Choose a cornice by the height of the ceiling first, then the era of the house, then what you actually like looking at. A tall Queenslander ceiling can carry a wide ornamental cornice and a large ceiling rose, while a room with a standard ceiling looks better with something narrower and simpler. Get the size right and the rest mostly comes down to taste.
Here’s how to choose.
Choosing an ornamental cornice for a Brisbane home
An ornamental cornice is a decorative moulding that runs around the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling. In Australia we call it a cornice. In the UK it’s usually coving, and in the US it’s crown moulding, which helps when you’re collecting ceiling cornice design ideas online.
A cornice is practical as well. It covers the corner where the wall sheets meet the ceiling sheets, and that corner is where movement in a house tends to show up as a crack. The cornice hides the join and gives the room a finished edge.
Cornices come in a few broad types:
- Ornamental cornices: decorative profiles with leaves, beading, egg and dart or stepped detail, suited to older homes and formal rooms.
- Cove cornices: a plain curved profile that softens the corner without drawing attention to itself.
- Square set: no cornice at all, with the wall and ceiling meeting in a sharp, square corner.
- Shadow line: a metal bead holds the ceiling slightly off the wall, leaving a small recessed gap that makes the ceiling look like it floats.
Cornices here are usually made from plaster or polystyrene. Plaster is the traditional material and the one you’ll find in older Brisbane homes, so it’s the natural choice when new cornice has to sit alongside the original.
Ceiling cornices for high ceiling rooms
In a room with a high ceiling, go wider. A narrow cornice in a tall room looks lost, and a wide cornice in a low room makes the ceiling feel lower and the room smaller. As a general guide (it’s the same one on our renovations and restorations page), match the width of the cornice to the height of the ceiling:
- Ceilings of 4.3 metres or higher: a cornice around 200 mm wide.
- Ceilings above 2.75 metres: a cornice of 90 to 120 mm.
- Ceilings below 2.75 metres: a cornice of 50 to 70 mm.
- Built-in cupboards and wall units: a narrower cornice along the top looks neater than a full-size one.
Measure each room before you choose. Ceiling heights can change through the house, particularly where a verandah has been closed in or an extension added at the back, and a cornice that suits the front living room may be too big for the room behind it.
Light matters too. In a darker room, keep the cornice simple. Deep, busy detail throws shadows, and in a room that doesn’t get much sun those shadows make the ceiling look heavy.
Matching cornice and ceiling rose styles to the era of your home
Start with when the house was built, then narrow it down to the patterns you like. A design that suits the era looks like part of the original house. As a rough guide:
- Victorian homes: ornate cornices with deep profiles and floral ceiling roses suit the period.
- Federation homes: decoration is often a little lighter, and patterns based on leaves and native flowers sit well with the style.
- Art Deco and inter-war homes: stepped, geometric profiles and fan or sunburst patterns look right.
- Post-war and modern homes: simple cove cornices, square set or shadow line suit the cleaner lines.
If you’re not sure how old your house is, Brisbane City Council’s guide to heritage and character properties is a good place to start. Council describes character properties as mainly buildings built before the end of 1946, with special considerations for those built before 1911, and City Plan online will show whether your property sits in a heritage or character overlay.
Queenslanders don’t follow one rulebook. Many were built by small local builders whose tradesmen had their own way of doing things, so the original cornices vary from house to house. If yours still has original cornice in some rooms, that’s the best guide you’ll get for the rest of the house.
And there’s no point picking a period-correct pattern you don’t like. You’re the one living under it.
Plaster cornice or a square set ceiling
Choose a plaster cornice if you want a traditional look or you’re matching an older home. Choose square set or shadow line if you want clean, modern lines with nothing at the top of the wall.
Square set and shadow line look sharp, but they’re less forgiving. With no cornice to cover the corner, any movement between the wall and the ceiling has nowhere to hide, and the line where they meet has to be straight for the finish to look right. A cornice covers that corner and hides small amounts of movement. That’s a good reason to stay with a cornice in an older home where the walls and ceilings have shifted over the years.
