It is often said that the ceiling is a room’s 5th wall. It’s a pity that this “wall” is to most, just a white insulating cover. Save for a lighting fixture and a mandatory molding, few ceilings have nothing more to boast of. Room after room, house after house, you keep meeting the same white boring surface with an occasional unsightly brown rain-water stain!
Where as it is easy to blame wear & tear for this sorry state, the truth of the matter is that most ceilings even when new, are unimaginative. The good news is that there are lots of things that you can do to your ceiling to turn on its charm.
Let us look at a few.
- Wooden Beams &Planks: Breaking away from the norm by using wood planks on your ceiling will defintely make it stand out. The rich brown colour of most hard woods will give your ceiling a feel of quality. Wooden beams look natural and add an air of county to your home. Beams are also excellent for mounting lighting fixtures.
- Coffered Ceiling: These are created when ceiling beams intersect to form recessed areas. These areas (coffers) can be painted, wall-papered or even covered with veneer panels. You can use coffered ceilings in your dining room or library to give it a formal yet sophisticated appeal. Ceiling coffers usually come in circular, oval, rectangular and diamond configurations.
- Paint: Sometimes, colour on the ceiling is all that is needed to give it life. The varsatility of paint offers you a myriad of décor choices for your ceiling. If you want to make your wall decor to stand out, add colour to your ceilings: either acccentuate them with a totally opposite colour if you want to show off a beautiful ornate molding or a complementary one to the walls if you want an understated look. Stencil painting can also add artistic flare to your ceiling.
- stencil painted ceiling
- Lighting: The kind of ceiling mounted lighting fixture used largely depends on the room use. Nevertheless, the style of lighting fixture you use can totally transform the appearace of your ceiling. Recess light will give it a warm relaxing glow, while a chandelier is likely to cast glitter creating stellar shinny array.
- Rattan ceiling lamp
- Medallions: Using medallions is a “classic”, well known way to decorate ceilings. Made of either polyurethane, or plaster, usually they are the base for a chandelier, or a different light fixture. Ceiling medallions provide a simply and relatively inexpensive way to accent a ceiling. Even better, they can hide some holes where the lighting was replaced or repaired.
- Ceiling Medallion
- Crown Molding: Decorative ceiling molding (crown molding), fills the corner between the wall and the ceiling. Whether you prefer modern, ornate or rope molding, your ceiling will show more character with one. Experimenting with molding colour and width can yield very facinating outcomes.
The sky really is the limit when it comes to ceiling treatment. So don’t be bound by a white drab ceiling! Use it as canvas to express yourself. Remember: “Variety is the spice of life.”
Posted by Pambo Maridadi @ Crown Paints Kenya Ltd Email: info@crownpaints.co.ke
