How to Make a Moroccan Fabric Ceiling
Mentioning Morocco immediately conjures up images of open-air markets, homes with keyhole windows, gilt edging and sumptuous fabrics. If you love exotic Moroccan flair but don’t have the time or money to visit, bring it into your bedroom with a draped ceiling.
No matter what your style, a draped ceiling adds drama, color and softness to a bedroom. Even if Moroccan isn’t your cup of tea, mimicking their chic ceilings can give a tired bedroom a surprising lift.
Things You Will Need
- Moroccan-style fabric: satin, shiny, embroidered, flowing, etc.
- Scissors
- Fray stop liquid
- Paintbrush
- Ladder
- Steel thumbtacks
- Rubber mallet
Tip
You may also swag your fabric length- or width-wise from one wall to another. If you don’t have a central light fixture, consider installing a small chandelier with flameless candles. You may also simply screw a decorative metal plate into the ceiling to look like the center of a flower. Clean your fabric every two weeks or each month with a handheld dust buster. This eliminates dust and insects that may nest in the fabric.
Warning
Never allow light bulbs to rest directly against the fabric. When draping, hang the fabric about 10 inches from bare bulbs and 6 inches from glass fixtures.
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Choose a Moroccan-style fabric in a rich color for your bedroom. Indian blue, deep gold, rich oranges and reds, or even deep purples work well. You may also choose a patterned fabric, as long as the pattern is small. Larger patterns won’t show up in the swags.
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Cut the fabric into strips about 4 inches wide and half again as long as your ceiling. For instance, if your ceiling measures 11 feet long, the fabric strips should be 16 feet 6 inches long.
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Paint the edges of each fabric strip with fray-stop liquid. This prevents the pieces from fraying and looking ragged. Snip away any stray threads with scissors.
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Place a ladder in the center of your room. If you have a ceiling light, use it as the center point for your fabric.
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Tack fabric strips to the ceiling in a circle around your light fixture. Hammer in about three tacks per strip to keep them from falling. Steel hammer tacks should work well to hold up lightweight draping fabric like satin.
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Move out about 5 feet from the light fixture and tack the fabric strips to the ceiling there, too, also in a circular pattern. Each strip should create a slight swag, hanging a little away from the ceiling.
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Move to the edges of the ceiling and tack the fabric strips to the ceiling just above your molding. Again, each fabric strip should hang down from the ceiling just slightly.
The Drip Cap
- Mentioning Morocco immediately conjures up images of open-air markets, homes with keyhole windows, gilt edging and sumptuous fabrics.
- If you love exotic Moroccan flair but don’t have the time or money to visit, bring it into your bedroom with a draped ceiling.
- Larger patterns won’t show up in the swags.
- Move to the edges of the ceiling and tack the fabric strips to the ceiling just above your molding.
- Again, each fabric strip should hang down from the ceiling just slightly.
References
Photo Credits
- Digital Vision/Digital Vision/Getty Images
- Digital Vision/Digital Vision/Getty Images
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