Should Wood Flooring Go On Your Ceiling? Emily Henderson Makes The Case For It

Homeowners enjoy experimenting with what can go on floors and walls to make their space more homey. But a lot of people overlook a huge platform for design — the ceiling! Ceilings can make a great canvas for new design opportunities. And a trusted material like hardwood could be the answer to creating an eye-catching space that is both bold and modern. In fact, there are countless creative ways wood can be used to transform your ceiling. 

HGTV's Emily Henderson is a big advocate for utilizing ceiling space. She encourages tiling bathroom ceilings, and has branched out with the type of materials she uses as wall coverings throughout the home. On Instagram, Henderson shared a space she updated in a cabin-style home surrounded by rich greenery. Wanting to carry the rustic hardwood look beyond the floor, she installed wood flooring on the walls — and the ceiling.

Henderson covered the entire room with wood flooring from the floors to the walls up to the ceiling and back again. The wood-all-over look brought naturalism and character to every inch of the room with the wood's unique graining. Henderson mentioned in her video how this uniform design "made the room feel like a warm hug." One tip she shared was that she didn't use the exact same wood throughout the space. The wood product selected for the wall and ceiling was "[complementary] in tone and a smaller scale" compared to the wood on the floor. On Henderson's blog, she recalled approaching the project with the intent of "There is no such thing as too much wood."

Installing hardwood flooring on your ceiling adds dimension to a space and provides a contemporary update with elements of the trending modern farmhouse aesthetic. You'll need to select a wood product that delivers in terms of fashion and function. The most important thing to do is make sure your choice of hardwood is suitable for a ceiling installation. Do your research — you may want to check with the product's manufacturer to see if it is a practical choice for ceiling applications. Plenty of wood flooring makers have begun putting products on the market that are also suitable for walls and ceilings, typically in the form of an engineered hardwood with extra layers and cores for added protection. But know that if you select a wood product specifically made to be installed only on the floor, installing it on a ceiling could void its warranty.

If you have a newer home with a flat drywall ceiling or an exposed ceiling, it should be a-okay for wood floors to be installed on it. Emily Henderson advised in her blog to only use a product, "if it is high-quality wood flooring with no groove between the planks." She added, "It just looks like beautifully clad wood walls. I wouldn't do this with cheap laminate, most LVFs, or just any wood flooring." Longer planks work best for this type of installation, as staggering smaller wood planks could make the room look busy and disjointed.

Experimental designers have dabbled with installing wallpaper, beadboard, and even latticework on the ceiling. But nothing is more classic than reliable hardwood. Instead of covering the entire ceiling with planks of hardwood flooring, you could use faux wood beams as an alternative. Faux wood beams are a DIY friendly way to give your ceiling an updated makeover. They add a touch of texture and can create a high-end look while taking less time to install. They're also less expensive than purchasing enough wood floor planks to cover every square inch of an entire ceiling.

Beams can be installed vertically or horizontally, and long beams on the ceiling will make smaller rooms look way bigger. Emily Henderson explained in her blog that the direction in which you install beams will dictate how the room will feel. "We felt that the vertical would give it a slightly more '70s vibe as well as accentuate the very high ceilings — both good things," she said about her wood room project. "But installing them horizontally would give it a cozier feel, giving 'log cabin' (in the loosest sense), and since this is a 'river cabin' (also loose term) we went with that."