Overhead and Under-Played, Ceilings Are Worth Looking up to by Rose Bennett Gilbert on Creators.com

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Overhead and Under-Played, Ceilings Are Worth Looking up to

Q: I just returned from my first-ever trip abroad, where I was really struck by how much attention the Old World paid to ceilings! My husband laughed at me because I practically came home with a crick in my neck from staring up so much. Not that I want cherubs and goddesses over my head, but can't we have more than plain white ceilings in our houses today?

A: For centuries, ceilings were revered as a fifth wall and received as much attention as the other four. Right up to the turn of the 20th century, in fact, Americans believed in decorative overheads. A proper Victorian house might have as many as three different wallpaper patterns on the ceilings of the important up-front rooms: a wide border around the edges, a white-on-white pattern overall, and a center medallion where the chandelier was hung.

Blame the International School of Architecture for stripping away excess decoration and reducing rooms to plain white boxes in pursuit of their mantra that "less is more."

When less eventually became a bore, we first discovered the country look, then cottage style, and then retro Victoriana, all of which revived our taste for pattern, pattern — and color! — everywhere, including the ceiling.

Designers have always loved wallpaper designs on ceilings, especially geometrics like trellises, openwork checks, even stripes that give a room life and lift. Ditto for metallics, such as silver, gold and copper leaf, and overall patterns like the elegant little scrollwork on the ceiling we show here ("Crowning Shield" from the "Sculptured Surfaces" collection by Ronald Redding Designs, yorkwall.com).

Dancing across a pearl beige background, the silver design reflects the light and radiates its glow over the room, abetted by its coordinating pattern ("Wiltshire") on the walls.

But a few words of caution about wallpapering a ceiling are in order before you try it at home.

Choose your ceiling carefully. The higher, the better: A strong pattern overhead makes a room feel smaller. Also, choose your wallpaper pattern carefully: It should be non-directional so it doesn't end up looking up upside-down down from any vantage point. And it should complement the color and pattern on the surrounding walls.

Best way to insure this is to choose patterns that already coordinate and are planned out by the wallpaper designer. With a talent such as Ron Redding orchestrating the design mix, you simply can't make a mistake.

Q: Orange you glad to learn this?

A: Just when we thought it was safe to move on past the color orange we've been living with, here comes Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, with its new "Color of the Year for 2012:" orange all over again but with a bit of a twist.

This time, Pantone is calling it tangerine, "Tangerine Tango" to be exact which Leatrice describes as "a spirited reddish orange." In her colorful words, Tangerine Tango (aka Pantone 17-1463) "marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow...."

Sounds like a lot more fun than the color of last year, "Honeysuckle," which "encouraged us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor."

Rose Bennett Gilbert is the co-author of "Manhattan Style" and six other books on interior design. To find out more about Rose Bennett Gilbert and read features by other Creators syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.Creators.com.