Finishing the ceilings with fabric looks quite rich and stylish. There is a huge selection of colors and textures that are suitable for decoration. There are also many ways to finish. It is about them that we will try to tell as much as possible in our article.
What are fabric ceilings?
There are several ways to finish the ceiling with fabric, the most popular are:
- Draped canvases.
- Stretched fabric ceilings.
- Pasting the surface of the ceiling with silk material.
These are the main types, then we will consider them in as much detail as possible. All have both advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, sometimes the shortcomings are so serious that the choice of method is unacceptable in a particular case. And then we will talk about what types of structures exist, as well as how to install fabric stretch ceilings with your own hands. But first things first.
Fabric stretch ceilings
They are made from specialcanvases based on synthetic material and impregnation of polyurethane. Fastening is carried out on special baguettes using clips mounted around the entire perimeter of the room. Among the advantages are the following:
- No draft ceiling required.
- High strength and durability.
- High fire resistance.
- The surface is perfectly flat.
- With their help, a perfectly smooth and even ceiling is obtained.
But there are also disadvantages, and some may find them too serious:
- Not a very large selection of colors - only basic and their shades. Therefore, in some cases it is difficult to find the perfect option for a particular design.
- The pattern can be applied only after the final installation of the ceiling.
- Skill is required to install the ceiling structure.
- If you decide to dismantle the ceiling, you will have to buy a new canvas - the old one will not work.
These types of ceilings are ideal for rooms decorated in a classic style. They unobtrusively and gently emphasize the decoration of walls and furniture. At the same time, they will not divert attention to themselves. Can be used in offices, living rooms, even bedrooms.
But you can’t install these types of ceilings in rooms with high humidity - condensation and dirt will collect on the material. In kitchens, you should not use them either - all odors will be absorbed by the material, and grease and soot will remain on the surface. pay attention tothat it is allowed to manufacture stretch ceilings from natural fabrics. But the main thing is to choose the right canvas. It should have such a width that there are no extra seams. Usually curtain types of fabrics are used. Next, we will talk about how to make a fabric ceiling with your own hands.
Draped fabric ceiling
This variety involves the use of any fabric - you can use organza, translucent chiffon, and even smooth silk. Due to the fact that different textures are used, it turns out to achieve the desired effect, to give the surface a certain shape. Designs with two layers are very popular, in this case, a drapery is mounted on top of a stretched smooth ceiling made of dense types of fabric.
Usually a translucent shimmery material is used for it. If desired, you can decorate with drapery both individual elements and the entire surface of the ceiling. Fasteners are made in this way:
- Using staples or small nails with wood guides.
- Using tape.
- On a wooden frame, which is subsequently fixed to the ceiling.
Before you stretch the fabric ceiling with your own hands, you need to decide on the type of construction. Among the advantages of a draped ceiling are the following:
- No need for costly rough preparation.
- Do-it-yourself installation is very easy.
- If necessary, you canremove blade to clean or replace.
- High resistance to various kinds of mechanical stress.
- Large selection of colors, patterns, textures. With this material, you can create the perfect finish.
- The cost is not very high, but the material is of high quality and reliable.
Disadvantages of a draped ceiling
But there are also significant drawbacks, among which the following stand out:
- The level of the ceiling drops very much due to the drapery. Therefore, you should not install such a ceiling if the height of the rooms is less than 2.7 m.
- The fabric is a fire hazardous material, so special attention should be paid to the quality of fixtures and wiring.
Drapery can be stretched in rooms where you want to create a cozy and homely atmosphere. For example, it can be a nursery or a bedroom, a dining room, a living room, an open veranda or a terrace. And you can install it in the summer, and remove it in the winter. Stretching a fabric ceiling with your own hands will not take much time.
Ceilings will fit very well into rooms decorated in Empire or Oriental style. Here, smooth fabrics will decorate rooms in country and Provence styles. And as for children's rooms, then for them you can use fabrics with some magical motifs, heroes of your favorite fairy tales. Any fabric is suitable for making drapery, the main condition is that it must be resistant to sunlight. It should also keep its shape for a long time.
Pasting ceilings with fabrics
To finishceiling in this way, usually satin or silk is used. Cloths are glued end-to-end on a previously prepared surface. In fact, the procedure is very similar to wallpapering. The most important thing is to use special adhesives that will not leave streaks and will not change the structure of the material. Please note that silk can be either plain or printed with a pattern. Through the use of light-colored fabrics, you can visually increase the height of the ceilings, expand the room, give it a soft glow.
Due to bright colored fabrics, you can attract attention and achieve originality. When installing a fabric stretch ceiling with your own hands, you get the following advantages:
- Rich and stylish appearance.
- The material is clean, does not emit harmful substances and will not disturb the air exchange in the room.
