Dado rails are part of a traditional, period home look. But they are a very popular feature in all kinds of homes, period and modern, in the present day. What’s so great about them is they create the illusion of more space. They also divide up tall walls, allowing you to add a second colour to them or use a wallpaper texture or design that would be overwhelming if it covered the whole wall.
Anaglyta Dado Panels
In the true period look, dado panels were made from carved wood. But the most common, and a lot cheaper, option used today is dado panel wallpaper. Anaglypta Dado Panel Wallpaper is specially designed to be used to create a dado panel effect. It’s easy to hang and there’s a wealth of designs in the range.
Hanging dado panel wallpaper on stairs
Hanging dado panel wallpaper on normal walls is not really too different to hanging any wallpaper. But hanging it on stairs is a little more tricky. If you want to apply Anaglypta Dado Panels to Stairs read our how to guide.
Step 1 – To make sure you hang the dado rail straight, you need to mark out where it needs to go. Do this by using a tape measure to measure up from the skirting board to where you want your dado rail to be. Do this at both the top and bottom of the stairs. Then get someone else to help you hold a string at both of the marks you’ve made, and draw a line on the wall following the string.
Step 2 – If you are installing a new dado rail, it’s much easier to apply the dado panels first. First draw a horizontal line from the dado mark across the wall. This is where you hang your first piece of dado panel wallpaper. But before doing that, take a piece of card and hold it against the wall in the position of the first drop of wallpaper. Where the card meets the skirting board, draw an angled line across to match that of the skirting on the stairs and then cut across the line. This will form your template for cutting the dado panel wallpaper.
Step 3 – Place your cardboard template on your dado panel wallpaper and cut it across the angle. But keep hold of all the off-cut as you’ll need it later. Next add paste to either the wallpaper or the wall, and line the wallpaper panel up with the horizontal line on the wall. Make sure to brush out any wallpaper bubbles with a wallpaper brush as you hang it.
Step 4 – For the final step, paste the off-cut or the wall above the panel you’ve already applied, then apply the off-cut to the wall. This ensures that the angle at the top of the wallpaper matches that at the bottom. Next draw a horizontal line where your wallpaper meets the dado line, and repeat the process for each drop of dado panel wallpaper. This makes sure you end up with a tidy paneled effect on the wall up any staircase.
So now you know how to use Anaglypta Dado Panel Wallpaper in even the trickier staircase option, there’s nothing stopping you finding a design you love and creating your own dado rail today.