Whitney Houston once famously said “crack is whack.” I don’t think she had the ceiling of Clara’s room in mind when she said it, but hopefully she’d agree that the situation around Clara’s aqua-colored capiz chandelier could indeed be called “whack.”
You never saw this in any previous photos – nor could you really notice it that much in real life – but when installing Clara’s light fixture (which we got here for $50) we became well aware of this unsightly ceiling problem that was previously hidden beneath the larger based ceiling fan. So we finally got around to fixing it. And it was easy thanks to this $19 ceiling medallion that we got at Home Depot. Gotta love when a quick project doesn’t snowball into something nightmare-ish.
Sure, we could’ve spackled the cracks, but we’ve always toyed with the idea of a decorative medallion in her room (especially since we plan to paint her ceiling and add crown molding down the line) so the fact that adding one now would be both decorative and functional pushed us over the edge and we decided to take the plunge (two idioms in one sentence – how many bonus points is that?).
We went with a fairly simple bead-like bordered design, instead of a more ornate version, just because we figured it would fit the style of Clara’s room best (slightly feminine & slightly modern). And the 16″ diameter seemed just right for the size of her fixture. Plus, this version was a cinch to install. Basically I just had to remove the light fixture – which really shows off the crack problem:
And reattach the whole thing with the wires now threaded through the medallion. It looked a little something like this mid-project:
All I had to do after that step was screw the fixture back to the ceiling to hold everything in place. Since these smaller sized medallions are so light (they’re made of plastic, but look convincingly like carved wood once they’re hung) the instructions didn’t require any screwing or gluing to the ceiling to keep it in place. The light fixture itself does all the work. I guess that’s so the medallion can focus on covering up those cracks.
Someday Sherry wants to put some white paint on that metal ring to help it blend even more, but for now we think Ms. Houston would be proud of our crack-free results. Especially considering the whole thing took me about 15 minutes to do.
We also like that when the light is on it kinda makes the whole fixture look a bit more stately thanks to the ceiling reflections that “play” nicely with the new medallion.
It totally makes us excited to paint the ceiling and add crown molding down the line in there (even though the medallion is paintable, we think it’ll look best to keep it white so it pops off whatever soft ceiling color we settle on someday).
Have any of you guys used ceiling medallions in your home? Was it to hide a problem or just for looks?
Ali says
You guys are so funny – love how you never miss a great pop culture reference. Do you ever watch The Soup? I think you would crack (is whack) up at it. Totally your sense of humor. Anywho, I love that these medalions exist – what a great idea – not only did it fix the problem, but it’s a great dash of flair!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes it’s one of our favorites. Joel McHale kills us.
xo,
s
ALittleBite says
It looks lovely! And I’m sure it’ll look even better once you get around to adding crown molding.
aluck says
I’m glad you posted this! I have the same issue around the ceiling fan in my living room. Now that I know how simple and cheap this is – I think we will go ahead and fix or whacky crack problem.
Tiffany says
Love this chandelier! X
OXOX,
http://outfitidentifier.com/
Kelly Carlson says
This made such a big difference! I can’t wait to see what you do in your bedroom (for lighting, that is ; ) and for the happy days when you get around to painting all those ceilings!
Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says
We had one in our dining room but removed it when we changed fixtures. It will look nice white when you paint the ceiling and will tie in nicely with crown.
annabelvita says
My goodness, I would never have believed what a difference such a small change would make! Looks great.
Lindsey says
Wow…..I love the way the medallion looks withh the light on!!! I’m going to go buy one….
Angela says
We have 3 in our home strictly decorative but I really like them.
This looks great and a great solution to your problem.
Deb says
I used one in my bedroom, to hid the cut out from the ceiling fan fixture when I replaced it with an Ikea chandelier. Same deal as yours, nothing super ornate, just a simple one.
adria says
We used one in our dining room to hide some blemishes when we swapped ceiling fixtures.
We also used a plastic one, but painted it the same white as the ceiling to soften it a little bit – without the paint it looked like plastic, with the paint it looks wonderful and like real solid wood. Love this quick fix!
Stefanie says
“Do you have the receipts?!” Man, that was one of the greatest interviews ever, besides this whole Charlie Sheen thing we’ve got going on right now.
That ceiling medallion is a great fix..and I think adds so much more to the chandelier.
Kudos.
Care says
“Do you have the receipts?!”
that made me lol!
Tiffany says
love, love, love it! Medallions always make such a big statement!
Nicole says
Looks fantastic!
We used one because we replaced a light with a fan in our bedroom and the hole was too big. One day we hope to patch the ceiling, but for now, it was easy and cheap to just stick a medallion up!
Andrea Surrey says
Never used one, but I love the way it looks. Makes a statement!
