Ceiling Suspended Ceilings from Gypsum Board for Living Room with Photos

But who doesn't want this most important element of interior design to be original and memorable? One of the most popular ways to achieve this without overly burdening your budget is to use gypsum board sheets (Gypsum Board).

Advantages of Gypsum Board Ceilings in the Living Room

One of the main benefits of this material is its affordable price. But it's not only that which attracts buyers. Gypsum Board also has other undeniable advantages:

• environmental safety;
  
• ability to give the material any shape;
  
• relative ease of installation (two people can fully assemble any type of structure);
  
• good thermal and sound insulation properties;
  
• ability to mask electrical wiring and other utilities;
  
• fire resistance;
  
• ability to create any kind of ceiling, even the most complex one, including with ornamental elements.
  

Types of Gypsum Board Ceilings in the Living Room

The flexibility of Gypsum Board processing allows creating the most whimsical structures. Gypsum board cuts well and «knows how» to take various geometric shapes, which gives designers the opportunity to implement the most daring ideas. All structures created in the living room can be divided into several types.

Single-Level Gypsum Board Ceilings in the Living Room

These are simple and reliable systems, well-suited for small living rooms. Using this material is a guaranteed way to level an uneven ceiling without using plastering. There is another important advantage - the possibility of hiding electrical wiring, which is impossible when installing a classic ceiling. After the gypsum board sheets are secured and the joints are covered with masking tape and spackle, you can proceed to finishing work using any suitable material. Decoration is done with wallpapers or alkyd enamel. Many prefer hand-painted surface. It should be noted that in a room with low ceiling height (less than 3 meters), light tones are recommended, as dark tones visually reduce space.

Design: Pavel Polynov Design Studio

Multilevel Ceilings

These structures with two or more levels look original and at the same time luxurious. This is where designers have a wide field of activity! Wavy level boundaries, zigzags, matte and glossy details, decorative inserts, mirrors, colored lighting, 3D wallpapers - all this can be implemented using gypsum board. Among multilevel structures, two-level ceilings are most popular due to their relative simplicity: constructing multilevel ceilings requires more time and financial costs, plus the need to hire specialists, which also requires money.

Design: Elena Markina

Ornamental Gypsum Board Ceilings

Their characteristic feature is unique design, implying the presence of various and complex elements: ornamental details in the form of leaves, flowers, curls, as well as stars, moon and even clouds. To create such figures, special skill is required. However, the result will give its effect: you will get a beautiful gypsum board ceiling in the living room, unique in its kind. When creating an ornamental ceiling, it should be remembered that the color palette of its elements should harmonize with wall and furniture shades to create a cohesive design picture.

Design: Jean-Louis Denio

Gypsum Board Ceiling Design: Stylistics

The versatility of Gypsum Board allows creating structures that meet almost any style. The most popular variants of gypsum board ceiling decoration in the living room, depending on the chosen style, are considered below.

Design: Natalia Tarhanova

Classic Style

Here, straight lines are preferred. As for the living room itself, it features massive furniture, many additional accessories in the form of large vases, figurines on shelves and heavy draperies. All this will harmonize well with a ceiling in gray-white tones. The structure is better made with two or more levels. As an example, a ceiling where a luxurious classical chandelier in the center of the room is placed in a kind of square or rhomboid niche can be mentioned.

Modern Style

This is a style that has been somewhat forgotten and has recently reappeared in the 21st century, captivating imagination with unconventional curved lines of interior elements combined with modern materials. For a ceiling made in this style, a multi-tiered structure with smooth lines is characteristic. An original composition will look well where a chandelier of an unusual shape is installed in the center of the ceiling, fixed in a kind of protruding socket with a complex configuration. Along the edges of the room, one level lower along the perimeter, point lights with edging can be installed.

High-Tech Style

First and foremost, this is correct geometric shapes that are easy to assemble using gypsum board sheets. One of the features of this style is a glossy surface; therefore, the ceiling must be painted with appropriate paint that gives shine after drying. It is better to choose gray, resembling metal. Mirrors are also welcome, which are placed on the walls and ceiling itself, creating a reflecting effect.

Design: MEDIANA Interiors Studio

Loft Style

Many might find the combination of comfort and industrial interior strange. But this is exactly what the «loft» style is about. Walls can be finished with red or silicate brick (the material on top is coated with varnish) or made in the form of concrete panels. Partitions are made from glass, and water supply and sewage pipes are not masked but displayed on show. If there are no classic metal pipes or cast iron radiators, their imitation is made (modern polypropylene products and heating units here are inappropriate).

When installing a gypsum board ceiling in the living room, it is desirable to make false beams - using Gypsum Board, this can be done quite quickly. Choose shades of terracotta, beige, gray, dark white. For an accent (for example, to emphasize the same beams), use blue or dark red tones.

Frame Suspended Ceilings

This is a structure where a box made of Gypsum Board is initially planned to be installed around the perimeter of the room. The corners of the rectangle or square can be either straight or slightly curved. If the ceiling is two-level, the box may be located in the center of the ceiling or have a look of several connected rectangles forming a niche in the middle. The frame ceiling is a relatively simple structure that can be created independently

Design: Nadezhda Zотовa

Diagonal Ceilings

This is a more complex system but allowing to create ceiling decoration that will beautify any living room. This implies the construction of several levels made not in straight lines but in zigzags, waves or arcs. Such a solution will not only stylishly decorate the hall but also divide it into zones if necessary, which is very relevant for small apartments. For example, you can separate a sector for rest and games if the living space is a one-room apartment.