- Does not fade in use.
- Will not lower the ceiling level in the room.
- Do-it-yourself installation possible.
But there are drawbacks:
- Be sure to carefully align the draft ceiling, make the yoke perfectly smooth.
- After gluing, the fabric cannot be removed and washed.
- Must choose material carefully.
You can paste over the ceiling with a cloth in any room - both in the office and in the bedroom. The main thing is to choose the right pattern and shade. Very often, designers finish niches in the ceiling with silk. When choosing colored silk, you must consider the overall style of the room and its size. Bright large drawingwill visually expand the room. But stuffed small is able to give her comfort. If the ceilings in the room are low, it is best to use light-colored fabrics.
What tools and materials are needed
Textile ceilings can be ordered from specialized companies, and if you have a tool and certain skills, you can easily install them yourself. This work is not very difficult, you need to follow the technology and be careful. To install a fabric ceiling with your own hands, buying a set of baguettes and fabric will not be enough. We need to prepare more materials.
You will need:
- Canvas made from polyester or other fabric;
- guide baguettes with clips;
- hammer drill, drill - depends on what material the walls are made of;
- tape measure, scissors and knife;
- level;
- Shovel for filling the canvas in a baguette;
- painting tools for removing old finishes and surface preparation.
Stages of work
In order to make this type of stretch ceiling yourself, you need to adhere to the following algorithm:
- Prepare the surface. Under fabric ceilings, you do not need to perfectly level the surface, just remove the old peeling coating or finish. Paint or whitewash is removed with a spatula or wash. The wallpaper must be removed and the remaining glue washed off. Seal cracks, seams and cavities with putty. Allsuspended structures must be completely dismantled, from the fastening of the frame, the holes must be sealed with putty. If this is not done, the sound insulation will deteriorate significantly.
- Now start marking the level of the guide elements. In order for the ceiling to be even and horizontal, it is necessary to carefully mark it in level. It is most convenient to use a laser, but if it is not there, then you can get by with a simple bubble one. Marking should start from the lowest angle. Retreat from the surface of the ceiling at least 5 cm, draw lines with a pencil or marker. Use a level on both adjacent walls. Draw lines to the corners, put a mark in them. From these marks, draw lines in the same way to the last corner. Ideally, if they converge at one point. This means the job is done right.
- Proceed to install the guide elements. As guides, it is best to use baguettes for a stretch ceiling made of aluminum or plastic. They have special clips, under which the canvas is tucked with a spatula or spatula. Fasten the guides along the pre-applied marking lines using dowels and self-tapping screws. Make holes in the wall with a drill or a puncher every 0, 3-0, 4 m.
- The next step is the installation of platforms for lamps. At the same time, strictly follow the instructions for the device that you have chosen.
- You are cutting the fabric. The fabric for the ceiling must be cut strictly according to the size of the room, leaving allowances of at least 20 cm on each side. Textile,when compared with PVC canvas, it is not very elastic, so it will not work out to stretch it. It is important to correctly calculate the required width and cut the material. Cloths from a specialized material are selected according to the width of the room. While the length is rolled in place from the roll.
- The process is in full swing, now you need to fix the canvas. It is straightened and leveled in such a way that the same allowances remain on all sides. Step back from the corner at least 50 cm, temporarily fix the canvas in a baguette, maintaining a step of 50-70 cm without strong tension around the perimeter of the room. Ceilings should be fixed from the middle of the shortest walls. Then you fix the long walls, and fill the corners in baguettes as a last resort. The fabric is tucked into the baguette using a rounded spatula.
- The last stage of work with the main canvas is trimming and final fastening. Gradually tighten the canvas, align and stretch it to an elastic state. The excess must be cut off with a mounting knife or scissors. The rest of the fabric after trimming with a spatula is tucked into a baguette.
- Well, that's all, the main part is fixed, now you need to install a decorative plinth that will close the gap between the ceiling and walls.
- The last step is the installation of fixtures. To do this, cut holes in the canvas of the required size. Apply adhesive to the mounting ring. It is glued to the canvas in place of the lamp in such a way that the centers coincide. After setting with the fabric, the material in the ring must be carefully cut out. Adjustthe height of the lamp, so that as a result it is at the level of the canvas. Only after that screw the lamp. It is advisable to use simple lamps up to 60 W or halogen up to 35 W. So it will be possible to avoid strong heating and deformation of the canvas in the lamp area.
Fabric stretch ceilings can also be mounted on wooden bars installed around the entire perimeter of the room. In this case, the fabric is fixed on the guides with the help of a construction stapler. After the attachment point, you need to close it with a plinth or polyurethane baguette.
Draped Ceiling Mounting Tools
Unlike smooth ones, draped ones do not need to be pulled tight. They can form waves or folds. You can collect the fabric in the center of the room and get a tent. You can pre-mount the frame on the ceiling and add relief and curves in certain places.
