Traditional Style
Here’s a simple pattern you can use to breathe life into a flat or tray ceiling.
You can expand or contract the size of the design depending on your needs.
Even if you go much larger, you don’t have to increase the size of the moldings themselves or the rosettes in the corners; you could, but you don’t have to.
Before & Afters
This unique dining room is part of an open floor plan that opens right into the large foyer.
I gave the dining room a total molding makeover: three-piece dentil crown molding, four-piece tall baseboard (very similar to BASEBOARD-103) and a special window surround in the large bay window (not shown).
Wallpaper was not part of the original design, but I like it anyway.
Below Pretty dull, huh?
Applique Resolution
What really makes this design are the ornate rosettes in the corners, and I had a lot of fun picking out just the right ones.
I bought these compo rosettes from Decorators Supply, but you could also buy really nice ones from Outwater Plastics, Focal Point or Pearlworks.
Just make sure you don’t use those pressed wood ornaments from Home Depot or Lowes, they don’t have good enough resolution. Better to not have any rosettes at all.
I designed this ceiling pattern to have very nicely detailed rosettes that would be painted gold to compliment the gold light fixture.
The client changed her mind and went with a very, very conservative (read, “dull”) paint scheme. This is the result.
You don’t have to use lugged corners with rosettes in them like I did on this design, the frames will look really nice even without them.
Materials Needed to Make this Ornate Ceiling
There’s no reason you have to find the exact moldings I list here. There are so many small panel moldings available that you can have fun adapting this design to the moldings you find locally.
1. Panel Molding
2. Panel Molding
3. Astragal Molding
Installing the Ceiling Moldings
I doubt there’s an easier molding installation than one like this — all you have to do is cut a series of 45 degree miters.
It’s best to start by sketching out your design on some graph paper and then do a full size sketch on the ceiling.
If you end up not liking the proportions you can change them before you ever start nailing molding up.
When you do start nailing moldings to the ceiling, make sure you use lots of Liquid Nails on the back of the moldings and on both faces of each miter joint.
And that’s all there is to it.
Now you can play with the many paint color schemes that this design affords. Have fun and let me know how your project turns out!
