Ceiling Decoration

I run with a pretty fashionable crowd, so you can imagine most my friends like to decorate their homes. They use every decorative scheme from simplistic modern designs to Baroque and classical ornamentation. One of the things that most people seem to neglect, surprisingly enough, is ceiling decoration. Even among my most tasteful associates, decorating your ceiling is rarely expected. Some of them have attractive molding, but that is about it.

By being the first to get into ceiling decoration, I was able to stay ahead of the pack again. I got the idea when I was visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts. I saw beautiful ceiling mural done in an open, fresco style that I really approved of. I realized that I had seen so many of these types of ceiling decorations in museums, but had never thought about bringing something like that to my house. Of course, I can't afford to hire one of the world's finest artists to decorate my ceiling, but that doesn't mean that I can not have pretty decorations put up.

I have a room in my house that I sort of consider to be my decorating lab. It is at the back of the house, and I rarely show guests in. That is because it is always a mishmash of different styles and colors. I use it to test out any new design scheme that I have, and don't really worry about having it as a fully functional room. That is where I first started working on ceiling decoration. I tried all sorts of different things. I tried ceiling medallions and moldings, more modernistic murals, and even geometrical shapes and colors. I spent months at it, trying little samples of everything I could get my hands on. Finally, I had the ceiling decoration I wanted.

I came up with a sort of compromise style that mimics my whole aesthetic. I've always delighted in combining the classical and modern, and I figured that my ceiling decorations should do the same thing. I used linear, geometric medallions combined with custom-made murals. Each one reflected the room it was in and the style varied a little bit from place to place, but in general it seemed very well-defined and remarkably consistent. My friends all commented on my ceiling decoration. Most of them were delighted with them, and the few that seemed to have criticisms were just jealous. It was quite clear to me that the whole experiment had been a resounding success. I decorated my ceiling well, improving my whole house in the process. Several months on, I still sigh when I look at the beautiful decorative ceilings I have created. All in all, I think it is a job well done.