How far away from walls should ornamental ceiling border be? ....

12 years ago

Our dining room will be 16 ft wide by 22 ft long and we will have an ornamental plaster ceiling similar to the design I'm including a link for. But, I need to know how far away from the walls the outer border of the design should be. Any suggestions?

http://www.decoratorssupply.com/store/main.aspx?p=ItemDetailStyles&item=EMPIRE-PG21

Here is a link that might be useful: ceiling design

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Comments (14)

sombreuil_mongrel
12 years ago
If it were inset 30" that would make the decorated area 11x17, which has a nice proportion.I would think less than 24" would be crowded, more than 36" it would be adrift.
Think of it like a rug; you want some bordering wood floor showing, but too little and the rug is an insignificant islet.
Casey
threeapples
Original Author
12 years ago
thanks sombreuil. if the central medallion is 3 ft in diameter might the proportion still look good? do you think i should find a way to sketch this out to scale before moving forward with this? the company suggested 18-24" away from the wall and another site with a similar product suggested only 12" from the wall. i have no idea what is best!
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athensmomof3
12 years ago
I would get on a ladder and mark the edges and corners with masking tape, and also mark the sides of the medallion. I think 30" sounds too far away. Will you have crown or plaster molding? Our crown projects onto the ceiling some so that should be taken into account too - I would also mark where the molding around the room stops on the ceiling. 2' sounds about right to me. . .
threeapples
Original Author
12 years ago
This ceiling is made nearby and the installer/plasterer highly recommends the company so it's likely our contender. Would you all suggest putting the corner pieces up against the edges of the ceiling and walls or away from the wall by about 2'? Would these corners look silly not against the wall? The corner pieces are only 8" wide x 29" long on each side, so that would mean that the decorative bead molding connecting the corners would only be 4" away from the wall and I wonder if that would look strange. Any advice would be great. thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: ceiling for dining room
brickeyee
12 years ago
Make a scaled drawing.

If you cannot decide based on that, using tape to mark out the major features can give an idea.

The distance is proportional to the size of the room and the width of the decoration.
sombreuil_mongrel
12 years ago
The latest design is a lot different from the first link.
I think the new design is intended to be put hard against the cornice molding, which should be at least 8" wide to hold its own against those corner pieces.
Casey
athensmomof3
12 years ago
Same question as Casey - I assume you will have cornice mold too? How far does that project into the ceiling?
threeapples
Original Author
12 years ago
Casey and Athensmom, I've not chosen a cornice molding yet. Yikes! I'm thinking I should eliminate those corner pieces so that I can have this a little further away from the walls and then be able to have room for a nice cornice molding. I really wanted to have this ironed out by now, but it seems like I should tape a rough suggestion of this design on the ceiling once it's installed and then make decisions from there. Sound good?
athensmomof3
12 years ago
Do you not have sheetrock yet? I would definitely wait until then and get on a ladder and mark it on your ceiling.

Can they do a custom design? I think if you eliminated the corner pieces you would want to continue the beading around . . .

I would want to decide on both before ordering either as they need to complement and that is an elaborate ceiling treatment that will need just the right cornice molding.
threeapples
Original Author
12 years ago
No, we don't have the sheetrock yet. I think I have no choice but to mark the ceiling and go from there. I agree, the cornice molding needs to be directly in keeping with this style. thanks so much! I'll update when we get further along.
brickeyee
12 years ago
Just make sure there is enough blocking for whatever the final design is.

The last time I installed a lot of plaster cornice in a large dining room there was more work to install blocking and then repair the wall than it took to install the plaster molding, all ~80 feet of it.
threeapples
Original Author
12 years ago
brickeyee, what is "blocking?" sorry if this is an ignorant question. and, is $6-7,000 steep or normal for installation cost of the ceiling i posted in your experience? thanks!
brickeyee
12 years ago
"blocking" is additional framing placed in a wall to anchor things onto.

For using plaster molding (it is usually to heavy to be anchored into the drywall alone) it would be pieces of 2x4 horizontally between the studs near the ceiling.

Some blocking (or a framing edge) should be present already to land the drywall top edge onto.

Some additional blocking below that would be good for anchoring the plaster trim.

place the blocking flush with the front edge of the stud on each side with the 4 inch face outward (might as well give yourself as much anchor area to hit as possible).

I usually instal every other pieces by nailing through the studs, then go back and toenail the remaining pieces in place.
athensmomof3
12 years ago
Sounds pricey to me since this is half, or more, the cost of my copper gutters on a 3 level house - but what do I know :)

How far away from walls should ornamental ceiling border be? ....

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How far away from walls should ornamental ceiling border be? ....

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