There are SO many options for treating a ceiling to elevate (haha) the design of a room! Why have plain and boring when you can have a ceiling with panache and style? We’ve rounded up some inspiration here for you to try.

But please don’t try THIS…there is a fine line between creative and crazy...and this gives bedhead a WHOLE new meaning. And if you don’t follow Dina at Please Hate These Things on Instagram, you should - there is so much more hilarious horror there!

There is a fine line between creative and insane…and I think we’ve crossed it here! Image via Please Hate These Things

Fabric

Not only does fabric on the ceiling make a style statement, it also offers some sound reduction value. Upholstered ceilings are an elegant look. This charming foyer by Lilse McKenna has an upholstered ceiling with mitered trim that gives the flat ceiling the illusion of being peaked.

Upholstered ceiling in a foyer by Lilse McKenna, Photo by Victor Harshbarger, Image via House Beautiful

Another way to use fabric is in billowy swags. This tall dining room by Timothy Corrigan gets a playfully sophisticated look with a colorful tented ceiling and upholstered walls. The happy color scheme dictated by the fabric is reflected in the mirrored table and repeated in the upholstered furnishings and painted millwork.

Colorful tented dining room by Timothy Corrigan, Photo by Firooz Zahedi, image via Elle Decor

Hand Painted Designs

If you are artistically inclined, or have access to an actual artist, nothing beats a hand painted ceiling for unique and personal style.

This stunning intricate circular vine pattern on an orangerie ceiling in a Swiss villa was executed by Florentine artisans. Antique bird cages hang in the center, and the walls are lined with pressed flower botanicals.

Hand painted ceiling design in a Swiss villa, photo by Simon Upton, Image via Elle Decor

The quintessential painted ceiling design is, of course, sky. Nothing gives a room an airy feel faster than a ceiling that overlooks the sky. This beautifully painted sky with clouds has the whimsical addition of stenciled silhouettes of birds in flight.

Textured Metal

Of course corrugated tin is a popular motif with farmhouse style and industrial style buildings. But intricate embossed metal or pressed tin ceilings were popular in Victorian era buildings in the early 20th century.

Embossed tin is often painted but is available in a variety of metal finishes as well for a wide range of moods. Chippy painted embossed tin was a hallmark of the romantic shabby chic style that predates the farmhouse craze.

This lovingly restored Italianate antique in Brunswick, Maine features a painted embossed tin ceiling installed sometime in the 1920’s.

Embossed tin ceiling in an antique Italianate house, photo by Brian Vanden Brink, Image via Old House Journal

Beadboard

Beadboard is a classic ceiling for casual styles. It works well for coastal, farmhouse and rustic style homes. Available in both tongue and groove boards and as faux beadboard paneling, it is also an excellent solution to cover ugly popcorn finish or damaged plaster ceilings. Painted or stained it adds a great textural element.

This newly built waterfront home features coffered ceilings with beadboard in blue and white for a classic coastal style.

Painted beadboard and coffered ceiling in a new coastal home. Architecture by Neil Hauck , Interior Design by Lynn Morgan, Photo by Laura Moss, Image via NE Home

Millwork

Similar to beadboard and also sometimes used in conjunction with it like the kitchen above, millwork offers an even broader range of styles. From applied moldings to beams and coffers, there are many different kinds of millwork.

Applied moldings come in all shapes from curves to straight runs and can be arranged in any pattern. You can frame the edges, highlight a feature or light fixture, or cover the whole ceiling in a design. Moldings are even available in synthetic options which are impossible to distinguish from wood or plaster one they are installed and painted.

Applied moldings in a tracery pattern, image via Lowes

Ceiling beams can be decorative or structural, rustic or refined. Coffers, which means indentations in architectural terms, refers to a series of recesses framed by beams and arranged in a grid pattern. Care must be taken to keep the beams in scale with the room - heavy beams in a small or low-ceilinged room will be oppressive. Ceilings of 9 ft or higher are the best choice for using coffers. This elegant living room by Kristin Paton has a perfectly scaled coffered ceiling.

Design by Kristin Paton, Photo by Eric Roth, Image via Chairish

Coffers are generally used on flat ceilings, but this Gentleman’s Farm in Topsfield we decorated had this original coffered and beamed ceiling in the vaulted dining room. The dark millwork keeps the large space more intimate. The ceiling in the coffers is painted a dark blue and the pair of chandeliers we added with gold lined shades cast a soft golden glow.

Coffered ceiling in a dining room by JRL Interiors, Acton MA, photo by Eric Roth

Wallpaper

And finally, try wallpaper on the ceiling for an easy way to add pattern, texture, and color. Well, easy is relative - doing anything that involves working over your head is not easy!

Patterned wallpaper, from dramatic bold geometrics to granny chic florals to elegant metallics that mimic gold and silver leaf, can transform a room. The classic Osborne and Little star pattern used on the bold blue pantry ceiling below has the dramatic effect of a night sky.

Design by Archer Buchanan, image via The Spruce

Grasscloth is a wonderful texture to add warmth to a ceiling. Available in a wide array of dramatic colors and patterns as well as in natural, it can be used in between beams or inside coffers, or on its own. Celerie Kemble has ingeniously applied it in squares in alternating directions for a subtle checkerboard pattern on the ceiling in this coastal bedroom.