of different styles of moulding I've saved. I'm not quite sure what you want to see, or if you've really changed your mind. I also did beadboard wainscoting on my staircase here and have gotten tons of compliments on it. I do intend to do more in the house.

UGH!! Now I'm confused. I thought I changed my mind but yesterday I put up some painters tape were the chair rail and boxes would be and I really like it. I'll post some pics later today so I can get some advice of what you all think.

I haven't posted pics before so it took me a minute to figure it out. I tried to take pics so that you could see the whole area. I am by no means a decorator and I'm learning as I go so please be gentle... :o).
I really don't have a certain style...my home is more of a melting pot of stuff.

This pic shows where I started putting up the painters tape to get an idea what it would look like