I find it strange that most people don't give a lot of thought to ceilings. I mean, that's kind of like ignoring the sky, right? Lately, however, I've noticed more ceilings becoming part of an interior's overall design, perhaps because we've exhausted the ornamental possibilities for every other surface. I like the idea of using ceilings as fifth walls. After all, Michelangelo didn't paint the floors of the Sistine Chapel... possibly because he thought it was a little blasphemous for poo encrusted shoes to sully God's face, but that's really for another discussion. As far as the 21st century goes, I think uber glamor goddess Kelly Wearstler may have kicked off this latest development of transfigured ceilings. Behold:
A little bordello and a lot Sinatra-era Las Vegas, but the mirrored ceilings expand the height of the room to a much more impressive scale, and the patterned rug fits with a bit of breathing room into a space that may have felt squeezed and claustrophobic without its reflective counterpart.
If the mirrors are a little too honeymoon suite for you, Domino featured a DIY segment on silver leafing your ceilings a while ago:
It's still pretty bold relative to ordinary flat white ceiling paint, and at least you wouldn't be worried that guests were looking down your blouse while checking out the chandelier. I think it's softly sweet (though not with that blue paint, and I would prefer the baroque solid gold of Karly's old discotheque bathroom); the real issue is the cost -- Domino listed the price for this project at slightly over $3500. Dollars. For a teeny tiny space. And gold costs a lot more. But if you gotta have it, you can check out gilded planet for more info on how to (tediously) do it yourself.
While catching up on my Decorno posts, I saw that New York Magazine featured this frankly awesome Christopher Coleman designed apartment replete with ultra shiny everything, especially the ceilings.
Sterile, yes, but how often do you see surfaces so smooth outside of a museum? There is serious obsession at work here; for everything to be so glossy and white, the finish has to be absolutely flawless. I don't think I could ever live here, but I admire the (piercing) clarity of vision.
Flickr user Survivestyle5, who I found on Jennifer Perkins' Naughty Secretary Club blog, showcases this quiet beauty designed by one of my heroes Miles Redd:
Ah, exhale. Now I could live here. I love the combination of darkish ceiling with ultra glossy paint -- shiny is almost always sexy, but the blue keeps it serene and the dark floors keep it cozily grounded.
My faves are the rooms designed by Vicente Wolf. He's like a maturer, er, cleaner version of me:
I'm sure a lot of people will find these rooms boring -- there's no Hick's Hexagon fabric, no pink and red color palettes, no zebra or coral, and no turquoise foo dogs in plain view. And, yes, for the record I do have pretty much all of the above mentioned things in my own home, but sometimes it's nice to focus on texture and scale and light. The glossy white ceilings are such a huge part of everything that is right and refreshing in these rooms -- they're like a vacation from sensory overload.
In fact, I'm feeling so cleansed that I may have to run out and buy some paint to outfit my hallway in crazy black stripes. Definitely glossy.