The 5th Wall: Wallpaper On The Ceiling
Everyone has different tastes when it comes to their interior. Wallpaper is no different. When decorating a room, some people prefer to clothe every wall in gorgeous wallpaper. Others prefer to do a feature or accent wall. Another option is to do the top portion of the wall, just above a chair rail or wainscoting. Often neglected is the 5th wall, installing wallpaper on the ceiling. However, those thinking outside of the box, yet still inside the box (pun intended), often tend to look at the forgotten 5th wall as an opportunity to do something unique. Let’s take a look at some inspirational examples that keep us looking up by applying wallpaper to the ceiling.
Installing Tips for Wallpaper on the Ceiling
First, let’s go over some helpful practical tips that you will want to keep in mind when wallpaper the ceiling. You may wonder, which direction should I paste the wallpaper? Where do I start?
It’s always a good idea to apply the wallpaper roll in the direction of the light coming from the window. Otherwise, there may be some shadows created that could cause certain designs to have their appearance altered. More importantly, you always want to make sure that you begin the wallpaper wherever the focal point of the room is. You don’t want to finish at the focal point of the room where a portion of the design will end up cut off by the edge of the ceiling. So for example, if there is a television on one wall, you may consider beginning the install on the end with the television. This is because that is the area that will draw your attention. It is where you will want the full pattern of the design to be on full display.
As with any normal installation, you will need to remove light fixtures before you get started. You will also want to mark your ceiling with a pencil using a level (laser level if you have it) so that your first drop is perfectly straight. But that’s enough of the technical stuff. Let’s get inspired!
Ceiling Wallpaper Inspiration
In the photo above, the Hommeboys didn’t want to cover up the beautiful paint and texture that was happening on the walls. So the ceiling, which wasn’t very inspiring, was the perfect blank place to add some pizzaz. They used the Cranes Wallpaper design, which matches all the gorgeous, warm, earthy mustard colors in the bedroom. It really helps add to this master bedroom’s sense of luxury. The bedroom is a fantastic space to put wallpaper on the ceiling. You spend most of your time in this room looking up.
Instagram influencer, Alieta Casey loves to create beautiful spaces in her home. In this powder room, she wanted to use her “signature color” of blushes and pinks with the Bush Beauty Wallpaper design. Her bold goals didn’t stop with all four walls. She brought the glamour all the way up and across the ceiling for an immersive experience that is sure to wow her guests.
DIY mom, Fariha Nasir, was looking for a way to make her little boy’s bedroom more fun. She thought creating a tropical jungle theme would be just the touch to intrigue her son’s imagination. She uses the Kingdom Palm wallpaper on the ceiling so that when her little boy opens his eyes every morning, he’s ready for an adventure.
Sometimes to get the creative juices flowing, the space we create needs to be stimulating. In this case, Stephanie Watkins not only chose the colorfully explosive Hockney design, but she chose to install the wallpaper on the ceiling of her basement office. To top it off, she installed this all by herself. Now as she’s digging deep into her creative depths and her eyes wonder toward the heavens, she’ll receive inspiration from above.
Susan from Bowers Construction was styling rooms in her own home for her daughters. The room has a ceiling that slopes down the side and she wanted to create a beautiful feature. She used the Chinoiserie wallpaper design, not only because it had gorgeous birds for her daughter to look up at, but also because the climbing branches really accentuate the room’s length as they stretch across the ceiling.
North Carolina-based interior designer, Lori Shaw went for a maximalist approach in her client’s dining room. There is so much pattern and so much color throughout this space from the floor to the ceiling. The Garden Bloom design offers rich blues and pink florals bringing a richness to the space and a total feast for the eyes.
In keeping with the birds on the ceiling, we have another gorgeous example in the laundry room from @MochaGirlPlace on Instagram. She used the Gardenia Wallpaper design because she loved the colorful birds. She completed the space by pulling down the green color onto the walls making the space entirely cohesive.
In one of the most interesting installs we have ever seen, the mother-daughter design duo at Impeccable Nest took wallpapering to another level. Using the Ornithology design, they extended the design up and out of the wallpaper itself. Using wallpaper leftovers, they cutout portions of the design to continue it from the walls and onto the ceiling. The result is a 3 dimensional visual that adds an immense amount of character to the powder room.
Happy customer, Megan, was loving her ceiling wallpaper install so much that she had to share the results. She wanted to add some intrigue to her son’s bedroom ceiling and decided to go with the Barre Reverse design. The used the pattern of this Shibori wallpaper design to accentuate the length of the space.
Ceiling Wallpaper Ideas
Hopefully by now you’ve been fully inspired. As you can see, there is no limit to the type of designs you can include on the ceiling. We’ve seen tropical wallpapers and floral wallpapers, but some designs seem to be more popular than others for the 5th wall. Birds, clouds, stripes are wallpaper patterns that people seem to love. Let’s have a look at some of the most popular ceiling wallpaper design ideas.
Whether you want to include the ceiling in your wallpaper install or wallpaper only the ceiling, it is definitely an area that shouldn’t be overlooked. It can add a whole lot of interest and an entirely new dimension to your interior.