Gypsum Board Ceilings in a Small Living Room

If the room height is small, it makes sense to use a single-level structure. With proper surface and complementary element arrangement, you can achieve visual expansion of the small hall. For high ceilings, boldly apply multi-level systems. There are several proven techniques:

• install mirrors on the ceiling (a two-level structure is needed);
  
• combine a suspended gypsum board ceiling with a glossy stretch ceiling.
  
• do not emphasize the boundary between walls and ceiling, for which both surfaces should have the same color (it is better to do without baseboards in this case, and only choose light shades);
  
• if the living room has a rectangular shape, a square on the ceiling in the form of a niche or protruding level will visually expand the room.
  

Structures from Gypsum Board Combined with Stretch Ceilings

These systems are called hybrid. Their main feature is wider possibilities for creating an unusual design of a gypsum board ceiling. There is a combination of the advantages of two different systems: Gypsum Board structures allow creating ornamental elements, while a PVC ceiling provides a perfectly smooth glossy surface. You can create a frame structure around the perimeter from Gypsum Board, and place a square or rectangle of stretch type in the center (in the form of a niche). Also, good results are achieved by applying the diagonal method of mounting gypsum board sheets and PVC sheet.

Materials and Installation of Gypsum Board Suspended System

In addition to the gypsum board sheets themselves, metal profiles, hangers and connectors (crabs) will be needed. The installation of elements is done with self-tapping screws. If the walls and base ceiling are concrete, dowels will be required. Before starting the work, you need to decide on the type of lighting. If only a chandelier is planned to be hung, the room height will decrease by 5 cm. When using recessed lights, this parameter will be equal to 10 cm. The following is a more complex variant.

At the first stage, marking is performed using a plumb line and construction level (a laser level is better to use). Find the lowest angle of the room and measure from the floor at this point so that the line to the ceiling does not reach by 10 cm. Now draw parallel lines along the wall with a marker. These lines are used for mounting metal strips. Next, mark the ceiling, where you also need to draw lines. Don't forget to take into account the width of the sheets so that their edges align exactly with the profiles. Secure hangers at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other and attach the metal strips to them. To give the frame rigidity, perpendicular strips should be secured with «crabs». The result will be a lattice frame.

The next stage is to determine the locations of point lights, chandelier and run electrical wiring to the appropriate places. Usually, two switches are made: one of them is connected to recessed devices, the other - to the chandelier. After that, you can proceed to mounting the sheets on the frame (this should be done in pairs). Gypsum board cutting is performed with a knife: draw a line with some effort and the Gypsum Board, laid on the edge of the table, is broken (similarly to how you work with glass).

The sheets are secured in the required places and, at the same time, holes are drilled with a drill and special bit for point lights (the wires should be run in advance in the places where they will be fixed). It should be noted that the chandelier is attached to the base ceiling, not to the profile. When mounting Gypsum Board, screws should be driven in at a distance of no less than 1 cm from the edge. The mounting step is 10-15 cm. Pay attention that the screw heads should be recessed into the sheet no more than 1 mm, otherwise cardboard will tear and gypsum will crumble, and the fasteners will not hold the sheet.

Final Finishing

When all sheets are secured, wait a couple of days for the structure to «settle» and acquire natural balance. Apply reinforcing mesh tape at the joints to prevent cracks in the finishing material in the future. Then, fill all gaps and indentations formed by the recessed screw heads with spackle. At the final stage, only paint the ceiling in the selected color or cover it with wallpapers according to the style of the entire living room. The last point is installing lights and chandelier.

Recommendations from Olga Pochueva

Features of Lights for Gypsum Board Ceiling

On one side, a suspended ceiling with recessed point lights reduces the room height by 10 cm, but with proper lighting organization, this can be compensated (visually, of course). But first, you need to choose the appropriate device. What does the market offer, which products are best suited for gypsum board ceiling? Lights are classified by construction:

• recessed: installed almost flush with the ceiling surface, may have a rotating mechanism which is very convenient for lighting specific zones;
  
• suspended chandeliers: fixed to a metal profile pre-installed.
  

There is also classification by the method of light emission. Here, a choice should be made according to electricity consumption, lamp size, service life, possibility of connecting to a dimmer (a device for smooth brightness regulation) and cost. The following types of products are available in the market:

• incandescent filament lamps: work directly from 220 volts, are cheap, can work with a dimmer, but have large dimensions and heat up significantly during operation, so they are not recommended for installation in stretch structures (if you have a hybrid ceiling);
  
• fluorescent: consume less energy if compared with the previous type, also have large dimensions and cannot be connected to a dimmer;
  
• halogen: economical and compact (no more than 4 cm in height) devices operating under the condition of using a step-down transformer (to 12 volts), allow using dimmer;
  
• LED lighting: most preferred option - lamps are characterized by long operational life, minimal electricity consumption, fire safety, no heat generation of the housing, possibility of emitting colored light beams, but they are relatively expensive.
  

Color Solutions for Gypsum Board Ceiling

To make the living room stylish and cozy, you should remember simple rules related to color decoration of the surface. For a small room, only light shades should be used: pale pink, milk, beige and so on. But in a spacious room, you can abandon this «canon»: for a two-level structure, for example, a combination of chocolate (a little of it) and white colors is suitable. If they harmonize with the living room setting, this will give an effect of respectability and some luxury. Also, don't forget about LED lighting: these devices can emit light streams of various shades, completely transforming the room - during the day you will have one ceiling, and in the evening - a completely different one!

When designing a living room, pay attention to gypsum board. Combined with low cost and the widest possibilities in terms of creating unique structures and design, this material will help create a unique ceiling and thus make your living room original and cozy.

Design: Svetlana Yurkova

Design Variants of Gypsum Board Ceiling