Ashley says
I LOVE that her room is so elegant and has a great ability to be transitional. I admit that I do love “baby” rooms, but it is so nice to see a baby’s room that is both baby-ish and not baby-ish. You guys have done such a wonderful job of creating a warm, inviting, beautiful room that will grow with Clara for years! Thanks for always sharing the updates! When we eventually need a nursery, I will make sure to link back to Clara’s as inspiration!!!
Reenie says
I have one just like that ~ that I need to take back :) I ended up not needing it. I (my BIL) put beadboard on the ceiling in my dining room and he thought the hole he cut would be too big for the chandelier, but it worked out okay. I (he) used a smaller on in my hallway tho ~ and I love it.
Cait @ Hernando House says
The medallion looks great! Glad your crack didn’t snowball! Our library has a crack in the ceiling, and it it turned out to be caused by a minor roof leak near out chinmey (which thankfully was only a $20 fix, but it was still a pain).
Cait @ Hernando House says
Whoops, I meant ‘our’ chinmey.
maryb says
how pretty! shes such a lucky girl.
Amy N says
Even though you couldn’t notice the crack before, it looks even better with the medallion!
Quick lighting question… Is it fairly easy to change a light fixture without hiring an electrician? I hate to hire people for things that I can do myself!
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, we just turn off the power to the whole house and pay attention to what we’re unhooking and then just reconnect the wires in the same way. Definitely consult an online tutorial or how to book before attempting it though. Safety first!
xo,
s
sarah says
The popcorn on our ceiling was falling around a hardwired smoke detector. Rather than deal with repairing (or tearing out all of the popcorn) we used a ceiling medallion. Certainly easy, and our smoke detector is much snazzier now!
katie t says
LOVE THIS! I had never seen one of those used before and wasnt sure about it (the picture on the box with the fan wasn’t lookin so hott)…. but I think it looks so great in Clara’s room! Awesome job!!
Jessica says
Random and kinda of unrelated question (though you did mention painting). I’m always amazed at how quickly you guys paint a room. Do you usually paint the ceilings and moldings (doors, windows, base boards etc.) before painting a room (the guest room for example)or do you just update the wall color?
If you do paint it all, do you paint the moldings first or last?
Love reading you guys everyday – you are great inspiration. My husband is very used to the phrase “Well younghouselove did…”
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We rarely do things in “the right” order. Haha. So in the case of the guest room we just painted the walls and left the trim/ceiling/doors as is for now. In the case of the living room we did the trim and beams after we painted the walls, which worked out really well for us. But some people prefer to paint trim and beams before walls so you can go out of the lines a bit. I just use a short handled brush and I’m a-ok. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
[email protected] says
Had to use medallions in our last house – the 1960s brick ranch contractors used big ugly square flat-surface light fixtures in the ceiling. When we removed those and attempted to put up a nice fixture, the 90 degree corners from the open space still showed. We did what you did to hide the ugly. Love Clara’s chandelier!
Anissa says
How does one find funky light fixtures like Clara’s? I know you guys said you found this one at a local store, but are there search terms or some such thing that those of us home-decor morons can use to find something similar?
Or websites you recommend?
YoungHouseLove says
We actually just use the yellow pages and recommendations from friends to find cool local fixtures. You can also search colors or terms online (ex: google “aqua capiz chandelier”) to try to find something similar. Good luck!
xo,
s
Pammy says
Love the medallion! We have one in our dining room and entryway. We inherited them with our house. We are planning on adding crown to our living room… So, since you hang your curtains “high and wide” will you have to shift them down a bit to accommodate the crown molding?
YoungHouseLove says
We tried to account for the future molding and hang the rods right under where it will go, but we can always rehang them and just caulk and paint those small holes if we do.
xo,
s
Angela says
We used a medallion in our dining room to cover the original hole when we moved the fixture over a bit so that it hung directly over the table. We also painted it to match the ceiling. Looks beautiful and we love it!
Ericka says
I love the title! How in the world did Whitney get so crazy? I know. Two words: Bobby Brown
Love the medallion! Used one for our ceiling fan and thought, “Why didn’t we do this for all our ceiling fans?!” Awesome invention:)
Erika @ Blonde Moments In The Burbs says
How have you (or me) not discovered these sooner?! LOVE IT!
Lynn Somers-Davis says
Curious, what wall color did you use? And as an aside, what do you think about painting ceilings a shade (pale) to contrast?? I’m thinking of redoing my daughter’s room in these shades of aqua and lavender.
YoungHouseLove says
We used a color called Proposal by Benjamin Moore’s Affinity line color matched to Olympic’s No-VOC paint. And as for lighter ceilings, we love that look!
xo,
s
Jenna {Jenna Sais Quois} says
I am loving that chandelier. I think paired with the medallion, it kind of looks like a jellyfish. But that makes me love it all the more! Perfect for a kid’s room.
