A wish for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year for all of us.
And as to those New Year's resolutions, let me share one of mine with you. I aim to remedy every ceiling in any room I am given the opportunity by ridding it of being sentenced to "ceiling white". Can there be a more dreary existence? Does any other paint have the ability to suck the character of gorgeous crown moldings, also painted white?
Certainly, there are better choices. My Benjamin Moore Paint deck sports an entire section called the OC colors (that's OC for "off-white colors). There are 133 dreamy, creamy colors that will add personality to a room.
So, let me share a recent project with a very visual client who "gets" the importance of using that fifth wall (as designers think of the ceiling).
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The coffered section of her library ceiling called for something to make a statement in keeping with this magnificent Victorian home. Here is the fireplace in the room that supplied the palette and graphics. I used the tile designs as a starting place, gathering elements to construct something that would echo these patterns.
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For those of you interested in the process, the ceiling has 15 coffers. The client had requested 3 designs that would be repeated, so 5 of each design. I could not cut stencils as there were no 2 coffers that had the same measurements, so I would be looking at 15 sets of stencils, with 8 layers-one for each color- apiece. My old skills as a signpainter came into play, manually adjusting the sizes as needed. In case you're wondering, had I used the smallest size coffer as a starting point and made stencils for that size, it would have brought out the size differences in a very unfavorable way. Given that there was a much as 6" variances in one direction and 10" in the other, adjusting each one as needed gave a true look of continuity.
By the way, here's a picture of my own family room which sports a ceiling color of Ben Moore" HC-65, Hadley Red.
I absolutely love the ambience this rich merlot adds to the room. Be not afraid, my friends.
As always, I love to hear your feedback.
