This Old House: A plain white ceiling hardly rates a cursory glance. But cover it with richly patterned metal panels, and instantly it becomes an eye-catching feature.
Tin ceilings originated in the 1880s as an affordable way for people to dress up a room's fifth wall. Tin was not only an aesthetic upgrade, meant to emulate high-end decorative plaster, it also offered a measure of fire protection—a big concern at a time when home cooking, lighting, and heating were largely done with open flames.
3 comments:
I love old features in homes. Things like hardwood floors, built ins, leaded stained glass windows and more. Tin ceilings remind me of my childhood and the hotdog shop that my dad use to take me as a kid. They had a tin ceiling as did the local store that I would go with my mom when she did her grocery shopping. I’d plopp down at the counter with my burger and fries, stare off into the ceiling while mom did the shopping. It was a great time. I also enjoy how these features are making a comeback and people are starting to incorporate them more into new home construction or remodels. It is always nice to see a Victorian home come back alive by stripping away the years and tearing down the walls to reveal the older construction that has stood the test of time. It is also great that shows like This Old House keeps these things alive and here we are 70+ years later and these ceilings are a thing. Now I just need a giant crock pot to place a 2x2 piece of painted tin ceiling in to strip the paint away.
This article condensed a surprising amount of knowledge in such an organized way that it made the concept and application about the tin ceiling so easy to pick up. Even made me want to look into the possibility to decorate my backsplash in the kitchen with this antique decorative method. The list that goes on about the modern material really amazed me. To see an old technique not only survived for long but also keeps evolving along with the history is encouraging. It almost feel like a responsibility to keep it alive by doing it as a craftsman I wish I could be. Looking at these applications also stimulated many thoughts on finishing processing in general, such as how to make the transitions between different joints of the wall and every weird corner that created by architecture. It is a pure passion that lies in this kind of old fashion decors, and I am so excited to see more of them.
This article is an excellent primer on tin ceilings. I have only seen them a few times in private residences, however, and I suspect that they are generally a high-budget item. Although each of the different materials is described with the lowest price available, each of the patterns shown are several dollars more expensive per foot. More often, I have seen them in older public establishments, particularly restaurants or music venues. Typically, they are either painted white or black. I imagine that, with black tin ceilings, the desire is to hide dirt and soot stains. White tin ceilings are most likely a choice to help the room seem brighter and taller. I do not think I have ever seen unpainted copper, and I can only remember shiny silvery tin in chrome-covered diners. The applications shown at the bottom of this article are a little odd; I think I would probably be a bit shocked if I saw tin ceiling installed on a wall (not a backsplash).
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