Hi George, What a great property, coming along nicely. I agree with sksj1 - it is not essential to have one now. I would go for the picture rail now and save until you can afford to have it done properly in the style that matches the space. You also then have time to shop around and get things in sales or if you are using an interior designer somewhere in the property, they would be able to sort something for you and use trade discounts etc. If you are set on one of the two choices you have shown above then the larger one will have more of an impact - the other one may get lost which might look odd with the taller and detailed skirting I see there. I hope this helps but if I can be have further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me. Regards, Gina

I've got a house only 25 years old. When we purchased it, there was coving left in two spare rooms. I decided to have it removed - what a mess! Destroyed the wall completely and took a day to repair! Considering the room size was approx 4m x 4m, the total cost was over £300. The other spare room has just had the artex skimmed over to make flat - coving has stayed!

I'm all for coving. We have original coving in our lounge area and a previous owner had removed the wall and chimney breast in the dining room to create one space. Unfortunately, they also removed the coving in that area and replaced it with a modern one- we have never gotten around to matching them up. We did have a picture rail installed and as you can see, we do use it.

I agree with Victoria - it all depends on the house. If it’s a Victorian property with high ceilings and the original coving has been ripped out, then yes - replacing it would be great. However if it’s a more modern property with lower ceilings, don’t add something that wouldn’t have been there. Personally I really don’t like it when modern properties have had fake historic features added - it looks a bit odd, and it could even devalue your property.