

Complementary ceiling fill papers were light in tone and favored “natural” hues, such as limestone and sand colors accented with eggplant, earthy amber, and a soft olive green.

In other fine rooms, the ceiling treatment played off the frieze, picking up its colors or repeating a motif. The spaces between beams might be treated with soft color, a burlap paper, or a border stencil. Public rooms, particularly in Arts & Crafts and English Tudor houses, often had beams-stenciled or with chamfers picked out in color. The ceiling was still important between 19.
#Plaster chandelier medallion full
Full embellishment would include a border or two, corner treatments, a center rosette, and a field-done in paper, freehand painting, stenciled decoration, or a combination of those.Īn example of a beautiful, decorative metal ceiling.

In general, the higher the ceiling, the more elaborate the decoration. At its simplest, the ceiling may have been painted white tinted with a bit of the wall color, with a stripe around the perimeter, and maybe tiny corner fans. Faced with ceiling heights of 9′ or more on the main floor, decorators always considered the ceiling along with the walls. Stencils appeared early on, but the late 19th-century Victorian era was the heyday of the embellished ceiling. Throughout decorating history, even residential ceilings were embellished with color, striping, cast-plaster ornaments, corner fans, borders, specialty papers, and murals. Any treatment it’s given will stay relatively pristine in these days of smokeless heating. For a cohesive scheme, especially one grounded in history, don’t overlook the ceiling. Standard today is flat drywall painted (what else?) ‘Ceiling White’. Please follow this link to view this brief document.Old houses may once have had decorated ceilings, but most of those have been painted over. While there is no right or wrong relative to sizing a medallion for your space, we have developed a short document highlighting 6 (six) key factors to consider when choosing the size of your ceiling medallion. Sizing decisions, however, are impacted by factors purchasers may never have considered. Style is very much a matter of taste (unless you are matching existing ornament), ranging from a simple circular relief to ornate designs based upon classical elements such as acanthus leaves, egg and dart and Greek Key. From our experience, purchasers struggle most with determining the size of their ceiling medallion. When deciding on a ceiling medallion, you have two (2) primary issues to consider: 1) The style of your ceiling medallion and 2) The size of your ceiling medallion. When round and petal-like, medallions are also referred to as a rosette. Ceiling medallions are circular, oval or square relief embellishments most often found in the center of a room to surround the canopy of a hanging light fixture.
