Ceiling by Design

Our Days Ceilings

Ceiling today don't carry the same visual impact, yet the ceiling is a fundamental feature that contributes to the overall presentation and feel of a house. One of the greatest differences between the decoration of houses one hundred years ago and now is that today there is an appalling disregard for the ceiling design and aesthetic dimension of a ceiling.

While ceiling take up the same space as the floor, few people consider spending even a fraction of their decorating budget on the ceiling design to make ceiling beautiful.



Think of your ceiling as the sky. Whether the roof of a house is flat, sloping, or curved, most interior ceilings are flat, mirroring the image of the floor in size and shape. If your ceiling isn't flat or symmetrical, consider correcting it. Feng shui practitioners believe that an angled ceiling dissipates energy. If you have a gable roof with exposed interior beams, the symmetry of one part answering to the other is visually pleasing. The slopes of the ceiling can be painted sky-blue in contrast with the wall color to give both wall and ceiling definition.

Although modern architecture does not emphasize ceiling, you can make your ceiling design more fascinating by learning how to create ceiling illusions. If you have unavoidable structural elements as part of your ceiling, such as air conditioning ducts or beams in awkward places, make them part of the room color scheme rather than trying to hide them, because that often draws more attention to the problem. It's forgivable in ceiling design for an old house to have some pipes running along a ceiling, whereas boxing them in would lower the height of the ceiling, making you feel crushed.

Ceiling in houses and apartments usually range from about eight feet to an expansive twelve feet high. Many New York apartments are prewar buildings with ceiling averaging nine feet six inches high; most newer buildings have lower ceilings. Ideally, the ceiling height should be in proportion to the size of the room. The larger the room, the higher the ceiling can be and still please the eye.

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Ceiling Design

Ceiling - the largest unused area of a room - has been given special attention for hundreds of years. In many current interiors, the ceiling's potential to add character to the room has been neglected. In recent years changing interior styles have produced exhilarating ceiling designs, which add new dimensions to interior space. With smart interior design through the use of creative materials and finishes the ceiling can become the focal point or an important backdrop for other interior elements.

Add welcoming dimensions to your ceiling by bringing decorative ceiling elements: ceiling medallions, ceiling rims, beautiful moldings and ceiling domes. Whether it is a Historical restoration, new construction or remodeling with our products you can create impressive ceiling design

Creative Ceiling Design

Be creative with your ceiling design. Look up at your ceiling. As each room has a different ceiling that affects the feeling of the space, a range of creative options is available to you if you decide your ceilings deserve or need decorative attention. Lighting, texture, paint, paper, and fabric can all be apply to your ceiling. In a coat closet, for example, to bring a too-high ceiling down, you can have your walls shirred in a blue-and-white small-scale print and tented the ceiling so the eye is delighted with the color and texture of the rich folds of fabric. In the center of the ceiling where the material gathered together, hang a hand-painted lantern in blues and greens. If you have beautiful carving or plaster work, it can be articulated and enhanced.

If your ceiling is low, you can make the space feel more expansive by installing our architectural products. Installing crown molding with indirect lighting will flood the ceiling with light and create a beautiful ceiling design with an illusion if height. Adding a ceiling dome a great way to create a felling of a high ceiling. Check our our extensive ceiling domes collection. If you already have a ceiling dome, color and a decorative chandeliers may be what you need. If you have a cathedral ceiling with exposed structural beams, you may want to color them in bright, fresh shades in your ceiling design rather than use the traditional dark stains.

Walls and ceiling take on different moods throughout the day and at night as well as at different times of the year. Be aware of the wide range of creative ceiling design options and have the courage to make changes so your walls and ceiling feel right for you.

Ceiling, in addition to protecting you from bad weather, should allow you to feel free and open, as the sky.

None of us inherits perfectly graceful walls, but it is up to us to make them beautiful.

Ceiling Design Tips

Creating Illusions

Many large rooms with high ceilings in apartment buildings have been divided into smaller rooms, creating awkward proportions. Rooms feel most comfortable when they are squares or fat rectangles. A tall ceiling in a small space makes you feel as though you're in an elevator shaft.

- Ceiling ornamentation that borders the ceiling trim - strong architectural detail that draws the eye down from the ceiling.

- Painting your ceiling a darker color also has the effect of bringing the ceiling down.

- Blue ceiling because of their association with sky, will always make you feel as though you are looking up to infinity. Painting clouds on the ceiling evokes the ancient Chinese meaning of wisdom and heavenly blessings.

- Chinese silver or gold-leaf rice paper installed in squares in a small for small room warms the ceiling so it shines like the sun to warm you emotionally.

- There's nothing more effective in bringing a ceiling down than a shimmering crystal chandeliers, brass chandeliers or lanterns. In a small room with a fourteen-foot ceiling, chandelier can became the sky, the sunset, and the spirit of place.

Some ceilings feel oppressively low, especially to tall people, to people accustomed to being outdoors, or to those living in older, classical architecture.

- By painting all the ceilings a soft glaze of blues and white, an Impressionist cloud illusion, joy will feel lifted up, expansive, and cheered.

- By keeping the height of the furniture low, the ceiling appears higher.

In the eighteenth century, small rooms with low ceiling were easier to heat. The same applies today. New England has severe winters, and heating bills are high enough. Small rooms with low ceiling in old houses have an exclusive charm and atmosphere. Built to accommodate the local climate, these small rooms make you feel cozy, not cramped. Even for tall people, these small rooms seem inviting when the colors are cheerful, there's good lighting, and the taste and style reflect the owner.

There are several architectural elements that create vertical "orders" on the walls and help add height to a low-ceilinged space.

- Pediments and pilasters will bring your eye upward creating illusion of ceiling height.

Just as a crown molding can bring a high ceiling down visually because of its architectural projection, a substantial crown molding can also draw the eye to the height of the room. Keep in mind the eye wants to be pleased by ceiling decor.

- By adding attractive details that enhance the scale and proportion, you are satisfying the eye.

To literally gain height in a room, in some cases it is possible to cut out a ceiling, opening up your room to the roof height. This way you may also gain another window from the attic. The "great rooms" that now omit formal living rooms incorporate the idea of openness and light.

A Suspended Ceiling Design

If you have a suspended ceiling, it is a popular element that serves a great purpose in the modern interior. The “areal” design of the suspended ceiling does not have any particular boundaries—from the older houses and apartments with ceilings that range from about 8-12 feet to the office buildings and newer homes. The suspended ceiling has a great use in reducing noise levels and creating particular acoustic in the space. It is also a great element to add a dramatic impact in the space without feeling the need to clutter it with furniture to overcompensate for the blandness of the space. With the right lighting it becomes an indispensable architectural part of the room. A big plus with the suspended ceiling is that it transforms a flat and overwhelming space—a suspended ceiling is a way to sculpt the room from a box to a uniquely shaped masterful space.

Suspended ceiling consists of a metal casing that is suspended in the corner and the actual surface that will allow for lights/ architectural details (such as ceiling medallions or appliques)—also, depending on the placement of the suspended ceiling, you may use it to creatively cover up grates or any elements of the space that you would not want to be shown. The most common materials that are used to create a suspended ceiling are metal and wood panels—you can also use different materials for faux finishes and other effects on the ceiling. You can use the metal frame and the wood panels as the skeleton and then use plaster to smooth over it making it look like the original architectural aspect of the house.