Make way for designer ceilings

Venkat Subramanian discusses the pros and cons of designer ceilings, the new talk of the town

Modern households have undergone a considerable transformation from their traditional avatars. There were times when people overlooked the importance of styling their ceilings, and rather focused on the beautification of the walls and floor tiling.

Today, with the array of designs that designer ceilings offer, households feel spoilt for choice and find designer ceilings to be an imperative part of a home makeover.

Ceilings can make a dramatic visual impact on any space. The concept of ‘designer ceilings,’ which tiptoed into Indian households not very long ago, is now witnessing a sharp upward swing in both popularity and demand as a lifestyle choice. Besides builders and architects, home owners are increasingly choosing designer ceilings to create homes that are unique, elegant, better lit and more energy efficient.

Though having a designer ceiling may appear as a slightly expensive proposition at first, it has distinct functional as well as aesthetic advantages which makes it worth the investment. These products and solutions significantly enhance the visuals of your room, making it look a class apart, with a smooth, elegant finish. Here are some advantages of having a designer ceiling:

Faster construction

Plasterboards are fast and easy to install. A plain designer ceiling using plasterboard takes approximately one week to finish  and anywhere between one and two weeks for designer ceilings, depending on the complexity. Hence, a designer ceiling can be completed in as much time or faster than a paint job.

Design capabilities

Ceilings are one of the most critical components of an interior space — they offer maximum unobstructed view of the space and define its aesthetics. One has a wide range of options to choose from, when using gypsum boards to design ceilings. To add more elegance to your home, you can experiment by adding various shapes to your ceiling or by creating a step effect.

Balancing design & function

Designer ceilings are helping transform homes across India. A plasterboard usually lasts as long as a building unless any of the systems are physically damaged. But to keep up with the times, it’s better to change the designer ceilings when you change the interiors.

Plasterboards can be finished using paint or wallpaper. The major advantage of the plasterboards over conventional ceilings (without false ceilings) is that since it is a machine-finished surface, you can get seamless, smooth, undulation-free finishes.

This means you can colour your ceilings and also use the high-end white colour paints you typically use for your walls on your ceilings; paint companies don’t normally recommend such products for a plastered surface as they tend to show the waviness on the surface.

Lighting benefits

A well-lit ceiling can make a room come alive. One often relates ambience to the lighting provided in that particular space, and creating an ambience can be made easy by choosing the right kind of lighting. Ceiling lights can be categorised into three sub categories: recessed lights, flush lights and suspended lights.

Each of these categories can be customised for your kitchen, bedroom, hall and other areas. Designer ceilings with capability solutions like these will allow you to upgrade and transform your home, and offer a style statement that speaks to you and your personality.

(The author is regional CEO, Construction Products India & MD, Gyproc India)