The Fifth Wall

I came across an image on Instagram today which immediately caught my attention, all because of one single design feature. The ceiling. It was a children’s room, really pared back in every way except for the ceiling, where there hung a white glass pendant from a mini ceiling rose, out from which radiated yellow stripes, running to the edges of the ceiling and down the wall ever so slightly to meet the high picture rail. The narrowing of the stripe at the centre made it feel like the centre of the ceiling was lifted, like a circus tent, and gave the room a sense of extra height and space. In my eyes it was the perfect painted ceiling. You can make up your own mind, this is it…

This led me down a rabbit hole of painted and wallpapered ceilings, as it’s not something I’ve ever seriously considered doing myself as I think it could so easily go wrong and could make a room feel cave-like. But this bedroom image lit a lightbulb over my head and as I thought about everything I’ve learnt so far in my interior design training, I realised that when done right, ceilings can have the ability to elevate a room from ‘good’ to ‘amazing’. We’ve been missing a trick all along.

The ceiling is often called the ‘fifth wall’, and actually holds just as much design opportunity as any of the other four walls (or the floor for that matter). The size equals that of the floor, and is an uninterrupted blank canvas (aside from the odd light fitting) on which you can really get creative without having to worry about furniture blocking a view or considering traffic flow or spacing. It’s just up there, wide open and bothered by nothing, just almost begging to feel like a part of the room.

So if you’re looking up at your ceiling now, wondering ‘should I’…?’, ‘could I…?’ but aren’t yet sold, let me share a few of my favourites and a bit of what I’ve learnt so far about making the most of the space you live in…

Colour block

I remember reading a tip once in Architectural Digest about painting your ceiling with white paint mixed with a few drops of your wall colour. The effect would be a subtle hint of colour which blends nicely with the room and is less stark than a bright white block of colour above your head. Or to the other extreme, flip the focus and put the colour up top and keep things light and bright on the walls. This stunning room by Leanne Ford nails it, feeling light bright and airy as you walk through or sit in the room, with all the drama going on above your head, creating the perfect backdrop for that beautiful globe light.

Don’t be fooled by the notion that dark paint feels cave-like or closes in a room, the theory of colour is actually the opposite as dark colours can add depth and almost feel infinite. On the ceiling it would be like having the night sky above you, stretching on forever…

black painted ceiling.jpg — Credit: Leanne Ford via House Beautiful

When painting a ceiling, it’s best to keep the colour flowing down the walls rather than stopping dead where the ceiling meets the wall. If the colour doesn’t extend down the wall at all, it can be left looking like a floating ceiling, disconnected from the rest of the room. Painting as far as the picture rail, or even just the coving, can make all the difference. This room, designed by Max Made Me Do It, is the perfect example of how this can be done.

pink ceiling.JPG — Credit: Max Made Me Do It

If there is no coving or picture rail to bring a natural end to the colour, a scalloped edge is very on-trend at the moment for children’s bedrooms and creates it’s own finishing line without a hard edge in sight.

scalloped ceiling edge.JPG — Credit: Chloe Gets Creative

The ceiling wall stripe

navy stripe ceiling.JPG — Credit: Design unknown, sourced via Pinterest

I really love this hallway with the painted navy ceiling which stretches all the way down the far wall, covering the door. Separately, dark colours and the elongated stripe design give a sense of depth and length, so combine the two together and it looks like this hallway goes on forever.

The ceiling to wall stripe can also be used to create a feature of a particular area of a room, or achieve ‘zoning’ which is often done through strategic placement of rugs and furniture to give an open plan space some structure and the appearance of mini rooms within one big space. Painting a wide stripe up a wall, sweeping over the top of the zoned or feature area, gives the same effect. The set up below is a perfect example of how to do this well…

Creeping wallpaper

Paint isn’t the only option, wallpapered ceilings have just as much, if not more impact (although would be more of a workout on the arms to install!) If you’re not convinced enough to put the expense and effort into wallpapering an entire ceiling, but want to dip your toe in the water and try something a bit quirky, try extending sections of the wallpaper just on to the outer edges of the ceiling. This would take more of a design eye to get right, but as Cara Baker (@Caradiseblog) has proved, it can be done to amazing effect. Also, ‘creeping wallpaper’ is not an official term, I totally just made it up.

wallpaper ceiling.JPG — Credit: @Caradiseblog

Perfect paper

This is my favourite ever wallpapered ceiling. Ever. Personally the painted ceilings are more up my street as it can be done a little more subtly, but this paper by Livettes Wallpaper is so stunning and is the perfect finishing for the fifth wall of this room. I love a good monochrome and warm wood mix as it is, but the paper on the ceiling just adds a light touch of much needed print and interest.