It’s time to break through that glass ceiling we’ve placed on decorating. We literally treat the ceiling of our homes as an after-thought. That might be giving it too much credit… I don’t think most of us even consider our ceiling as an opportunity to add some fun and excitement to our spaces. I live in a rental, with popcorn ceilings, so I would like to believe that that is the only reason why my ceilings are still boring old white (with gross popcorn sound proofing texture). There are times that I lay in bed in the morning looking for patterns in the popcorn texture, like kids find shapes in puffy white clouds. Hopefully, some day, I’ll have something a little more exciting to wake up to.
Painting the ceiling is a great way to add some drama to a room. You can even leave all of the walls white, and paint the ceiling a dramatic shade, and the entire room will feel different. Darker colors will make the ceiling feel lower, so if you are already dealing with low ceilings, you might want to try a lighter shade or maybe just a tone-on-tone pattern. If you choose a darker paint color, it usually works best when framed with crown moulding. Not only does that create a border that contains the color, but if you do have those lower ceilings, it will trick the eye into seeing them as taller.
Dark colors are also a great way to draw the eye upward. If you choose to take that route, you should make it worth looking up, and great lighting could very easily be that reason! I love this medallion, but I would definitely change the pendant light to fit the rest of the room. It seems a little too casual/college apartment for the grand look and feel of the rest of the space. Make sure when you are choosing your fixtures, you think about how everything relates to each other. The wall sconces and draperies are perfect….why the paper pendant?!?!
Another trick to raising the feel of a ceiling is to drop the ceiling color down onto part of the wall. This technique actually confuses the eye and blurs the line of where the wall ends and the ceiling begins. I love the bold golden shade they used in this space, and I think they were smart carrying it through to the next room. It creates continuity and helps blend the spaces. This makes it feel more like one large room.
This picture below is one of my all-time favorites. I never seem to get tired of looking at it, and I wish this was my own entry way. I am sure I have already blogged about it, and I am sure I will blog about it again. For today, I want to obsess over the light and airy pattern on the ceiling and walls, which if done in bold color would be too busy, but these soft tones make it fun and almost beachy. I love that they brought it down onto the walls but kept the crown molding to give a definitive line of where the walls end and ceiling begins. It shows that it is deliberate and playful. The lighting fixture is also one of my favorites from Oly Studio.
Pattern can also be a great way to add a sense of playfulness to the space. The high contrast colors in this nursery make this otherwise sophisticated and serious color palette youthful and fun. While most nurseries seem to lean toward soothing and calming, this nursery is all about creativity and energy.
One final idea for adding excitement to your ceiling is to add architectural details. If you don’t want to add color on your ceiling, adding coffers or other textural details makes a great soft visual. It’s a subtle surprise when people happen to glance up. Adding color on top of this is a bold choice, but can be very rewarding if you have the height to pull it off.
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