Are there any vintage décor features you wish would come back in style? Erin Napier thinks the plate rail is one of the stunning historic home design trends that should make a comeback today. Placed halfway between a chair rail and a picture rail, and frequently mistaken for either, this unique feature was the star of the turn-of-the-century dining room in one of the homes the Napiers renovated in the first season of HGTV’s “Home Town.” Erin was fascinated by it, calling it “one of those great historic touches that they just don’t put in houses anymore” (per HGTV). “I wish they would, because it’s gorgeous,” she added.

She’s right. Among the various kinds of wall molding that once adorned family homes, the plate rail has had the hardest time standing the test of time. Although minimalist design has stripped most walls in historic houses of their ornamental charm, chair rails (also called dado rails) were once so popular that they’re still widely common in restored and even new homes today. Picture rails, meanwhile, are more of a quirky feature that fans of vintage Victorian aesthetics love to integrate into their modern décor. But what of plate rails? Well, they’re the lesser-known sibling because they were much more niche, even in their heyday. 

If your historic home features a plate rail lining the walls of the dining room, then you’ve most likely gotten your hands on an American Craftsman relic. While other types of wood molding were popular across décor styles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, plate rails were specifically a big favorite of Craftsman-style houses. Prominent in the West Coast, this trend was a continuation of the more widespread British Arts and Crafts movement. It focused on moving away from the decorative excesses of the Victorian era and the low-quality mass production of the Industrial Revolution by championing simple, handcrafted, and functional designs built with local natural materials. 

Wood was especially beloved in interiors, with wainscoting adorning walls all around. In the dining room, the paneling was topped off with the plate rails — hybrids between molding and shelving built at an unusual height two-thirds of the way up the wall. They were a place to showcase, well, plates, but also any other kinds of small decorations, like pottery, and family heirlooms. Although chic plate displays are all the rage again, in remodeled Craftsman-era homes, plate rails can also be repurposed to showcase art, pictures, maybe even vinyl records, books, and plants. They’re a great idea for new homes, too! They might not have the same historical significance there, but they’re still a personality-filled idea to spice up a blank wall. Besides, there’s so much of the bespoke, artisanal philosophy of Arts and Crafts homes that resonates with the sustainable, tailor-made awareness guiding interior design today, so why not follow Napier’s advice and bring it back?