Above and beyond
Look up! You might spot wallpaper, colour or even a mural on the ceiling, finds Caroline Botting.
Lyttelton’s Kris and Alex Herbert literally shed blood, sweat and tears when they covered their ceiling in bamboo wallpaper. ‘‘It had to be done in one go, we wanted it in before all the furniture was there,’’ says Kris of the huge, 400sqm space they covered in just one night.
There’s a spot above their study nook with a patch of blood where Alex suffered a cut from a roll as the pair worked late into the wee hours.
‘‘It was a killer workload. There was no faffing about with glue; we just stapled it directly on to the structurally insulated panels,’’ Kris recalls.
The decision to decorate overhead in bamboo brought much-needed warmth to the vast space, a rebuild of the former Lyttelton rugby club. White was never an option.
‘‘Plaster would have been too echoey in this space, and it was too big to go all white,’’ says Kris of their decision to make more of a statement of their ceiling. ‘‘Don’t be afraid to try new things. Dream something crazy.’’
The ceiling is often an overlooked blank canvas, but by seeing it as what decorators often call, ‘‘a fifth wall’’, it can dramatically change a space.
Wallpaper is just one way to add colour, pattern and texture to a ceiling. It can also become a major design feature, as it did in Barbara Valentine’s champagne room. The intimate space in her Eltham house was made all that more inviting with her decision to wallpaper a mural of cherubs by 16th-century artist Alessandro Allori. Installing it though was a ‘‘terrible mission’’. If you have the patience and stamina for taking on the job, go for it, otherwise call in the professionals. If wallpapering seems too onerous, give the ceiling a revamp with paint.
Wairarapa artist Rhondda Greig is a fan of colourful ceilings. Her kitchen is painted pink and blue, and she has yellow in the living room and
‘‘If people are not brave about colour, ceilings are a good place to start. It’s not in your face, but it’s dramatic.’’ Deborah DeLorenzo