Ceilings: The Most Ignored Territory on the Home Front

Photo Credit:  Houzz, Dillard Design Group, LLC

    The most ignored space in the home is the ceiling.  Homeowners spend oodles and oodles of time and money decorating their walls and floors with wallpapers, window treatments, paint, rugs, tile, and hardwoods but rarely elect to do anything with the ceiling.  The ceiling represents a great opportunity to add an additional design element to your space.  Here are five ceiling treatments that will add a bit of pizzazz to your home.

Painted Ceilings
Most people decide to leave their ceilings white, as they fear painting it will make their space seem smaller.  But painting your ceiling can give your space a warm cozy feel.  Dark colors will make the ceiling feel heavy and cave-like, as visually they make the ceiling seem lower.  Other ideas for painting include ceiling murals and stripes.  Murals add whimsy and visual interest.  And stripes can widen or elongate a space depending on the direction in which they are painted.

Medallions
Medallions are an easy way to add a distinctive design element to a room without too much fuss.  Medallions serve to anchor the chandelier and are available in a wide variety of shapes and styles.  Some medallions can be painted to match the finish of the chandelier or on a painted ceiling, can be left white to add a bit of contrast.  Ceiling medallions come in a variety of sizes from 4” to 36”; the size best suited for your needs typically depends on the size of the room.  A smaller medallion typically works best in a smaller room.

Coffered Ceilings
A coffered ceiling consists of beams that are installed along the ceiling in a grid-like pattern.  The coffers are formed from the parts of the ceiling that are recessed by the beams.  These ceilings typically require a higher ceiling height as the beams can take up a foot of available ceiling height.  It is very important to consider the size and shape of your room when planning a coffered ceiling, as any lighting will need to be installed within the recessed portions of the ceiling.  The size and shape of the room is also important in creating a fairly symmetrical beam pattern.  Coffered ceilings tend to be very architectural and add an air of formality to the spaces in which they are constructed.

Tin Ceilings

Tin ceilings were all the rage during the late 1800s through the early 1900s.  They lost their appeal for a while but recently there has been a resurgence in the popularity of faux tin ceilings.  Tin ceilings add an extreme amount of character and a vintage quality to any space. 

Wood Paneled

A wood paneled ceiling consists of installing grooved plywood, beadboard, or wood planks along the ceiling surface.  A paneled ceiling helps to draw the eye upward and across the room and provides an immediate feeling of coziness and warmth.   

Scheduling and Design: How Time Saves

Photo Credit:  Photo Steve

Aside from budget and space planning, scheduling is one of the most important factors to consider when undertaking any interior design project.  Having a good grasp of your project’s time constraints will help keep a tight leash on your budget.  The longer a project drags on beyond the expected date of completion, the more time there is for budget overruns and costly mistakes. 

I often run into homeowners undertaking first time DIY (do-it-yourself) home renovation projects.  In these encounters, I hear many horror stories about being without a kitchen or bathroom for way longer than what is typical.  Most are so excited at the prospect of doing it themselves and creating a wonderful new space, they fail to create a proper plan of attack, i.e. a schedule.  A schedule creates focus, as well as a step-by-step outline of what to expect and when.  It keeps the homeowner or DIYer in the loop and generally more prepared for any unforeseen mishaps. 

A schedule should be created once you have determined your budget and developed a well thought out space plan.  Start by considering the lead times for all materials and services to be rendered and work backwards from the item with the longest lead time.  This might be a bit easier for someone with experience working with trades as they will know how long each task should generally take but if you are undertaking a large project that requires skilled laborers, the laborers should be able to give an accurate estimate of about how long each portion of the project will take.  

For my own clients, I typically like to provide an actual calendar that outlines the project timeline from start date to completion date.  I do, however, include a caveat that allows for any unforeseen circumstances.  The main goal is to have as firm a grasp as possible over all the details.  When you are fully aware of all the minutiae of your design project, big and small, there is less room for major missteps. 

Interior Design Blunders That Drive Me Crazy!

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In my day to day travels and interactions, I see a ton of interior design blunders that drive me crazy.  I’m way too polite to speak about it at the time but not so polite that I won’t write about it now.  Here are five interior design blunders that I encounter quite often. 

