Tray Ceiling Design: Decorating Tray Ceiling

Tray ceiling is a style of ceiling where the ceiling resembles a tray that has been turned upside down. The sides of the ceilings often have square edges arranged in the form of a series of steps along the wall to the flat surface of the ceiling. The biggest advantage of the tray ceiling is that it increases the perceived height of the room. It also provides ample amount of scope to decorate the ceiling. Tray ceiling design or decorating tray ceiling should be done in a way such that it complements the interior decoration of the rest of your house.

Tray Ceiling Decorating Ideas - Molding
Crown molding is an effective way of creating tray ceiling framing. If you have a tray ceiling in places like the living room or dining room where your guests sit, then molding will help to attract your guests' attention towards the ceiling. It enhances the look of the room manifold and I am sure your idea will be appreciated too. Select a paint color like dazzling white or a rich brown shade for painting your crown molding.

Tray Ceiling Decorating Ideas - Painting
When it comes to painting tray ceilings you can experiment a lot as the shape of the ceiling is quite unique. The paint should give maximum prominence to the unusual features of the tray ceiling. If you paint the tray ceiling with some dark shades, then it will help to give a sense of closeness and warmth into the room. On the other hand, choosing a lighter shade of color will give an open and airy feeling. You can keep the color of the walls, the tray steps and the ceiling of the same color. For this, you have to choose a spectacularly eye catching wall color.

The colors of walls and the ceiling can be kept different as well. Paint the vertical portions of the tray steps and the wall with same color and match the horizontal section of the tray steps with the ceilings. This looks wonderful on crown molding. Another idea is to keep the color of the tray ceiling a shade lighter than that of the walls.

Tray Ceiling Decorating Ideas - Covering
If you prefer to cover up your tray ceiling, wallpaper or ceiling tiles are the two of the best choices available to you. You can cover it up with a rich textured wallpaper which will enable to give your tray ceiling a dramatic look. Installation of ceiling tiles on the tray ceiling is a great way of decoration. Tiles of wide range of colors are available in the market and you can choose from them. Even some of them have designs engraved on them. Some of those designs are traditional and others are modern. Your choice of purchase depends on the kind of look you want. If the tiles are light in weight, they can be installed easily by applying any simple construction adhesive. While installing the tiles take care that they are fitted together quite well and the grooves are not visible.

Tray Ceiling Decorating Ideas - Lighting
Lighting is also an important aspect of tray ceiling styles. Painting and molding of the tray ceiling can get highlighted only if you have chosen the right kind of light fixture. A commonly used light fixture often fails to give the desired effect to the tray ceiling. Hence, you should come up with some unusual ways to decorate the ceiling trays with lights. For instance, modify an antique piece of birdcage into an apparatus to hold light. A modern chandelier lighting will give a classy look. If you hide the lighting fixture behind the molding it can give a truly dramatic effect to the tray ceiling. You can also opt for either recessed lighting fixture or hanging lighting depending on the kind of mood and ambiance your prefer in the room.

These are some of the few ideas of decorating tray ceiling that I have shared with you. You can utilize your creativity and come up with more innovative and interesting tray ceiling designs on your own.