Stacy says
I’ve actually used a ceiling medallion to help center a light above my dinning room table.
The original owners/builders of my condo weren’t excellent at measuring and the opening was off center. So I used the a 32″ medallion (the same style you used for Clara) to conceal the original hole. I simply aligned the center of the medallion where I consider to be center of my ceiling and threaded the wiring over. Ta-da!
My inner perfectionist is always pleased with this little trick :)
Snickrsnack Katie says
Wow, I LOVE that!
Izabela says
Oh my goodness…what a difference it makes. I have never used one, but I will now…and we don’t even have any cracks to cover.
kelsey says
Living in a 1960’s ranch that wasn’t well maintained, we “ain’t skeered” of a medallion to hide some ugly! Looks great! Love that Clara’s room!
Funnelcloud Rachel says
I’ve noticed in a couple rooms in your house you’ve mentioned that you plan to paint the ceilings later – after you’ve already painted the walls. How do you guys do this?! We always end up getting little paint splatters (and sometimes an errant drip – oops) on our walls when painting the ceilings, so we make sure to do the ceilings first. Are we just sloppy or is there a secret?
YoungHouseLove says
We’re just bad at doing things in “the right” order. Haha. But I think after painting a million and one walls (and ceilings) we’ve learned how to keep drips at bay (by not loading the roller or brush with too much paint and taking our time). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
ErikaT says
I just discovered your blog through a friend of mine and I think its the best thing since sliced bread! I am a BIG fan! Love all your ideas and your brilliant creativity! Keep it coming! I could use some decorating help from you – I am renting a beautiful carriage house on an old estate on NY’s Long Island and it is in desperate need of some decorating ideas!
Ginger says
We used one in our living room to fix a similar problem. We weren’t sure which size to use so we bought 2, one smaller and 1 larger. I painted the smaller one before we installed it and it looked horrible!!! It actually made it look more like plastic, so we just installed the larger one as is and have no intention of painting it down the road. Ours is nearly identical to the one you put up and you can’t tell at all that it is plastic (especially against a white cieling/light fixture).
Robin says
I’ve never loved medallions but you (as usual) make them look good!
Sandy says
Have exactly the same in my son’s rooms and had a problem with one. For whatever reason it really got hot and the plastic started to melt. Took it down right away. Don’t seem to have a problem in the other room though. Perhaps cause the ceiling opening is smaller … no idea. Just becareful.
Allie says
That looks great :) I think the medallion makes that light fixture look much more pronounced. I dig ::thumbs up::
emily @ the happy home says
such a smart move! unfortunately, most of our ceilings aren’t flat– they’re vaulted and slanty, so no getting around the uggo lamp bases!
Anna says
Based on the three rooms that the previous owners added those to in our house, an unpainted medallion with a differently-painted ceiling tends to make the medallion look obviously plastic. We’re planning on caulking around the base and painting the whole dealio.
Christine says
I love the look of medallions! It’s like an accessory for your ceiling. Great fix.
jeanne says
1. Clara’s light fixture is fabulous.
2. I love your mother’s raking abilities.
3. I am so jealous you have no snow.
4. OH MY GOD.. you have a fantastic paved driveway.
xo jeanne in the frozen tundra of MN.
Jenna says
omgaaa THANK YOU for posting. I have a crack around where my chandelier hangs and was thinking that something like this would cost like $99 but for $19!!! Im going to Home Depot after work today and fix it tonight!!! its driving me crazy! THANK YOU!!!
Denise says
That’s a perfect medallion for Clara’s lovely room. I hope you don’t mind this question, but does Clara like to sleep in her crib? There are so many beautifully designed nurseries in blogland, yet the babies don’t seem to sleep in their rooms! I have a feeling that you’re going to say, “Clara loves her crib and her nursery” since it was the first room you put together in your new house.
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, you guessed it. Clara loves her crib. She has been sleeping in it since the day we got home from the hospital and she’s a great sleeper (probably in some part thanks to the consistency of using it since day one). Thank goodness for good sleepers!
xo,
s
Megan says
That looks great! If we ever get around to calling an electrician in to install ceiling lights in our house (our living room and two of our three bedrooms aren’t even wired for ceiling fixtures and yes, it’s annoying!)we’re going to put a medallion in the living room.
Claudia says
I want one so badly, a large ornate one for our living room, it’s down on the list of priorities, though. waa.
Felicity @ Our Little Beehive says
Love it, and any more detail to distract Clara for just a few more minutes in the morning are just added bonus points for you. Hey, you might get an hour more sleep this year just because of the medallion. Is that stretching its benefits too far? :)