History

• Textured ceilings began in huts with building materials like mud, dung and clay mixed with hay or horse hair. In colonial times, it was fashionable to leave the strong wooden beams that supported the home exposed; in high renaissance Europe, palaces and estates would feature repeated moldings, hand-painted tiles or hand-carved ceilings. In French palaces like Versailles, you can see the ornate gilding, carving, molding and painting that went into each individual room's decoration. So, too, in Italy, where the most famous ceiling in the world exists in the Sistine Chapel.
  
  

Identification

• A textured ceiling is any ceiling in which the entire plane is not flat; this could be raised moldings, paint textures such as the popular "popcorn" ceilings and tiling, carving or framing of any sort.
  
  

Types

• There are many types of molding, from small repetitive designs to long pieces of rounded wood meant to smooth the transition of the eye from ceiling to wall.
  Paint textures can either be faux, such as painting in such a way to resemble leather, marble or cloud banks, or they can be three-dimensionally textured, raised patterns of paint such as popcorning or making overt brush strokes for effect.
  A tiling finish can be achieved by adhering tiles of repeating patterns, carved or molded designs or painted images to the ceiling.
  
  

Effects

• Texturing a ceiling creates a more organic space; it draws the eye in a fluid motion from a complete and well-designed room to the ceiling and back down to the focal points of the room. Molding especially can add relatively inexpensive flair to an otherwise plain room; opt for small moldings (can be made in a DIY kit, pouring plaster into molds) in repeating patterns for a really dramatic effect.
  
  

Misconceptions

• Not all ceilings that are gorgeous and dynamic are expensive. It does require a lot of sweat equity, but the results that hard work and creativity can achieve are very impressive. Painting is one of the lowest cost (both physical and financial) choices that you can make so that your ceiling is the cap to your home renovation.