How Not to Waste the Decorating Potential of Ceilings

Why waste the multiple canvases-in-waiting that are ceilings when you can use them to attractively display structural elements of brick, wood, and combinations thereof?

5225 E Paradise Canyon Rd., Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

5225 E Paradise Canyon Rd., Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

5225 E Paradise Canyon Rd., Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

And there’s no need to waste the underside of a roof, either, when you can show off the seldom seen sight of clay tiles from below.

5225 E Paradise Canyon Rd., Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

And while you’re at it, why waste stair risers?

5225 E Paradise Canyon Rd., Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

Waste not, want not, as they say.

4 Comments on "How Not to Waste the Decorating Potential of Ceilings"

  1. That ceiling brick-work has a certain, shall we say, polyurethane look to it, though I wouldn’t swear one way or t’other…

    The staircase is quite handsome. I also like the breezeway, though this being Arizona I wonder for how much of the year it would be useful. When I was a child, we would go somewhere regularly where you would see the underside of Spanish roofing tile- but I can’t remember where that was. It actually is quite interesting, and I suspect my kid self would have loved this house; hallways to run down, mysterious doors to try, odd corners everywhere- and ponies!

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  2. @paradox: I doubted the realness of the brick too. But I have to say, I was so busy imagining one busting loose and falling on my head that I missed the freaky statues at first.

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  3. I have to add that I don’t know who is going to get up there and dust the ledges and window sills in the living room, but it’s not going to be me.

    Actually, there are a lot of nice elements in this house. Some elements just make you wonder. For example, you don’t often see a Moravian Star hanging out of season (photo 20), unless they just like Christmas and want to keep something up year-round that a lot of people won’t recognize.

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  4. @Frodo: Freaky statues? The only statues I see are in Pics 3 & 9 and neither set looks particularly creepy to me. Am I missing something?

    I’m thinking the owners don’t know from Moravian Stars. They just like the cool 3D glass star light style that’s really popular as a decorating element.

    As far as dusting… Likeliest option, it’s The Help’s problem. However, there are lots of nifty housework gadgets that can help, best being a microfiber duster with a telescoping handle. They can reach a good 10-12′ I think. You can get similar doo-dads for changing high up light bulbs and that takes a lot more finessed that dusting.

    Ditto on the “nice elements.” What I like best is the all-around use of materials. They’re warm and earthy and give the sense they’ve been there a lot longer than they have been without being overly “distressed” (house was built in 2001). The sole exception IMO are the kitchen cabinets; the distressing is better than some I’ve seen but still too obvious. In general, though, this place looks as homey and comfortable as it does elegant, and that’s a pretty difficult result to achieve.

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