Monday, January 23, 2012

"Ceilings Must Always Be Considered..."

"...They are the most neglected surface in the room."   
Albert Hadley  The Story Of America's Preeminent Interior Designer


Pinned Image
via

The ceiling ...aka the fifth wall-
 I have to tell you that I am one of those designers that is not conventional when it comes to ceilings. Flat, no sheen, white ceilings are never on my spec sheet (of course, unless, my dissertation on ceilings had no effect on the homeowner and they want it anyway) Personally, I like a little reflective sheen and usually a soft color or occasionally ...a lot of color. 

Have a look at some great spaces with not so average ceilings:

Pinned Image
Spinnaker Development via Decor Pad
Isn't this an amazing hall? 
The dark ceiling draws attention to the lighting and picks up on the dark floors and doors. 
This is not merely a pass through space!


Pinned Image
David Christesen via Decor Pad
The blue ceiling accentuates the crown molding and white cabinetry.


living rooms - Blue ceilings beadboard dark floors  Courtesy of House of Turquoise
House Of Torquoise
Painting the ceiling a lighter, cooler color will expand the space- making the room feel larger.


Lusas Allen Photography
via 

via


Style at Home
 It's hard to think of a ceiling as grounding a space but with the dark floor and what appears to be the same gray on the fireplace surround, the room feels balanced.

via

All of these spaces so far I wouldn't consider eccentric or theatrical- those are a little further down. The point that I wanted to make is to consider a color. Often the ceiling is the largest surface in a room- make it count!

via




 


Okay, here's where it gets crazy


...and in this space- in a fun and classy way!




Pinned Image
via
Kids rooms are great rooms to have at it with the ceiling. 
Kids love it! 

Pinned Image
via

Pinned Image
via

Pinned Image
via


Sometimes even grown ups like brightly colored ceilings!

Pinned Image
Source Unknown

Pinned Image
via

via
Hope you are having a great start to the week. I'm off to run on this 50 degree rainy day in CNY! Honestly, I think this so called winter will go down in history as one of the weirdest!

Do you have any special ceilings in your home?

8 comments:

  1. Love this post. When we built our house (3 years ago), I asked to have all of the ceilings painted in the same colour as our walls. The builder thought I was crazy. Now I see that I could have been even bolder and it would have looked great. Some of these examples are just stunning. I have to say, I really do not like a white ceiling. Thanks for making me feel less freakish, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great, great post - I love it! You're so right, all our ceilings are white! Boring!! Maybe I should rethink - there's loads of great ideas here!

    Sarahx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great examples but I could never in a million years paint stripes on a ceiling...no way, no how! I wish I had cove ceilings I would love to use a black accent on one.

    XX
    Debra~

    ReplyDelete
  4. Definitely need to keep this in mind as I love the effect it can have on the room, and I know personally I do neglect for sure. I absolutely love both of the kitchen photos with the blue ceiling. Yes, this is a strange winter - 50 degrees today? Very weird - have a good one Michelle!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm helping a friend with a few small things but she also sent me a photo of her dining room, and it's a prime candidate for a ceiling re-do. The walls are green and then all of the trim and crown are white but the ceiling is green, so the white trim almost sections it off and looks strange. Thanks for pointing the importance of this out - I don't think it's something I notice all the time but now I will.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I need to repaint some of the ceilings in our home. In most rooms they are a darker taupe to our creamy walls, and I think it lowers the ceiling too much. In our dining room they are the same color as our walls, and I love the effect.

    Very nice post!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful inspirations! I love those bold stripes on the ceiling. I like how it's there yet it's not overwhelming!

    Have a great week, Michelle!

    Jessie
    www.mixandchic.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh wow! I loved seeing all the beautiful ceilings.

    I have a painted white tin ceiling that is going to go in my kitchen. My husband took down the old ceilings....... we had three. We still need to shim out the ceiling first.

    Dee

    ReplyDelete