Two Simple Ideas to Add Character to Your Ceilings

One of the most under decorated spaces in houses tends to be the ceiling. Unless you live in an older home blessed with beams, tin and/or ornate moldings, it is rare to see anything today beyond white paint and crown molding.

Being a “detail person,” I am always looking for simple and inexpensive ways to add character to my house. I find it is the little things that turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. So I wanted to share two ideas – three projects – that we did in our house to add charm to our ceilings.

#1 PAINT
Bathroom Ceiling
One of the unique things we did in our house is paint the master bathroom ceiling blue.

When we moved into our house, the bedding colors in our master bedroom were white, yellow, and blue. In an effort to make the two spaces – bedroom and bathroom - coordinate we decided to add a touch of blue to the bathroom.

Instead of adding the color to the walls, we painted the ceiling. I love how this keeps the room light and bright but still adds the color we wanted. Although we have recently changed our bedding colors to a more neutral palette, the blue ceiling still remains.

#2 MOLDING
Foyer ceiling
The foyer in my house is fairly small - big enough for a 4’ x 6’ rug but too small for any type of furnishings. To help delineate this space from the hallway and create a sense of separation, we framed our light fixture with simple stock molding and wooden embellishments.

My husband cut four 4’ boards for the outside molding and four 3’ boards for the inside molding to create two frames. After nailing the boards and rosettes in place, the nail holes were filled and the space between the boards was painted the same white semi gloss as the trim. The trickiest part of this project is getting the boards straight and centered exactly even around the light fixture.

I love how this small touch of molding gives the foyer a sense of distinction from the hallway and sets the tone for the rest of the house.

Bedroom ceiling
Because I loved how the foyer ceiling turned out, I convinced my husband to do something very similar in my daughter’s bedroom. She has a pretty crystal chandelier (before shown below) but I wanted to make it stand out even more.

This time we used two different types of molding – a larger width piece for the outside frame and a smaller width piece for the inside.

The process was the same as in the foyer – cut the wood, nail in place, fill holes and paint. Below is the molding in place but unpainted.

Here is it is all finished. You will notice this time we decided to leave the space between the frames blank - no rosettes.

I am very pleased with how all three of these projects turned out. I am hoping our next attempt at embellishing a ceiling will be in the dining room. I am trying to convince my husband we need (and can make) a coffered ceiling! Wish me luck.

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