You roof must be the most important part of your home … there are plenty of dwellings to be found worldwide without walls (though the inhabitants might live some place that is closer to a tropical paradise than your own home!), but a home without a roof is just not a home! Who wants to be rained on while they sleep? Certainly not me … but if that floats your boat, I’ll not comment :)

As such, we are looking at interior decorating of ceilings in this ‘Out with the Old’ feature. There are so many homes that have boring old white ceilings, that you will now find ‘Ceiling white’ paint in every hardware shop that sells paint across the world! There are plenty of different things you can do with a ceiling though - here are our  ideas and guide to implementing them.

The reason that so many ceilings are white is that light colours make an area seem larger - and it can be quite uncomfortable and depressing,  feeling that the roof is pressing down on you if it is painted a deep, dark colour. So, in your adventures with ceiling colour, go for lighter ones. Not ones without personality … just a light sprinkling of personality! You’ll probably also want to look at having the same colour for the ceilings in every room of your house - this is a good way to add consistency and flow to your home … while not making it a boring place to live. So choose a ceiling colour that will match with the different themes you may have throughout your house. If the kids’ rooms are pink and blue, choose a ceiling colour that will either connect or contrast with these colours, as well as being suitable for the cream coloured bathroom and the green feature wall in the master bedroom.

If you want to look beyond paint for your ceiling adventures, then good on you, you brave soul! Just kidding ;-) Why not try something like patterned tin or copper - you could use this to complement or contrast your door knobs and handles, also. Patterned ceilings have a beautiful vintage look, and can make you feel a million dollars just by standing under them.

You don’t need to be Michaelangelo to have a painted (picture-painted) ceiling, either. Stop thinking of that clichéd two-fingers-touching, God and Man scene … try something like a bright sun in the corner, with a blue textured sky and clouds for one of your rooms. You could even go for a night sky scene, in a room with higher ceilings (to counter the ceiling-pressing-down effect). Or try other nature themes, like vines or leaves twining around the edges of your ceiling.

You can add false beams to a high ceiling for character … although probably not a good idea if the tallest inhabitant of your house is only just under the height of the door frames! You can also paint the beams - the same colour as your ceiling if you’re the subtle type, or the same colour as your trim if you like to stand out from the crowd.

If you are renovating a traditional home, you might want to add that thingy that goes in the middle of your ceiling and the light comes down from the middle … you know that thingy?!! It’s actually called a medallion, and if you Google the term ceiling medallion, you should be able to find plenty of suppliers in your area. Paint these before you put them on the roof … you’ll curse yourself to hell forever if you have to paint intricate purple wreaths for the next two weeks, all upside down!

You could even look at having different materials for your ceiling … tiles are not just for behind the stove and your floor. They also make ceilings easy to sweep and mop! If you think your current ceiling is too hard to clean with a broom, a suspended tile one could be a great idea ;-) And also if you want to add a bit of character and imagination to your home. Think about textured plaster, plaster or porcelain tiles, and even soft furnishings for your ceiling, like linens and tapestries which can be easily hung by anyone with a staple gun.

Remember, when it comes to your ceiling, the sky’s the limit!

Photo credits: Ceiling by Patrick Boury

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