Imaginative Drywall Ceilings

Ceilings are far too often like Midwestern farm country -- a monotonous expanse that serves a useful function but accomplishes it with little, if any, variation or creativity. Whether it's popcorn texture or cornfields, once you've seen a little, you've seen enough.

Drywall makes it easy to banish boring ceilings by incorporating raised-panel designs or creating sculptural elements.

The design of a ceiling can reflect a home's structural framing or be purely decorative.

The soaring "tepee" ceiling shown below right is an example of functionally based design, while the fanciful shape at right is more sculpture than structure. Both require careful workmanship -- certainly not beyond homeowner skills -- to maintain smooth runs of crisp angles.

Raised-panel ceilings also require careful planning to ensure that the overall design is centered in the room. You'll find comfort in mapping out the grind in advance, which will ensure that the edges of the design line up in both directions. You can fill in the edges of the ceiling with ordinary drywall to eliminate partial panels at the perimeter.