This "Mini Ceiling DIY" Was the Best Thing I Did for My Guest Bedroom

Sometimes, even after you complete what you thought would be all the steps of a room makeover, it still doesn’t feel quite complete. When my partner, Ben, and I first moved into our home, our guest room had dark navy blue walls with obvious roller marks all over them — a no for me! I immediately refreshed the bedroom with a few coats of neutral white and installed a floating headboard out of 1x2s that I loved. It made a huge difference, but it still felt like something was missing.

The space felt too stark and a little dull, so after a couple of years I decided it was time for an upgrade. This mini ceiling DIY project did just the trick. Basically, I took the same principles around feature walls and went skyward. (Feature walls have been done to death, IMO.)

I wanted to add an accent color and keep things cohesive with the original 1×2 headboard. I bought more 1×2 boards to create a minimal crown molding, just about 6 inches below on the wall. This created a little “feature ceiling” that’s subtle but still adds visual interest. The molding elevated the whole room and made it all look more cohesive. Plus, it was really simple to pull off. Here’s how I did it.

How I Upgraded the Dull Bedroom Ceiling

First, I gave it a coat of paint.

I taped off the ceiling 6 inches down the wall with some painters tape and applied two coats of Benjamin Moore’s Lambskin in a matte finish to warm the bedroom walls a bit.

I chose PVC for my crown molding.

I cut four 12-foot 1×2 boards down to the dimensions of each wall at a 45-degree angle on each end so they fit together at the corners. Getting the dimensions right was key. If they were too short, they wouldn’t meet at the corners, and I’d have to buy another board to replace it, which would be a bummer.

Although you can buy real wood for a project like this, I ended up using PVC 1x2s because they were more square than the actual wood. The particular batch of wood that was available when I was shopping had rough seams to accommodate the length and each board had a slight curve, which would not look great up on the ceiling, so that helped me make that decision. The PVC trim was also a little less expensive than wood, so it was a win-win.

I prepped the “wood” pieces for paint.

I lightly sanded each so the primer and paint would stick better, which only took 10 minutes with a 220-grit sanding block. I’d recommend sanding before painting, whether you’re using wood or PVC.

I attached the crown molding to the wall.

Once the PVC boards were primed and painted, I attached them to studs in the walls to make sure they were nice and secure. I used a stud finder to make this step easier. I also did a few dabs of Liquid Nails on each end and in the middle of the boards, for a little added security.

Hot tip: These boards are long, so having an extra set of hands really helps with this part to make sure they’re level.

I fixed any flaws.

After that, I filled the holes with some wood filler and once that dried, I sanded it down with the same 220 block I used earlier, caulked the corners to fill any gaps where the wood butted up against each other, and finished with a coat of paint.

Voila! That was it! (I also broke down the whole process from start to finish on my YouTube channel, if you want to see it in action!) The overall effort was minimal for major impact. The room feels way more inviting with a pop of color when you look up.

Further Reading

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See How a Stager Used Paint to Transform a 1950s Living Room