Teena Hammond Gomez
Louisville Courier-Journal

The blank canvas of a ceiling has become a creative outlet for many of today’s architects, builders and designers. It’s a vast area to cover and one of a home’s most visible features since walls are often hidden by furniture. Some designers think of the ceiling as the fifth wall.

Historically, ceilings did feature decorative elements. But during the mid-to-late 20th century, ceilings were ignored and painted white. Now white is out, and choosing the same ceiling color as on your walls, or a notch or two lighter, is a trend gaining in popularity.

Generally, dark ceilings will make a room seem cozy, while lighter colors will make it seem larger.

Once standard, 8-foot ceilings are now being replaced in new construction with ceilings of 10 to 12 feet or higher, with thick crown moldings and other features adding interest to the space. Some entryway ceilings are 18 or 19 feet, with cathedral-ceiling foyers hitting 23 feet or more in some homes.

Tray ceilings are no longer just rectangular or square boxes. Instead, they are being created in varied shapes and with two and three steps up to create layers of color and crown molding. A tray ceiling can make a room feel larger.

In many high-end custom homes, there are at least three rooms where architectural designs are added to ceilings.

“I would say as a rule that you would do something on the great-room ceiling and the master bedroom and the dining room,” says Mickey Corcoran, owner of Corcoran Homebuilding & Remodeling LLC in Louisville, Ky.

He said other rooms are optional, and children’s bedroom ceilings don’t usually get special treatment.

Corcoran has added everything from barrel vaults to tray ceilings, coffered ceilings and radius tray ceilings to the homes he’s built. “Every home I build has multiple ceiling features,” he says.

Interior designer Trisha Johnson, director of interior design for Powell Design Group in Louisville, says she’s been working on a new treatment for vaulted and tray ceilings.

“It’s hand-painted paper and comes in really large sheets,” she says. “We tear it into different random pieces, and it’s applied like a wallpaper, and they overlap each other. The end result looks like a faux finish, but it’s half the cost and comes in 50 different colors.”

Johnson says the hand-painted paper can also be added within the squares of a coffered ceiling, and she used it in a dome ceiling in a home she decorated. She suggested mosaic tile as another option for dome ceilings.

“We do so much new construction, and it seems like the ceilings get taller and taller and more detailed,” Johnson says.

“I don’t know why, but really interesting ceilings are the fad right now.”

Ceiling types

Coffered: This term can be used to describe a ceiling with exposed beams or a ceiling with recessed square panels instead of a flat surface.

Vaulted: Slopes from one side of the room to the other, with the highest point at one side of the room.

Soffit: Dropped-down areas of the ceiling in boxed or curved shapes to add flair and define specific spaces. In the past, soffits were often used to fill the open spaces between the tops of upper kitchen cabinets and the ceiling.

Tray: An indented shape on the ceiling that makes the area higher and has a flat center. Can be single, double, triple or more, with multiple layers. Crown molding is often used within a tray ceiling with cove lighting tucked behind the molding to create a soft glow.

Barrel arch: A semicircular ceiling that is rounded to look like half of a barrel. Can rise to 16 feet or more depending on the builder.

Cathedral: Both sides of the ceiling slope up, and the highest point of the ceiling is in the center of the room.