The ceiling is the sixth side of the room which we often forget. In old times, the ceiling was rarely left white, it was mostly richly decorated or colored. Why cannot we evoke this practice?
The style of the room can be highlighted with the color or decoration of the ceiling, it can complement the sight of furnishing or even can be an additional twist for the mood. For these, the first and most important question is: what is the room height? The dark painted ceiling visually gets lower, while the light colored raises the eye. It can be for example coffee brown with 250cm room height also if a cozier mood is required – let’s say in the case of a library – and it can be painted in light blue with 360 cm room height if an airy effect is desired – for example in a bedroom. Note, that the color of the walls is reflected to the ceiling and vice versa. Besides colors, decoration elements can help in emphasizing the ceiling: stuccos, mouldings, rosettes. These can be made of gypsum, polystyrene or wood. Their basic color is commonly white but can be painted to any desired color. Rosettes usually placed to the fixing of chandeliers and pendants. Its diameter should be a bit smaller than the chandelier’s. But this rule can be broken if the oversized decorating element is designed for attracting the guest’s eye upward as entering. Crown mouldings hide the joint of the wall and the ceiling, this way they visually make the room higher. The mouldings are placed on the wall right below the ceiling. If these are painted to the color of the ceiling, the room seems to be lower. Stuccos can be placed in the corners or even around the rosette. The desired decoration is up to the taste. Their effect can be buffered with painting the whole ceiling to a plain, neutral shade.
A similar effect can be reached with hand-painted decoration of the ceiling instead of decorating elements (stencil, pictures, stripes etc.). This is a much cheaper solution but requires great handcraft. Even faux-beams can be placed if the style of the flat/house allows it. They don’t have to be necessarily painted to a different color as the ceiling to be highlighted. Metal tile is a showy solution also.
Get inspiration from visiting old historical buildings, it can be a castle, museum or a public institution in such a building, then ask for help of an interior designer for implementing these in your home also.