Saturday, February 27, 2010

To cathedral or not to Cathedral, that is the question! By interior designer, Amanda Burdge



As a designer I have a tendency to have bloated thoughts in reality. I live in a fantasy world of rather large ideas and notions of how the world should be and look. Contemplating each move with utmost concentration as if playing a game of chess I aspire to change all the ugly in the world and make it into something captivating and pleasing to the eye. Now my thoughts in judgment can be mischievous. Without you knowing I may come from behind to the right, make you turn left, and hit you over the head with my mojo bat, like the magic designer I am. Without you ever realizing, I sprinkle you with designer fairy dust (full of doe eyed excitement) and with enchanted dexterity you react as if it were your idea all along! Truly spellbinding.This is an excerpt from a post I did last July, Being the fairest of them all.



Im currently working on a wonderful new construction project in Kentucky.
We are still in the planning stages of the home and after seeing the first set
of preliminary drawings from the architect I knew we would have to revisit a few things to accommodate the furniture. (Architects always forget this little detail.) After discussing some
ideas and ways to improve the space the architect went back
to the drawing board and came up with a fabulous new fireplace and seating area.


Along with his new plan he included a rough rendering of the new room with
beams. The homeowner was completely against a cathedral ceiling because
she wanted one like this:


After showing her husband the rendering from the architect he loved the idea
of a cathedral ceiling. Uneasy about this new direction she called me.
I went into action! I twisted out a triple lutz and turned into the bewitching,
and enchanting designer I am. With my doe eyed excitement I LOVED the
idea of the wood beamed cathedral ceiling and here was my chance to
hypnotize and captivate! After 15 minutes on the phone I pulled out all
the stops. I charmed, I delighted I DROVE it home. No question about
how I feel about adding this element back into the space! Delighted that
the option was back on the table I swung hard with my designer mojo bat
of MAGIC! With a twinkle in my eye, charisma in my voice and crazy in the
head I cajoled every which way to Sunday. Remember I live in a fantasy
world of rather large ideas and notions of how the world should be and look
and my job is to convince everyone else to purchase tickets.



Im not sure if my Designer Magic Talisman worked. I do tend to have
bloated thoughts in reality and not everyone rides the same train of
imagination. But I am a force to be reckoned with, I can also be
quite annoying, I mean charismatic. On Monday I shall find out if I
allured her into the idea! What are your thoughts? Cathedral or
beam and ceiling?

13 comments:

  1. Your post was a bit wonky and I could not read all of the words but I think I got the gist. Being a goat I am all for high, beamed ceilings.

    So is the publicist. Her yurt has a 18' ceiling with lovely beams.

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  2. I have a room in our house with a cathedral ceiling. Quite impressive when you walk into a room, I think, but if you are looking to save on heating oil that's not the way to go. Maybe because I have one, I don't think I'd go that way again on purpose. We added on this room to our house and that was one of our "wants" at the time. I do like the beamed ceiling you show in the picture of the bedroom. I think when we do eventually down-size, I would prefer no cathedral ceiling.

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  3. great post. i share many thoughts you pointed out in here, and the biggest one is about ugliness. i do everything i can to make spaces (and other spaces) beautiful, though beauty is sometimes difficult to define. my role is life in indeed make people happy within they're world.

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  4. I think Cathedral looks fantastic, but I'm with Kathy above... I don't have a cathedral, but a two story ceiling in the bath (of all places) and it is ALWAYS cold!!!!!!!! But if the heating bill is not an issue... Go Cathedral Go!

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  5. I love exposed wood beams in any room!

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  6. Yes! Set your sights high - literally and figuratively :) A beamed cathedral certainly adds quite the design element. I also agree with the above comments - if heating/cooling is not an issue, then I'd keep waving the magic wand to go that direction. Even if it is a concern, there are so many cool ceiling fan options these days. Keep us posted!

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  7. Great post! If this makes sense, I like a cathedral ceiling, but not too high otherwise I think it gets cold, like Kahty said. The bedroom picture is just gorgeous that you posted - I love those beams.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment!

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  8. I love both. I have seen a switch lately, less cathedral ceilings ... I think that people are tire of trying to heat the high wasted space. Plus some find it hard to have all that wall space and nothing up there. I recently did one and we added a bookcase with a libary ladder to the high wall, it was a hit. The ladder became the element of the unexpected...

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  9. Hello Amanda, I like your project very much. I hope you have so much luck. I follow your blog then I can see the result. I think if the ceiling has wooden beams, it's important that the ceilings are high. Otherwise, the Effeckt as in a cave. Thank you that you have visited my blog. Yes, I write in Spanish but you can read in your language using the Google Translate button in the upper right. Regards Jürgen
    http://camara-de-maravillas.blogspot.com/

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  10. this is a great post...I am not sure which I like better or if I would tire of them fast...I think this is great that we have choices a plenty!
    good post...good work with the fairy dust!

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  11. Thanks for your visit to hill country house. I like both looks - we have a cathedral ceiling in our living room, but the lower, beamed ceiling in our kitchen gives a cozier, warmer look. Both are pretty!

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  12. You are so funny Amanda, whatever the client wants and as long as it works for the architecture of the space. You are brilliant!

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  13. So great! Can I come and live in "your world"?

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