Decorating
Decorating: 8 Great Ways to Expose Your Ceiling
Show off the structure of your home by stripping back the ceiling and celebrating the bones
It’s always a tempting and tidy idea to plasterboard over your ceilings and hide the integrity of the roof space, but I want to pay homage to those who boldly lay their ceilings bare for all to see. This exposing design idea is not without its challenges – lighting, for example, can be tricky to incorporate – but these striking rooms demonstrate why it could be worth trying, and also showcase stylish exposed ceiling solutions that could work for your space.
Take a gentle approach
If you want a softer feel in a bedroom with an exposed ceiling, then painting the internal roof structure is a great compromise that retains the building’s integrity. I like using plasterboard between the horizontal wooden purlins to give a super-smooth finish. If you want something with a more coastal feel, tongue and groove timber cladding between the purlins instead would add just that extra layer of detail.
If you want a softer feel in a bedroom with an exposed ceiling, then painting the internal roof structure is a great compromise that retains the building’s integrity. I like using plasterboard between the horizontal wooden purlins to give a super-smooth finish. If you want something with a more coastal feel, tongue and groove timber cladding between the purlins instead would add just that extra layer of detail.
Go au naturel
When you have beautiful oak trusses and purlins – respectively, the frames and horizontal roof supports you can see here – it seems a shame to not have them on display. However, it’s a very strong look and you really need a good height, or it could visually lower the ceiling and feel rather oppressive.
It used to be on-trend to stain ceiling beams like these black, but now you’ll more commonly find lots of effort goes into lifting the wood finish to its natural tone. Oxalic acid – found naturally in many plants, including rhubarb – is used in some cases to bleach the wood.
When you have beautiful oak trusses and purlins – respectively, the frames and horizontal roof supports you can see here – it seems a shame to not have them on display. However, it’s a very strong look and you really need a good height, or it could visually lower the ceiling and feel rather oppressive.
It used to be on-trend to stain ceiling beams like these black, but now you’ll more commonly find lots of effort goes into lifting the wood finish to its natural tone. Oxalic acid – found naturally in many plants, including rhubarb – is used in some cases to bleach the wood.
Embrace industrial details
I love this space. Converting a workshop into a kitchen-diner will always result in a seriously industrial look. The corrugated roof makes a really interesting design feature – one that would look most peculiar if the ceiling were plastered over.
Airy, industrial buildings are not for everyone, but when you choose to make a space like this home, you have to work with what you’ve got.
Get more ideas for industrial interiors
I love this space. Converting a workshop into a kitchen-diner will always result in a seriously industrial look. The corrugated roof makes a really interesting design feature – one that would look most peculiar if the ceiling were plastered over.
Airy, industrial buildings are not for everyone, but when you choose to make a space like this home, you have to work with what you’ve got.
Get more ideas for industrial interiors
Brave bare bathroom boards
It’s difficult to find examples of an exposed ceiling in a bathroom. Very often we prefer to bring the ceiling height right down, so the room is warm and cosy, and provides the best platform for lots of practical and moody lighting.
Personally, though, I prefer my bathroom to feel like another living space, one where you want to stay a while – and I could see myself lingering in here. The ceiling leads through to the bedroom and I really love the dark-stained beams juxtaposed with the bleached underside of the floorboards above.
It’s difficult to find examples of an exposed ceiling in a bathroom. Very often we prefer to bring the ceiling height right down, so the room is warm and cosy, and provides the best platform for lots of practical and moody lighting.
Personally, though, I prefer my bathroom to feel like another living space, one where you want to stay a while – and I could see myself lingering in here. The ceiling leads through to the bedroom and I really love the dark-stained beams juxtaposed with the bleached underside of the floorboards above.
Choose cool concrete
I’m a huge fan of concrete and love how it looks here on the ceilings and pillars. It also warms up this white, very utilitarian kitchen space.
Polished concrete can, however, be pricey. You need a specialist to apply it, and it costs anything from around £110 per sq m. But it really is very practical and you could always paint over it if the trend passes – after getting professional advice from your paint supplier on a suitable product.
I’m a huge fan of concrete and love how it looks here on the ceilings and pillars. It also warms up this white, very utilitarian kitchen space.
Polished concrete can, however, be pricey. You need a specialist to apply it, and it costs anything from around £110 per sq m. But it really is very practical and you could always paint over it if the trend passes – after getting professional advice from your paint supplier on a suitable product.
Showcase the supporting act
Visible supports don’t always run across the ceiling: here, they come up from the floor, but are just as much of a feature as beams.
In very high rooms, you often end up with a mezzanine space above, and it’s always a puzzle working out how to make this gel with the floor below. Here’s one stylish solution: I love these big pillars that take the weight of the ceiling – they look so important and really are the backbone of the room.
It’s nice, too, to see a ceiling that is just painted and not peppered with downlights. There is nothing worse then creating a ‘landing strip’ when you’ve worked so hard for such a super-sleek finish.
Visible supports don’t always run across the ceiling: here, they come up from the floor, but are just as much of a feature as beams.
In very high rooms, you often end up with a mezzanine space above, and it’s always a puzzle working out how to make this gel with the floor below. Here’s one stylish solution: I love these big pillars that take the weight of the ceiling – they look so important and really are the backbone of the room.
It’s nice, too, to see a ceiling that is just painted and not peppered with downlights. There is nothing worse then creating a ‘landing strip’ when you’ve worked so hard for such a super-sleek finish.
Love a low ceiling
This is a great example of how exposing the woodwork can really bring the ceiling down and make a room feel low and long. I have to say, though, in this situation it goes against all my principles of trying to lift a ceiling and makes a very cosy, intimate space. I love the way the lighting is sympathetic and allows the beams to do all the work.
With such a strong, exaggerated ceiling, you do need to use a contrasting scheme below to balance the look and push the space back up. The cool, bleached woods work beautifully with such dark-stained beams, and this juxtaposition is the secret to making it liveable.
TELL US…
Do you have exposed ceilings in your home – or would you like them? Share your thoughts and photos in the Comments below.
This is a great example of how exposing the woodwork can really bring the ceiling down and make a room feel low and long. I have to say, though, in this situation it goes against all my principles of trying to lift a ceiling and makes a very cosy, intimate space. I love the way the lighting is sympathetic and allows the beams to do all the work.
With such a strong, exaggerated ceiling, you do need to use a contrasting scheme below to balance the look and push the space back up. The cool, bleached woods work beautifully with such dark-stained beams, and this juxtaposition is the secret to making it liveable.
TELL US…
Do you have exposed ceilings in your home – or would you like them? Share your thoughts and photos in the Comments below.
If you find yourself with beams in as beautiful a state as these, it would be an absolute crime to paint over them. I love the painted ceiling, which really makes the beams the star of the show.
If you’re not a fan of surface-mounted spotlights, then dropping a big pendant down from the pitch is a great solution to steal from this space, and one you can definitely get away with in a bedroom.
Browse more ideas for updating a cottage interior