Image by Ernest_Roy from Pixabay

When putting together a room’s design, there’s one area that often gets overlooked above all others, and that’s the ceiling. There are a variety of interesting things that you can do with a ceiling to bring life and add interest to a room. Some ideas will add a sense of height or give the space an elegant look while other things will even help enhance the room’s lighting—without the addition of new light fixtures.

If you’re looking for design ideas, don’t skimp on the ceilings. Instead, try one of the following!

1. Gloss Finishes are Fashionable & Brightening

People don’t normally think of high gloss finishes when they think of ceilings, but this is a trend that is taking off for two good reasons. Gloss, whether it’s glossy paint or a gloss wood finish, draws attention upward while also reflecting a lot of light. Lamplight or sunlight streaming in from windows—either way, the reflection helps make the room look much more spacious.

2. Wallpaper isn’t Just for Walls

Looking for an unusual way to make a statement? More and more, interior designers are turning to wallpaper as a creative way to change up the look of a ceiling. This is another technique that draws a lot of attention upward, and it has the added advantage of making a bold statement.

3. Choose Bright Colors for Low Ceilings

Low ceilings can make a room feel cramped even if it isn’t—and this is an effect that can be heightened if the room has a dark color scheme on the walls and ceiling both. Brighten things up and give the ceiling a little lift by choosing light shades to contrast dark walls. This also helps brighten the room, which is another way to make it feel a little more expansive.

4. Try the Beamed or Coffered Look

This idea will help you add loads of style to interior spaces. Beamed ceilings and coffered ceilings both, whether the style is rustic or elegant, lend a seriously high-end feeling to a room.

There’s lots of ways to get this look, too. Coffered ceilings can be created with lumber or even with moldings repurposed to lay out the ceiling’s pattern. You can just do simple, clean lines, or you choose lumber with intricate edge profiles for a more classical look. And then there’s the layout itself. Coffered ceilings are typically done in square patterns, but there’s nothing stopping you from making hexagons or using squares and rectangles in differing sizes.

Beamed ceilings work similarly in that you’ll use lumber to give the ceiling depth and texture. Here, however, the designs are usually simpler, as if structural beams have been left exposed. Because of that, this style often works well with rustic themes.

Even though ceilings are sometimes left out of the design process, there really are many ways to turn them into a thing of beauty. Your ceilings don’t have to be flat or understated. Use one of these ideas or come up with your own to draw attention to this key piece of the room.

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One of the worst mistakes you can make when looking for a new home is to allow yourself to become discouraged. Once that happens, your energy level drops, your optimism wavers, and your standards slide.

Searching for just the right house for you and your family may take longer than you expect, but success is often right around the corner! In the mean time, persistence and mental focus will help you get past the rough spots and detours. If you decide to work with a real estate buyers' agent, they will help keep you motivated, encouraged, and updated on new listings.

Although a certain amount of flexibility is necessary when you're in the market for a new home, there are advantages to having a clear picture in your mind of what you're looking for. There are a lot of factors that can play a role in your degree of happiness and comfort in a new home, and it's vital to recognize exactly what those key features and characteristics would be.

Here are a few things to mull over as you visit homes for sale and compare the pluses and minuses of each.

• Location: In addition to seeking out a neighborhood that's convenient for shopping, commuting, and meeting your family's needs, it also pays to keep investment value in mind. While nobody can look into a crystal ball and say with absolute certainty that property values will increase in the foreseeable future, there are educated guesses and projections that can be made based on trends and available data. An experienced real estate agent can be one of your best resources in determining whether a neighborhood is growing or declining. Very often there are telltale signs that are worth paying close attention to when evaluating different homes for sale.
• Architectural style: While many house hunters are only interested in features like square footage, lot size, and the quality of the school district, you may have preferences for specific architectural styles. Finding a house that conforms to your architectural preferences can make a big difference in your level of satisfaction. Although there are more than thirty different styles from which to choose, many people lean toward Colonial houses, Craftsman style homes, Contemporaries, Ranch houses, Tudors, Victorians (Queen Anne, for example), Cape Cods, Art Deco houses, Split Levels, and Bungalows. Other style possibilities include Dutch Colonials, Georgian-style houses, and Spanish-influenced architectures , such as the Monterey, Spanish Eclectic, and Pueblo. While some styles tend to be mostly confined to certain areas of the country, most communities have a wide array of architectural styles available to home buyers.
• Condition of the Home: Some of a house's flaws are easy to spot, while others may require the expertise of a certified house inspector. The extent to which you're willing to make repairs, updates, and renovations to a new home will be one key factor that will determine which house is best for your needs, goals, and budget.

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