Kitchen Remodel: Dining Alcove Ceiling

One of the things we liked about our original kitchen, was the tongue & groove walls and ceiling. Unfortunately we had to take some of the walls down for structural repair and insulation. These were mostly exterior walls which we finished with drywall. The remaining walls we left in tongue & groove. When it came to the ceiling, we had two ideas: leave the T&G and add decorative ceiling beams, or install a tin ceiling.

I admit I wasn't real keen on a tin ceiling, but Dan loves them. This was what actually led to our decision to give the dining alcove a different look from the rest of the kitchen. We could use tin panels on the alcove ceiling, and still have our beams in the main part of the kitchen. Plus, because the alcove area is small, 5.5 by 7.5 feet, a tin ceiling would be affordable there; in fact, it cost us less than $275.

The tin ceiling would also solve a couple of problems we had there as well. One was the holes left by two previous light fixtures, which you can see in the photo below.

A hall light used to be on the left, pantry light on the right,
but that was long before we bought the place. 

The second problem, was a couple of buckled ceiling boards....

Problem: buckled ceiling boards between the old light fixtures.

Dan fixed this by cutting between the two boards with his skilsaw and then screwing them tightly to the ceiling joist.....

Solution: screw the buckled boards to the ceiling joist

This flattened the ceiling out nicely, which we needed for nailing the tin panels to. Because we have a wood ceiling, we didn't need to first install a substrate. We could nail the panels directly to the ceiling. All we had to do was run chalk lines, and Dan used a brad nailer to attach the panels.

The panels are 24 inches square, with a 6 inch pattern. Pattern repeat is 12 inches. I figured a small pattern would be better for a small space. Plus it made it easy to know where to cut and fit partial panels.

Next came the crown moulding. This was trickier and we did mess up a little. However, I doubt anyone will notice from a galloping horse.

I had a hard time photographing the whole thing, but here's a fair shot....

And here it is in perspective with the rest of the kitchen....

One end

And the other

I think that about does it for the ceiling, except for the lights. 

Kitchen Remodel: Dining Alcove Ceiling © January 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/