One important aspect of custom home building is the ceiling design for your home’s interior. Yes, you could go with the standard flat ceiling ideas like plastered, popcorn, or smooth ceilings. But if you’d like a little more spice in your life, you’ve got plenty of beautiful options to choose from.
Here, we share some of our favorite custom ceiling designs to inspire you as you plan your dream home.
1. Coffered Ceiling
A coffered ceiling works well for a professional-looking home office, a dignified living room, or a stately master bedroom design,
What is a coffered ceiling?
It’s a ceiling design that has a grid pattern of wood beams. The beams can either be stained wood, unfinished, or painted. Often, builders add molding, as well.
What makes this style so dramatic is the contrast between the color and texture of the wood vs. the ceiling above. The effect creates a very formal effect to boost the luxury and ambiance of the interior design of your space.
2. Ceiling Beams
A wood beam ceiling is simply a stunning design idea that adds incredible texture, history, and interest to any room with a raised or vaulted ceiling. While you can use faux wood or new wood beams, don’t forget to check with your custom home builder about reclaimed wood if you want the most charm and character for your room design.
3. Coved Ceiling
Ceiling coving involves using curved framing where the wall and ceiling meet to create a rounded effect where the corners would normally be. Some homeowners prefer to use this style instead of ceiling molding to create an elegant style.
Some coved ceiling may have flat, angled panels, instead of curved. There are actually quite a few types of coved ceiling options.
This ceiling style can work with modern and traditional designs. For even more design inspiration, consider some dramatic high windows embedded in the coved ceiling for an ethereal effect to enhance your home.
4. Custom Molding Ceiling
Add a unique molding a foot or two from the wall on the ceiling in your dining room or in a formal space like a home office or master bedroom. You can add additional ornamental molding, as desired, around the lighting fixture, as well. Or, if you want to be even more creative, consider a pattern across the entire ceiling.
5. Glass Ceiling
If you have room in your floor plan for a sunroom, solarium, atrium, or conservatory, a glass ceiling can be a delightful addition to your roofline.
Choose from:
- Clear glass
- Stained glass
- Frosted glass
- Privacy glass
Your family will thrive on having plenty of natural light pouring in and being able to view the beautiful sky from indoors.
Glass ceilings work especially well for porches, kitchen breakfast nooks, living spaces, indoor gardens, and even home offices. Check with your architect for ways to incorporate more glass in your ceiling design.
6. High Ceiling
Standard ceilings are 8 ft tall. One timeless design trend for ceilings involves elevating the ceiling to 9-10 ft. The extra vertical space creates a sense of grandeur and a perception that the room is larger than it actually is.
Some homeowners choose to have higher ceilings on the main floor and standard ceilings on the second floor or in the basement. Or you can opt for high ceilings throughout your home.
7. Skylights or Dormers
A magnificent dormer over your kitchen workspace can be quite a luxurious addition to your home’s aesthetic. You’ll have plenty of ambient light and guests and family members will feel a much greater connection to the outdoors.
A skylight is a flat piece of glass, that looks a lot like a window, inset in the roofline, that allows sunlight to come into the room. Flat skylights work best on sloped roofs. For a flat roof, a domed skylight may be an option. Or, if you don’t need a view and just want to bring in more light, you could consider a solar tube.
8. Tray Ceiling/Recessed Ceiling
With some help from contrasting paint colors, a tray ceiling adds drama and elegance to a master bedroom or living room design as well as a touch of formality to your home decor.
What is a tray ceiling?
For this special type of ceiling, the center of the ceiling in a room is raised from a few inches to a foot or more from the surrounding ceiling. Often, homeowners opt for using wood molding for even more beauty.
Some people add lighting to the tray ceiling for extra ambiance or mood lighting. The ceiling may be painted the same color as the rest of the ceiling or, sometimes, it is a completely different accent color.
9. Two-story Ceiling
To add additional magnificence to your main living space, consider an extremely high ceiling. The bedrooms above are connected with a hallway that overlooks the living area and the massive wall of windows provides a stunning view of nature and plenty of natural light.
10. Vaulted Ceiling/Cathedral Ceiling
For extra overhead space and architectural interest, this is one of the best design elements to use.
What is a vaulted ceiling?
A vaulted ceiling has, generally, two sloping sides that meet at a high center point. It doesn’t necessarily follow the pitch of the roof.
Types of vaulted ceilings include:
- Domed vaults – arched ceilings that have a rounded, half-circle shape
- Rib vaults – ceiling beams are exposed along the vaulted ceiling
- Barrel vaults – a portion or all of the ceiling look like one half of the inside of a barrel
- Arched vaults – ceiling moves upward with curves rather than straight lines
What is a cathedral ceiling?
A cathedral ceiling has two angled sides without any arch that rise up to a ridge and follow the roof structure
These ceiling types lead the eye upward, causing the room to look bigger than it actually is. They provide an excellent architectural focal point in living spaces or bedrooms. And they allow for more windows and natural light. Plus, the angled roof makes a good place for skylights or even dormers.
11. Wallpapered Ceiling
One of the easiest ways to have an attention-grabbing ceiling is to cover your ceiling with wallpaper. Yes, wallpaper is making a comeback. Not only on walls but in many surprising places like backsplashes, powder rooms, bathrooms, and ceilings. Today there are many options to inspire you.
- Textured
- Geometric designs
- Murals
- Botanical
- Monochromatic
- And more
Of course, you must have a smooth, high-quality ceiling to start with. But adding wallpaper to the upper ceiling of a tray ceiling bedroom or wallpapering the ceiling of your formal living room might just help provide the drama you are looking for.
12. Wood ceiling
Whether it’s on the back porch or inside of your home, wood ceilings add warmth, beauty, and a unique look to your ceilings that will never grow old. Opt for a natural, stained, or painted wood finish.
- Beadboard ceiling – pictured above
- Board and batten ceiling
- Shiplap ceiling – pictured below
- Tongue and groove ceiling
Are you ready to experience more interesting custom ceilings in your life in the Lexington, SC area?
Lee Blythe is a Certified Master Builder in Greater Columbia, SC. He has built over 100 custom homes and has many years of experience in the luxury market.
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