Office Ceiling Design

I am in the process of working out the final design and color scheme for my clients Home Office. Here is what the office looks like at the moment:

As you can see, I already have had my hands on this room. 🙂 Last year, I did a brown Luster Stone finish on either side of the fireplace; a red glaze on the center wall where the fireplace is, and the remaining walls were done with a gold tone glaze mix. The finish on the fireplace is a crackle finish with some bronze stenciling and highlighting. That was done several years ago. The Dentil Molding was glazed last year too. But… see how out of place this white ceiling looks? The homeowners are ready for something more appropriate. First, the carpenters will return and add some wood beams to the ceiling, forming 9 panels. I want the beams to run inside of the 4 recessed lights, so the lights are not inside the center panel. The beams will be painted and glazed to match the Dentil Molding. We are wavering back and forth between doing the same red glaze that is on the fireplace wall, on the ceiling panels…. or painting and glazing the ceiling in a much lighter, antique white tone. I am going to work up some samples in my studio today. Regardless of what the background ceiling color ends up being, there will be a lot of gold/bronze stenciling involved! 🙂 For the large, center panel, I will be using a Modello™ Design from Melanie Royals. I will have it sized to 36". The design is from the Ornamental Collection, Centers. It is #128 on that page. Once our colors and the design have been finalized, I will place my order. This will be the first time that I will use a Modello™ on a flat surface. I have to say, I have not been 100% sold on this method because I like the idea of being able to re-use my stencils. A Modello™ is a one time use application. I have used a similar type of ‘one time use’ stencils, for lettering on a column, and for my beloved cow project, The Dictionary Cow.

Because the stenciling on both of these projects were on curved/uneven surfaces, the use of an adhesive, disposable stencil was the only way to go. The lettering for The Dictionary Cow was done by Merchant Signs. Stencils were made on low tack adhesive backed vinyl which easily conformed to the bumps and curves of this fiberglass cow. I stenciled the letters, then pealed off the stencils and threw away. You can see more pictures and read more about this project on my website.  Hugh Hoeger of "Say What" lettering provided the lettering for that project and photos of that job are posted on their website, which you can see by clicking on the link (I did that job a good 10 years ago and I see my email addy is incorrect on that site). Here on this office ceiling, I also feel this method is the answer. This design is intricate and would be difficult to layout with stencils. I will chronicle my step to step use of this Modello™ when that part of the job begins.

Each of the four corners of the 9 ceiling panels will be done with a corner stencil I will design myself. I will need 36 reps of the stencil, so to keep the cost down on this job, I have opted to design and cut 3 stencils of the same pattern, to rotate in use. I will show that piece too, when I get to it.