Look up: the part of the room everyone forgets!

When people think about designing a room, they usually focus on what’s in front of them: the sofa, the walls, the coffee table, the lighting, the art. But almost nobody looks up.

And that’s interesting, because the ceiling takes up so much visual space and has a huge effect on how a room feels.

One thing I’ve learned through design is that sometimes what changes a room the most is not adding another piece of furniture or changing the paint color. Sometimes it’s working with the parts of the room people forget about.

A technique I love for that is called drapé soleil, a French ceiling draping technique where fabric spreads from one central point and opens out like sun rays.

What I love about it is that it completely changes the feeling of a room.

Most homes have a lot of hard surfaces: floors, walls, windows, wood, stone. All of that can look beautiful, but if there isn’t enough softness, the room can feel colder than people realize. Not cold in temperature, cold in feeling.

Adding fabric to the ceiling changes that. It softens the room, makes it feel warmer, changes how the sound travels and creates a sense of intimacy that is hard to create any other way.

It’s one of those design moves that people don’t always notice immediately, but they feel it the second they walk in.

That’s the part of design I care about most.

Not just making a room look beautiful but making it feel good to live in.

And finding those opportunities is a big part of what I do for my clients. I help them see what’s possible in their home, even in the places they weren’t looking.