Cottage Keepers
 

Look Up! Ceilings Are Part of Your Room's Decor
 

How often do you look up at a ceiling… any ceiling, whether it be your own or one in a building you're visiting and think about the role it plays in that particular room's décor? Strange question, you say? Not really. A typical room has six surfaces to it: four walls, a floor and a ceiling. In a decorating sense, these are actually six different "walls." Usually, we spend a great deal of time on one of them – the floor – and a good bit of time on the four we most often refer to as "walls." But what about that sixth wall, the one overhead?

           
Most ceilings are painted white and that's all the thought that is given to them. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself why white is the default color for ceilings? Think about it for a moment. Okay, time's up. Historically, ceilings have been painted white to reflect light down into a room and make it brighter and easier to see. Makes sense, doesn't it? Now think about how many of our coastal homes have bright light already pouring in through large windows. Maybe the ceiling doesn't have to reflect so much light anymore. Maybe, just maybe, it might be time to consider intentionally painting the ceiling (or covering it with something other than sheet rock) as part of the room's overall décor. For example, painting the ceiling of a child's bedroom sky blue with white clouds sponged on and stars painted in glow-in-the dark gold can inspire as well as soothe.

           
Consider a wood-planked ceiling for a home office or library, patterned tin for a period kitchen or even a painted overhead masterpiece (it worked for the Sistine Chapel…). Fabric, when properly used, can make a very effective overhead covering. Recently, I watched video of a home in which brick was actually used on a high entryway ceiling. If I had merely read about it, perhaps brick would have struck me as odd, but seeing it gave me a different perspective. (I was also fervently hoping they were using very strong adhesives!)

           
Of course, it's perfectly okay for you to keep your ceilings white if you want them white. This is especially true if the rest of the room is very busy. Your eye needs a place to rest, and in some rooms the only place that offers such relief is overhead. My point here is to have you actually take a few minutes and think about why your ceiling looks the way it does. In other words, make it a part of your conscious decorating plan rather than a by-product of construction.

Written exclusively for Island Review by Patti Brown,
ALB Decorator Fabrics, Inc.

Read more articles in the May print edition of Island Review.

LOOKING FOR quality businesses that know and serve Bogue Banks and Eastern North Carolina's NC Coast? From auto dealers, financial & insurance professionals, restaurants, health & body centers, home services, real estate, home construction, interior/exterior decor & care, outdoor and marine services to much, much more, Island Review advertisers are glad to share their expertise and quality services.

Click here to view our full listing of exceptional advertisers....

●  Healthy Living

●  Pet Labor

●  Shorelines

●  Turtle Tracks

●  PKS Garden Club


●  Book Bag

●  Chamber Connection

●  County Perspective

●  Financial Aide

●  Home Style

●  Property Watch

●  Rental Signs


●  Emerald Isle Mayor's Note

●  Emerald Tidings

●  Emerald Isle Town Meeting

●  Atlantic Beach Town Meeting

●  PKS Mayor's Notes

●  PKS Town Meeting