I have fully embraced the concept of painted ceilings in my own home to provide additional visual effect in a room. Depending upon the color used, it can soften the appearance or elongate the room. For example, here is my sunroom with Benjamin Moore Spectra Blue 2049-50 Walls and Arctic Blue 2050-60 Ceiling.
Today, I wanted to discuss using wallpaper in a room to create visual effect and character. Wallpaper often gets a bad rap. Many envision the hard-to-remove paper from their grandmother's era. (Think large florals and Golden Girls). For that reason, it lost popularity for awhile but has recently undergone a resurgence. As you know by now, I'm a bit more daring than many people and I actually love to wallpaper the ceilings of my house.
For example, when I decided to renovate my guest bedroom room, I wanted to use elements that were unexpected. I decided to add wallpaper to the bedroom ceiling using Meg Braff's Roxy wallpaper. I had selected an over the top urchin sputnik chandelier for the room (which would have stood on it's own) but I wanted something to push it over the top. I loved the idea of dark navy walls (Sherwin William's SW6510 Loyal Blue) complimented by a patterned ceiling.
My daughter has now taken over this room for her own and between the Turquoise Urchin Sputnik Chandelier and the Meg Braff Paper, it's a wonder she is able to fall asleep in this room (giggle). But I purposely went solid on the walls so that the ceiling could have a splash of fun. No, this isn't for everyone, but this is a perfect example of how a wallpaper ceiling can add texture and fun to a room.
I decided to go a bit more subdued in my son's bedroom . I wanted to give the ceiling an appearance of wooden planks. The Thibaut Rodanthe Wallpaper fit the bill perfectly.
On the support walls, I used a custom vintage wallpaper with the global design from Design Your Wall called Sea Explorer.
Sometimes, people get caught up in design rules and are uncomfortable taking a plunge in the decor. I'll admit, wallpapering the walls AND ceiling in a room can be a bit much. And, though, it's not visible in these photos, I ended up only covering two of the non-ceiling walls and painting the other two a neutral color just to the eye could catch a break from all of the patterns.
For my upstairs bedrooms, I decided to take more daring liberties in the decorating. However
in a more formal room, like the dining room, it's important to support the mood and purpose of the room. For example, wallpaper is still acceptable, but must be utilized in a more classic form. For example a grass cloth is a tasteful way to cover a wall, add character and still maintain the rooms formality. This is Phillip Jeffries Grass Cloth.
In a transitional space such as a mudroom, there are no rules that say the room must be boring or neutral. Why not be greeted with a splash of fun color upon entering the house? No surprise, I went with a Kelly Green chinoiserie pattern by Meg Braff in the mudroom entry off our garage. It's bright and cheery and, what I love most, unexpected! Again, not for everyone, but I like to reiterate that it's ok to be daring and push the limits a bit.
Additionally, wallpaper does not have to be permanent. There are creative ways to create the effect of wallpaper in a room without using paste and permanent paper. For example, this is a vestibule in our upstairs hallway and it's simply a strip of striped fabric that I nailed to the wall and trimmed with grosgrain ribbon.
I'm such a fan of wallpaper, that I used it in the Vivid Hue Home store as well. I wanted something that felt like retro Palm Beach. Golden Girls meets Connecticut, in a good way! Meg Braff designed a vintage trellis paper in kelly green (my favorite) and, voila!
Cheers,
Heather
