Right now I should be swimming full pelt back and forth outside but I overslept big time. Huge weekend on the garden and I am done in, as they say. I have just over one week into it’s being shot for a super cool gardening magazine, so it was planting, moving, digging, washing stones, moving rubble kind of weekend. Not fun I might add, many more like that and I might be moving to a condo asap! But enough about my weekend lets talk ceilings.
Ceilings are the most neglected surface in a room. We spend ages thinking about walls, floors, furniture but never the ceiling. Why is it always left white and plain and a big old snooze fest? Well enough, I say! Here are six super cool ideas to banish white ceilings for good…
1. Glossy & glam
This is a great trick which I’ve used a lot. If you’re taking the same colour from the walls up on to the ceiling, the switch from matte to a high-gloss finish adds a little bit of pizazz. The ultimate wow factor is to add in a chandelier too, as in these cool pads. The light that bounces off is truly magical, no?
2. Contrasting colour
For me personally I always paint out my ceilings in the same colour as my walls. But you can totally go for a contrasting colour too – something fun and unexpected to draw the eye up. Just as long as you promise me not to leave them white!
3. Metallics
Who says you can’t add a bit of sparkle to your ceiling? This hallway knocks it out of the park with lacquer walls and gold leaf that just screams all out glamour. Maybe a bit pricey perhaps, but the other ceiling is a great budget idea. The honeycomb mirror ceiling look is just made by sticking IKEA mirrors to the ceiling, super simple.
4. Architectural details
If you’re lucky enough to live in some amazing pad that has original ornate wood carved ceilings or plasterwork then lucky you. (But also sssh before you make us all jealous). I’m all for faking it as well though, and there are tons of good options for polystyrene plaster-look coving and decorations out there. If you want to rock something a bit grungier and more industrial then tin tiles are amazing too. We shot this Americana bedroom for my COLOUR book – how cool is the black tiled ceiling? You can buy either original or reproduction metal ceiling tiles, but a sneaky stylist’s trick is to just wallpaper the ceiling.
5. Go rustic
I ADORE this bedroom. The inky palette and snuggly throw is obviously just my cup of tea, but it’s those chunky exposed beams that really make it something magical. A harder one to fake this, but beams are always an amazing ceiling feature. When a house has beautiful beams that are painted or hidden by plaster then it’s just criminal in my book. Strip them back and expose their beauty for the world to see! You could try cladding to recreate the look.
6. Write it up
Last idea, a fun one this one. Simply paint it up with chalkboard paint (black if you want to go classic but you can get chalkboard in tons of others colours too now) and scribble away! Great if you’re a budding graffiti or street artist or want to recreate a cool New York hangout vibe.
So there you have it! 6 new creative ideas for ceilings.