Stretch ceiling - an independent booming trend in modern apartment renovation. They are installed both in living rooms, for example in the bedroom, and in the bathroom, in the kitchen and hallway. Stretch ceilings look great in the hall, especially if it has an impressive size. If you have at your disposal a living room of 18 sq. m, on its ceiling you can realize the most daring and original design ideas.
Advantages of stretch ceilings
Let's try to figure out what are the positive aspects of installing stretch ceilings for the hall:
- The irregularities of the base ceiling are easily hidden under the stretched canvas. Therefore, it is beneficial to use stretch ceilings in Khrushchev.
- Under them, you can hide any communications, such as wires from the backlight.
- Installation of a stretch ceiling does not take much time and does not require preliminary preparation of the base.
- When choosing a single-level design, the ceiling height is reduced by a small value, about 40 millimeters.
What are stretch ceilings
The design of stretch ceilings can be very different. In a hall with an area of 18 squares, both multi-level and simple ceilings, with drawings or glossy ones, will look good. They can be made of various materials that determine their appearance and properties, have a variety of shapes. Let's try to figure out what types of stretch ceilings are, and consider options for their use.
Glossy ceilings
A glossy surface will make the ceiling visually higher and the room lighter and lighter. All decor elements and furniture will be reflected in such a ceiling, but the reflection will be a little blurry, which will make the interior soft and calm, despite the effect of increased space. It is important to remember that glossy stretch ceilings made in dark colors (black or brown) can even create the opposite effect.
The photo shows a glossy stretch ceiling in the hall.
Mirrored
This type of ceiling differs from glossy ones in that the room is reflected in their surface without distortion. This option will be somewhat more expensive than the glossy one, but with its help you can get amazing effects.
The mirrored ceiling surface, combined with bright chiselled lighting, will achieve a cosmic effect of depth in the room.
Matte
A matte ceiling is suitable for those whose room area allows you to do without the effect of additional expansion of space, for example, it will fit well into a living room with an area of 18-20 square meters. m. Any chosen color of the matte ceiling will not be distorted under the influence of lighting.
A matte ceiling is a great choice for a living room decorated in a minimalist style, as well as a classic or scandinavian style.
Satin
The satin ceiling resembles matte, but has a silky pearly sheen and can change its shade depending on the intensity of the lighting in the room. Its surface beautifully reflects and gently diffuses light.
Ceiling with photo printing
Modern technologies allow you to apply any image on stretch ceilings. It can be graceful monograms, flowers or a geometric pattern, and even a photograph of the starry sky.
Patterned stretch ceilings are very popular, but when choosing this option, it is important to remember that too many patterns and a riot of colors can spoil the interior and make it tasteless.
The photo shows stylish stretch ceilings with photo printing.
Multilevel ceiling
Ceilings in two or three levels, which combine different colors, matte and glossy surfaces and even patterns, can decorate any room, becoming an accent element of the interior.If the living room is large, from 18 square meters, any idea can be realized on a spacious ceiling area.
It is important to consider that the false ceiling in any case reduces the height of the room, and the multi-level option will affect it even more significantly.
Stretch ceiling materials
For stretch ceilings, two types of material are used:
- PVC film;
- fabric canvas.
Advantages of PVC stretch ceiling:
- The ability to withstand a significant amount of water in the event that you are flooded by neighbors from above.
- Resistant to deformation and ultraviolet.
- A wealth of design possibilities, more than 200 shades available.
Note! You can create glossy, satin and mirror ceilings only with the help of PVC film. At the same time, photo printing looks better on a fabric canvas.
Cons of PVC film:
- The material is easily spoiled or damaged, for example, by a leaking champagne cork.
- Installation is carried out using special equipment - a heat gun - therefore, it requires contacting specialists.
- The seams on the film, which are indispensable in a large room, can be noticeable and are a weak point of such a surface.
To create fabric stretch ceilings, a fabric impregnated with a special polyurethane composition is used.
Advantages of a fabric ceiling:
- Strength.
- Environmental friendliness and vapor permeability ("breathable" material).
- Possibility of self-installation.
- The canvas can be repainted several times.
- Large canvas width - 5 m, suitable even for a large room from 18 sq. m.
- Original look. If you decorate the room with a fabric stretch ceiling with a beautiful print, you no longer have to rack your brains over choosing a pattern on the walls.
In the next photo, a simple fabric stretch ceiling was used in the hall.
Cons of fabric:
- High cost (1.5–2 times higher than that of the film).
- Limited design options.
How stretch ceilings are installed
Various samples of stretch ceilings, in addition to all of the above, also differ in the method of attachment. There are three of them in total:
- Harpoon fixture. With this method, the so-called harpoon is attached along the edges of the PVC film - a compacted edging layer. Using a spatula, the edges of the canvas with a harpoon are inserted under the baguette into the existing gap and fixed. This method is very popular, because it allows you to dismantle, if necessary, and then reuse the stretch fabric and create interesting spatial effects with it. But at the same time it is the most expensive.
- Wedge mounting. This method is called so because the canvas (from any material) is fixed in the slots of the profile using a special plastic wedge. Wedge installation is cheaper than harpoon, but it cannot be dismantled and then re-stretched ceiling material.
- Self-locking fastener. With the help of a self-clamping profile, the web is attached most easily, it is enough to bring its edges into the slots and fix them in them. Again, with this fastening, the canvas cannot be used several times.
Price
The price of a stretch fabric with installation starts from 500 rubles per square meter in Moscow and from 300 rubles in St. Petersburg. In addition to the method of fastening, the price is affected by the quality of the material (it can be a Chinese canvas or a European one), its type (multi-level, with a photograph, etc.). Often, installing a canvas on a small area comes out at the same price as on a large one.
It turns out that, on average, beautiful stretch ceilings for a hall of 18 square meters. m will cost you in the amount of 7000 rubles. This is not a very high cost, given that such a ceiling will give comfort to the apartment, even if you have a "Khrushchev" house.
Generally installation of stretch ceilings in the hall or living room, and in general in the apartment is an excellent decision, which you are unlikely to regret.
