Gatsby-Inspired Ceilings are Making a Comeback

In home design, history often repeats itself. “By reaching back for culture and forward for contemporary techniques, we combine the best of old and new,” says Katie Skoloff, principal designer and founder of In Site Designs, an interior design firm in Greenville, S.C. “People feel validated by heritage, especially as we age, and are always peeking into our ties from the past.”

Trends we once loved reemerge and are being enjoyed with fresh eyes. Homes are becoming design time capsules of a sort as ideas evocative of themes and styles from the past spring to life. “Everything old is new again,” says Julea Joseph, owner of Reinventing the Space, a home staging and interior design firm in Chicago.  Such is the case with what industry insiders refer to as “Gatsby-Inspired Ceilings” of the 1920’s.

During the roaring ’20s, stamped ceilings dressed up a home’s fifth wall.  Ceilings were plated with copper or tin decorative sheets, using floral patterns or corniced ceiling roses. They were often painted white to give a hand-carved look.  Now, the statement ceiling is back, but this time it relies on paint, wallpaper, or wood molding.  It can brighten up a space and make it memorable, Skoloff says.  “We find the interest on a ceiling draws the eye up, and you cannot help but feel a space is there to ‘wow’ you,” Skoloff says.  For example, using metallic wallpaper in gold or silver offers up a historical take on the tin ceiling that can make a space feel more luxurious at a lower cost, she says.

So if you’d like to update your space, you may just want to look to the past to take everything old and make it new again.

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