In order to install a fabric ceiling with your own hands, you will need the following tools and materials:
- Wooden bars measuring 20 x 40 or 40 x 40 mm, depending on the density and weight of the fabric, as well as the dimensions of the room.
- Drill, hardware for fixing bars to walls.
- Electric jigsaw.
- Level, roulette.
- Fabric (you can use one or more types).
- Ribbon or elastic for curtains. It will allow you to make perfectly even folds.
- Construction stapler.
- Decorative polyurethane baguette, small nails for fixing it.
The most important task is to correctly calculate the dimensions of the fabric for drapery. In order to avoid mistakes, it is recommended to draw a sketch of your ceiling to scale. After that, you can cut out canvases from soft paper on the same scale. Fold them like an accordion and set on top of the drawing. The larger the fold, the denser the drapery will be. It is also necessary to leave allowances for fastening to the guide elements.
The ceiling is prepared before installing the draped fabric in the same way as when installing the tension structure. If the fabric is translucent, and the ceiling is of a non-uniform dark color, then it is better to pre-paint it or at least putty it with a light composition. The marking of the walls for the guide bars is carried out according to the technology described above.
Draped ceiling installation instructions
And now let's talk about how to install a stretch fabric ceiling with your own hands. The step-by-step instruction is something like this:
- Cut the bars and markup. Drill small holes in them, a step of about 40-50 cm. After that, mark the wall through them. To do this, apply the bar with the lower edge to the line drawn in advance.
- Now attach the guide bars. According to the markup, drill holes in the walls and hammer dowels into them. After that, fasten the bars with screws. If you need to create a complex-shaped ceiling, make a frame from the bars.
- Preparing the ceiling for work. Perform fabric cutting. In order tomake the usual longitudinal drapery, sew a simple linen elastic on two opposite sides of the canvas. It will help to gather the fabric into folds. To arrange a tent-shaped ceiling, you need to cut out several strips of fabric of the same width. It is allowed to use canvases of various shades - this can give charm to the tent. One side needs to be collected, the second is evenly distributed over the entire width of the sector.
- Now proceed to fasteners. Grab the corners of the fabric to the bars with a stapler, evenly distribute the folds. Fasten the canvas around the perimeter. Use a stapler for thick materials. Thin fabric is best pressed to the bar with a wooden plank and nailed with small nails.
- The last step is the installation of decorative baguettes. They will close the gaps between the ceiling and walls. As you can see, do-it-yourself installation of a fabric stretch ceiling is quite simple, but you have to follow certain requirements.
How to paste ceilings?
Pasting with a cloth is almost no different from wallpapering. The preparation only needs to be done more carefully, otherwise the fabric will not be able to stick. The adhesive material must be strong enough. It is best to choose natural or artificial silks.
It is necessary to purchase and prepare the following materials and tools:
- Satin or silk fabric.
- Mastic or glue.
- Painting tool for puttying and surface leveling.
- Foam roller for compounding and hard for leveling;
- Scissors, tape measure, level.
Do-it-yourself installation of a fabric stretch ceiling is performed in the following sequence:
- Carefully prepare the surface. The fabric, which is glued to the ceiling, will subsequently reveal all defects and irregularities. Therefore, you will need to carefully prepare it. First you need to remove the old coating, and then seal all the seams and cracks. Level the ceiling with putty. Dry and apply a primer.
- Preparing the fabric. It needs to be checked to see how it fits. To do this, you need to measure a small piece of fabric, wet it and dry it at room temperature. Again, measure and calculate shrinkage. If it is more than 5%, then the fabric will first have to be moistened and dried or ironed with steam. Otherwise, it will shrink when applied and fall off. And you will have to re-install the fabric ceiling with your own hands.
- Next, the material is cut. Cutting the fabric into strips is carried out only after the final check of shrinkage. Leave allowances of about 10 cm. If there is a large pattern on the fabric, you need to adjust it in advance and, taking this into account, cut the fabric. It is best to roll the strips of material into rolls. Put them on the rod, and when gluing, gradually roll out. It is most convenient to do this procedure together.
For gluing the material, you can use casein glue, special mastics or furniture hot melt adhesive, which hardens when exposed to heat. At the same time, the fabric is heated with a building hair dryer. Prepare the composition strictly according to the instructions. Apply it to the ceiling surface with a foam roller. Then apply a strip of material and level it with a hard roller.
Glue the next strip end-to-end, diligently roll the seam. Cut off the rest of the fabric near the walls. Dry the glue or mastic according to the instructions. Finish the joints of the walls and ceiling with a decorative plinth or baguette, fix them also on the adhesive. This completes the installation of the fabric ceiling with your own hands.
