I am trying to figure out what a ship lap ceiling is. I went to a wedding last summer at a very old Norweigan church where the ceiling looked like an upside-down ark. Can't seem to get that image out of my mind. Of course, it made a huge impression on me! Actually now, I am thinking it may have been a Czhecleslovakian Church....(St. Stanislav's)

BTW, I have an ugly dropped flourescent light ceiling. I plan on doing something with it next year since I am a pay-as-you-go remodeler. I'm looking for ideas and options, too.

Dassykee--Not exactly what you're looking for but close. Suggestion--repost your question asking for 'painted bead board ceiling' photos. Beadboard tends to be a catch-all phrase.

{{!gwi}}

Thanks, neesie and cilantro. Actually I have seen churches in the northeast with such ceilings! It would be like covering your ceiling with painted boards. We thought we would eliminate the concave edge which is common in ship lap to reduce the busy-ness. I think I am most concerned about how all the angles would come together, especially in the dormers and gables. The architect and I think it would be great...the decorator has doubts...and the builder is mostly concerned about the integrity of the structure. DH will go with whatever I say. We're stuck in the middle but it is OUR house, by golly!!!

I went around and around about how to phrase the question. I didn't use "beadboard" because we decided that an actual beadboard ceiling wouldn't be strong enough because of the height. My builder is also afraid that it wouldn't be stable enough to remain true down the long lengths without much additional gluing and screwing. I found lots of pics of beadboard ceilings but none with all the various angles ours will have.

Sheesh! There are just too many thoughts & questions swimming around in my head. I need a "decision vacation"!!! Have a lovely Memorial Day and let's all try to relax!!!

We have pine " tung & groove" ceilings in various locations in our home, kitchen, bedrooms, porches.
Too busy? absolutely not. Classic, cottage-y beautiful. Most of my pics don't show it painted yet. Almost to that point. I tried to include pics of all areas.
Our "tung & groove" is 5 in wide with a mid groove so it looks like it has a groove every 2 1/2 inches . They are 16 ft. long so it minimized our cutting. They really are beautiful. I hope these pics help, feel free to ask questions if you have any.

Ours is also tongue and groove. It's pine and I believe it's 6 inches wide. It's definitely not too busy, and it's one of the features we get the most compliments on. Here are a couple of pics that show the ceiling fairly well.

Dassykee, you can go in a couple of different directions here. MDF beadboard can be purchased at HD and placed on a regular drywall; it has no structural integrity at all, but the struc. integrity comes from other sources (ie the framing). You could also do a tongue & groove ceiling a la countryfarm's and holligator's. I had a client with a very high end house in Malibu and a gabled (? like a squat pyramid) ceiling with cedar T&G planks. It all worked beautifully, although they certainly paid Malibu prices.

Ours is tongue-and-groove pine, 6 inches wide, left natural. Here it is, in the "old" kitchen.

It's never felt particularly "cottagey" to me, but I think that's because we've got a lot of volume underneath that roof (14 feet to the ridge line), so it doesn't feel cozy. We're leaving it alone in the remodel, except for painting the beams a slightly more reddish brown, rather than the old dark cocoa color.

Holligator, acountryfarm and maydl, you all have wonderful tongue and groove ceilings! To me it is a surprise seeing it in a kitchen. I definitely love the looks. It's not so dark and steep like the Czech Church I was picturing!

Thank you, thank you! Acountryfarm and holligator you have beautiful spaces! Did either of you hesitate to use pine? My builder is afraid that the knots will eventually show through. I thought the proper primer would prevent this. He's talking redwood or something that I know would be quite a bit more $$$. How long have you been in holligator? Looks like your paint job is still perfect.

Maydl, our kitchen/keeping room ceiling will also be 14 feet at the ridge so I hope this ceiling treatment and the fireplace will cozy up the space. Do you wish your ceiling were lower?

No, dassykee, we've never wanted a lower ceiling. All of our top floor rooms have the same high, sloped ceilings, and we like the volume. It's murder on heating bills, however, because all our heated air ends up at the 14-foot mark! Our combined (since demolition) kitchen-sunroom space now spans the entire 30-foot width of the house, and the 14-foot ridge line is now above the center of the space. It's really exciting to walk in there.

We have three 4-foot x 6-foot skylights in the roof that were re-glazed with low-E glass as part of the remodel (two skylights above the sunroom end of the space and one skylight above the kitchen end), so sunlight warms the space most days--our substitute for "cozy".

Acountryfarm and holligator you have beautiful spaces! Did either of you hesitate to use pine? My builder is afraid that the knots will eventually show through. I thought the proper primer would prevent this. He's talking redwood or something that I know would be quite a bit more $$$. How long have you been in holligator? Looks like your paint job is still perfect.

Sorry I missed this, but no, I would definitely not hesitate to use pine again. We love it! We've only been in since January, but there's no sign of the knots coming through. My husband did the paint job, and he was VERY thorough with the primer.

He used Zinsser BIN, which is designed specifically for this purpose. NOTHING gets through that stuff. He went over each knot very carefully with primer using a brush, then he applied the primer to the whole board using a roller, then he went back over the knots with another brush coat. The whole ceiling then got, I think, three coats of paint.

I will strongly suggest, however, that the wood be primed and the first coat of paint applied before the ceiling is installed. With our construction schedule, my husband didn't have a chance to do this before they installed it, so he had to do all the priming and painting standing on a ladder looking up. It was back breaking work. Getting the grooved thoroughly covered was extremely difficult, too, and would have been much easier if they were at least primed before going up.

Just another quick story in praises of Zinsser BIN...when we were doing our ceiling, I shared info about this product with a friend. Several years prior, she had moved into a house that had been previously occupied by smokers. They had used Kilz to prime everything and repaint, and that got rid of almost all the smell. The only room that continued to be a problem was the bathroom. It was fine dry, but when it got steamed up from a shower, the smoke smell was overwhelming. She primed it with BIN and repainted again, and hasn't smelled smoke since. That stuff is amazing!

Here is a link that might be useful: Zinsser BIN primer

I missed this as well. On the upstairs bedroom ceilings which are finished we have no signs of knots coming through. I would not hesitate to use pine again.

Holligator is this an older home or new construction. I have a 1954 home that is solid shiplap and would like to keep the ceilings and walls