1. Hanging Wall Décor Too High or Too Low.  The top of any wall art or mirror should be hung anywhere from 66” to 72” above the finish floor.  The idea is that the center of the art or mirror should be at eye level.  For a taller person, the center may be a bit below eye level and for a shorter person, a bit above.  Hanging too high or too low is just awkward and makes me wonder if the owner really intended for anyone to look at or in the hung object. 

2.  Buying without measuring.  Unless you are an actual experienced design professional, thinking you can ogle whether something will fit in your space is a huge mistake.  The story of Goldilocks is alive and well.  Many homeowners buy furniture that is either too big or too small for the room where it will live.  The best advice I will ever give to someone looking to become a DIYer is to measure.  I can never say it enough.  (Related:  Measuring all doorways the furniture will have to travel through to arrive in the designated space, is never a bad idea, either.)

3.  Not considering how you use your space.  Furniture should be arranged such that it does not impede the flow of traffic.  The color of paint and home furnishings should all be selected after considering the natural and artificial lighting in the space.  If you live with small children or pets, select fabric and furniture treatments and colors that will wear well over time.  Climbing over or around furniture to enter/exit is dangerous and realizing the paint looks completely different from the swatch once you put it up in your space is disappointing. 

4.  Too little or bad lighting.  After you’ve taken the time to select a paint color and arrange your furniture, nothing discredits your efforts more than bad lighting.  Bad lighting can make or break a space.  In dim or low lighting, paint, fabric, and furnishings may look different than they did when you purchased them.  I’ve heard the protest many times, “But I like dim lighting…,” which is all fine and dandy but it’s important to also have options.  Your guests shouldn’t feel like they are visiting a candlelit cave.  Layering your lighting will allow you to create the right atmosphere for all of your entertaining needs.

5.  Bad paint jobs.  I always appreciate when someone has stepped out on a limb and chosen a wild paint color; lime green, orange, turquoise, fuchsia, etc.  What I don’t appreciate is when they’ve taken the risk and then done a terrible paint job.  Paint on the ceiling, rough wall patches, cracks, splotches, etc. I’ve seen it all. Nothing makes a wild paint color look cheaper than an awful paint job.  It’s what I call terrible follow through. 

The above five blunders are very common but they don’t have to be.  Consider, measure, consult, hire. Repeat as necessary.

Budget: An Ill-Fated Interior Design Question

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Over the years, I’ve learned not to make sweeping generalizations or assumptions about how clients will behave or what they will or will not like but in all my years of experience I have yet to ask a prospective client, “what’s your budget?” and not be met with some form of resistance.  This is always quite puzzling to me as it is a legitimate question.  Answering the budget question honestly, helps your designer to help you.  It gives your designer an idea of whether you have a realistic vision of what your project will cost and if you can actually complete it in a timely fashion. 

Photo Credit: www.interiorsbyBlackwood.com

I’m of the opinion most don’t want to answer this question because they are afraid the designer is going to take this information and proceed to fleece them for every drop of the allotted budget.  But for a good designer, this could not be further from the case.  A good designer wants to complete your project on time and under budget.  The budget question is extremely important for this and a multitude of other reasons.  It gives the designer important information such as where to shop and what type of materials to specify.  Shopping for higher end custom fixtures on a small budget is a waste of time for both you and your designer because typically the costs associated with fabrication are going to exceed your budget and leave you and your designer feeling a bit dissatisfied.

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For the design client that says, “I don’t know my budget”, it leaves the designer with the almost impossible task of trying to hit a bullseye in the dark.  My suggestion to other designers is to ask for a price range for the project, a high and a low cost.  For those design clients who are still leery of giving a budget, decide on how much you have to allot to the project and then shave a bit off the bottom line before giving your designer the budget price.  In this case should the project go over budget, it should fall closer to your real spending budget. 

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Don’t be afraid to talk budget with your designer.  Be open and be honest.  Giving your designer a truthful idea about how much you have to spend allows him or her to make recommendations for your space that can really be visualized.  It allows the designer to use their and your time efficiently and in the long run it causes you less stress. 

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