Dressing Up a Ceiling With Patterns
By Christa TerryCeilings can be pretty boring. More often than not, they are your basic white, regardless of how colorful the rest of the space may be, and even bold decorators who have no qualms about painting with super bright or extra dark colors fear doing anything to the ceiling outside of putting a funky light fixture thereon. Painted ceilings are, in my experience, something one encounters only now and then, and usually only in pictures. As for decorated ceilings, those are even rarer outside of certain old churches and palaces. And it really is a shame.
Think you can’t rock a patterned ceiling because your house doesn’t feature large soaring ceilings plus lots and lots of space? Think again! Standard height ceilings in smaller rooms actually look better with a pattern than standard height ceilings in very large rooms. For example, how lovely is the room above, designed by David Cafiero and seen in Lonny? And while one’s first instinct – that patterned ceilings look best on high ceilings – a basic pattern like stripes or a dark border can look totally sweet on just about any ceiling when you use the right colors and coordinate with the right decor.
Not that there’s anything wrong with your basic white ceiling. In fact, if you’re planning on moving soon, I’d recommend waiting to experiment with patterned ceilings simply because renters or buyers may not want to tackle the job of painting over your experiment. While is still the most popular ceiling option, and doing the ceiling is the biggest pain in the butt when it comes to painting.
January 11th, 2011 at 11:17 am
I have to admit, that was a hole in my imagination–and I really like that ceiling treatment. Adding it to my inspiration book, thanks!
January 11th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
You’re welcome! Honestly, doing anything to a ceiling other than maybe putting a painted border along it really never occurred to me. And while I love the look, I’m still pretty undecided on how I could do something more interesting to my ceilings in my own home.
January 20th, 2011 at 2:31 am
Paint is one of the best cheap home decorating ideas.I think that one of the most important part of your homes design is the ceilings. If your ceilings are above 8 feet then the molding should be a little bigger so it really stands out. Paint some of your ceilings a contracting color to the walls – instead of the basic white ceilings.