The Beadboard Ceiling!
1990s Drop Ceiling (& Kitchen) Before
1950s Ceiling Covered up by 1990s Drop Ceiling
Florescent Light (installed in 1990s drop ceiling) and 1950s Ceiling Above
The beadboard ceiling is finally finished at Andi & Neil’s house! I haven’t seen it in person but from the photos that Andi sent me yesterday it looks lovely!
This is now the 4th ceiling that this kitchen has seen.
The History of the Ceiling:
1890s: Plaster Ceiling
1950s: Glued on 12×12 acoustic tiles with interesting turquoise crown molding
1990s: Drop 2×4 Acoustic Ceiling (with 2×4 Florescent Light Fixture): Dropping the ceiling by about 9″ in height (I don’t know what people were thinking when they did this!)
2011: Painted Beadboard and Beam Ceiling
Historically Accurate?
I get asked questions about whether beadboard is historically accurate to a kitchen (or other rooms in the house). The answer is yes, but probably not as detailed as this one. Traditionally secondary spaces such as the kitchen and bathroom used less expensive materials and trim. For example in our kitchen (now dining room) they installed beadboard on the bottom 4′ of the wall. They also used plainer window and door trim but they still used a plaster ceiling. They would not of installed nice “beams” or crown molding, instead they would have probably trimmed these spaces with a simple straight piece or no trim at all. Around here, I haven’t seen a lot of beadboard kitchen ceilings, mostly plaster. It is probably a matter of what the local tradespeople at the time were in the habit of using.
Now that the kitchen is such an integral part of our lives, I think it makes sense to design it to the same level of finish as the rest of the house. I also think you should have a little fun with the design. There are too many boring drywall ceilings out there.
Up Next:
The contractors are scheduled to spackle the walls and sand the floor today. It is nice to start to see some finish work.
