HOME INTERIORS Five tips for ceiling roses

Decorative ceiling roses come in lots of different designs, so look for one that matches the period of your home and the style of the light fitting.

probably don’t want an intricate Victorian-style ceiling rose with a contemporary ceiling light, for example. Also, consider the proportions of the room – a big room with a high ceiling will suit a large ceiling rose, but a smaller room with a lower ceiling may not – and the style of the coving or cornicing.

Plain coving goes best with a simple ceiling rose, such as one with concentric circles, and more elaborate designs suit each other.

roses are also available in different materials.

The easiest to fit is an expanded polystyrene ceiling rose because it will be really lightweight – all you need is suitable adhesive. However, polystyrene ceiling roses come in a fairly limited range of designs and aren’t for everyone. ceiling roses are made of plaster and modern replicas of original designs are available, but like anything made of plaster, they’re heavy. They’re so heavy, in fact, that it pays to get a professional to put them up, because they could do a lot of damage – and even injure someone – if they weren’t fitted properly and fell down as a result.

the best choice for DIYers is a polyurethane or hard resin ceiling rose, because it will be sturdy, but relatively lightweight and so straightforward to fit.

It can be glued with suitable adhesive, but gluing and screwing is a much better option. Screwing the ceiling rose into the joists above (the screws can be countersunk and filled over for a neat finish), gives the most secure fixing and allows the adhesive to set properly.

a decorative ceiling rose often involves moving the electrical ceiling rose – if you’re not confident about doing this, get a qualified electrician to do it.

While it’s sometimes possible to fit the decorative ceiling rose over the electrical ceiling rose (by removing the white cover), this isn’t a good idea because you won’t be able to get to the wires easily if something goes wrong with the light.

An electrician may be able to fit a junction box above the ceiling light ( in the loft, for example) so you don’t need the electrical ceiling rose, but, again, it’s less accessible if there’s a problem.

Class

A decorative ceiling rose can look great in a room with a high ceiling

Some decorative ceiling roses have a flat bit in the middle – without this, the electrical ceiling rose won’t sit flat or look good. If you want to leave the electrical ceiling rose in place, choose a decorative ceiling rose with a hole in the middle – it should simply slot over the electrical one.