Both are part of our residential plastering, so the choice can come down to the look you want in each room. Some homes use a decorative plaster cornice in the original front rooms and square set in a new kitchen or extension at the back.
Choosing a ceiling rose in Brisbane
Choose a ceiling rose to suit the size of the room and the pattern of the cornice, and centre it on the light. A large room with a high ceiling can take a big, detailed rose. A smaller room or a standard ceiling suits a smaller, flatter one.
- Match the detail: pick a rose that shares the character of the cornice, so leaves go with leaves and geometric with geometric.
- Centre it on the light: the rose sits over a pendant or chandelier, so decide where the light goes before the rose goes up.
- Know the other names: you’ll see the same thing sold as a ceiling centre, ceiling centrepiece, rosette or medallion, depending on the supplier.
- Think about ceiling panels: in a room with a high ceiling, decorative ceiling panels can fill out a large, flat ceiling around the rose.
We install ceiling roses and decorative ceiling panels in homes across Brisbane and the surrounding areas, from the Redlands to Ipswich and down to the Gold Coast. If your home already has original roses, read why it’s worth keeping ceiling roses when you renovate before anything is replaced. It also covers the choice between plaster and PU roses.
Simple rules for choosing cornices and ceiling roses
A few rules make the choice easier, whatever the age of the house:
- Keep one style family: trims through the house look best when they share a style, from the cornices and ceiling roses to the architraves and skirtings.
- Step down in smaller rooms: you don’t need the same cornice in every room. Living and dining rooms can take a wider cornice and a rose, while bedrooms and hallways can go smaller.
- Less is more: if you can’t decide between two sizes, go with the smaller one.
- Kitchens and bathrooms: smaller cornices suit rooms with built-in cabinetry.
Frequently asked questions about cornices and ceiling roses
What is the difference between a cornice and coving?
There isn’t one, really. Cornice is the Australian name for the moulding where the wall meets the ceiling, coving is the usual British name, and crown moulding is the American one. You’ll see “ceiling rose and coving” used together in UK design ideas, which is the same pairing Australians call a ceiling rose and cornice.
What size cornice do I need for a high ceiling?
As a general guide, ceilings above 2.75 metres suit a cornice of 90 to 120 mm, and ceilings of 4.3 metres or higher can take a cornice around 200 mm wide. Below 2.75 metres, a cornice of 50 to 70 mm stops the room feeling lower. Measure each room, because ceiling heights can change through an older house.
Do the ceiling rose and cornice have to match?
They don’t have to be identical, but they should look like they belong together. A detailed leafy cornice and a plain geometric rose can look out of place in the same room. Pick a rose that shares the character of the cornice, and size it to the room and the ceiling height. If you’re unsure, the simpler option is usually the safer one.
What is a ceiling centre or ceiling rosette?
Ceiling centre, ceiling centrepiece, rosette and medallion are other names for a ceiling rose. They all describe the decorative round piece on the ceiling, usually around a pendant light or chandelier. Different suppliers use different names, so it’s worth searching all of them when you’re looking for a pattern to suit your cornice or to match an original.
Should I choose a plaster or polystyrene cornice?
Choose plaster if you’re matching an older home or want a crisp, traditional profile. Plaster is the material you’ll find in older Brisbane homes, and it takes paint and repairs the same way as the rest of the ceiling. Polystyrene is lighter and easy to handle, but the detail tends to look softer, which is more noticeable on ornate patterns.
Do you install ornamental cornices and ceiling roses in Brisbane?
Yes. We supply and install plaster and ornamental cornices, ceiling roses and decorative ceiling panels for homes across Brisbane and the surrounding areas. We can help you choose a cornice to suit the era of the home, the size of the room and the ceiling height. Send us a few photos of the rooms with your quote request.
If you’re choosing cornices or ceiling roses for a renovation or a new room, ask us for a free quote. Let us know the ceiling height in each room, and include a photo of any original cornice you’d like to match.
