Design Basics: Ceiling Treatments
Houses often end up with white, featureless ceilings at uniform 8-foot heights, the thought being that
they are too far from view to influence the look of a room. In fact, ceilings have as great an impact on
a home's interior as its walls and floors—possibly even more. "If you think of a home as a series of
spaces, ceilings are what give those spaces shape and definition," says New York architect Dennis
Wedlick. Think coffers and vaults, beams and beadboard, paint and pressed-tin panels. Read on to
learn how to use these and other treatments properly.
Consider Scale "The rule is: Big rooms, high ceilings; small rooms, low ceilings," says Max
Jacobson, coauthor of Patterns of Home (Taunton Press). Large rooms with low ceilings often feel
claustrophobic, he explains, while tight spaces with high ceilings produce poor acoustics. As a
general guideline, the more public the space, the higher its ceilings should be.
Break It Up Varying ceiling heights within the same room will create discrete activity zones, which
makes a home feel more vibrant. The best place to drop down a ceiling is on a room's perimeter,
where it will define a space for individual or small-group activity. For example, lowering the ceiling
in one corner of a great room will yield an intimate reading nook.
Manipulate the Sense of Space "A low ceiling has a compressive quality, while a high ceiling
allows for release," explains Boston architect Jeremiah Eck. As a result, moving from a hallway with
an 8-foot ceiling into a living room with a 10-foot one will give people the clear impression that they
are entering a public area. Conversely, in a home with high ceilings throughout, lower "dropped
ceilings" will help the secondary spaces—a study or breakfast nook, for instance—feel cozier. Work
with the Structure Architects will often let the ceiling follow the shape of the roof, on ground and
upper levels alike, as a way of creating variety in the interior. A vaulted ceiling, for instance, provides
drama. Exposed beams, for their part, create patterns of light and shadow that visually break up
large spatial volumes, making a room feel more interesting and inviting.
Add Color, Trim, and Details Color greatly affects the perception of height: Darker tones make a
ceiling feel lower, adding intimacy, while lighter tones expand a space by reflecting light.
Architectural details, meanwhile, trick the eye by providing contrast. For instance, an interior soffit—
a perimeter section of ceiling that is lower than the central portion—makes the ceiling over the
middle of the room appear that much higher than it actually is.
Add Rhythm The cells of this coffered ceiling, designed by New
York architects Larry Laslo and Tony Greifin-Stein, and design
associate Kenneth Boyce, give an otherwise undefined expanse
human scale.
Tie Together The beams share the same profile as the crown
molding on the room's perimeter, adding a pleasing sense of
uniformity to the space; clusters of furniture continue the
ceiling's gridded theme.
Lighten Up High-gloss paint and recessed canisters (as opposed
to hanging fixtures) make the ceiling seem higher, an often
desirable effect in a home's common areas.
Provide Warmth A beadboard ceiling with a beam overlay
enhances the old-world-lodge feel that Illinois architect John
Richert conceived for this eating area.
Tie Together For added harmony, the circular element in the
ceiling complements the dining table, while the orientation of the
beadboard echoes that of the floorboards.
Lighten Up Recessed fixtures supplement illumination from the
pendant lamp.
Deliver Drama A vaulted ceiling in this sunroom expands the
space and plays up the casual appeal of its slipcovered
furnishings and stone floor.
Lighten Up Glossy white-painted beadboard reinforces the
room's crisp look and bounces natural light throughout.
Expand the Space A soffit on the perimeter of the kitchen,
designed by Minneapolis architect Jean Rehkamp Larson, leads
the eye upward, thus making the center of the room feel higher.
Tie Together The clear-stained crown molding and earth-toned
paint visually link the ceiling to the room's window moldings and
granite countertops, respectively.
Provide Warmth A faux pressed-tin ceiling contributes to the
"vintage, loftlike look" that Kathy Andrews, an interior designer
from Houston, Texas, cooked up for this child's room.
Tie Together The dark, silver-colored finish connects the
surface to the space's aged-iron headboard and antique coatrack.
These four products offer cost-effective and retrofittable solutions to dressing up a plain white
ceiling.
1. TIN CEILING PANELS 24-inch-square stamped plates, available in a range of
patterns and colors, are nailed to a plywood substrate. $8 a panel and up. American
Tin Ceilings; 888-231-7500, americantin [Link].
2. GP PLYTANIUM PLY-BEAD 4-by-8-foot presanded southern pine panels are
nailed to the ceiling joists. $17 a panel. Georgia-Pacific; 800-284-5347, [Link].
3. WOODHAVEN CEILING PLANKS Made from medium-density fiberboard, the
tongue-and-groove boards won’ t warp and they clean up with the wipe of a sponge.
Available in natural, shown, and white-painted finishes. $3 to $3.25 a square foot.
Armstrong; 800-233-3823, [Link].
4. FAUX BEAMS They look like hand-hewn wood, but these lightweight polyurethane
timbers slide over—and get screwed to—2x4s that are nailed to the ceiling. $55 a
beam and up.
