Stretch ceilings in the nursery

Deciding which ceiling will be in the nursery comes quickly - of course, the tension! After all, it helps to easily and inexpensively change the interior and requires minimal maintenance.

But then the flour of creativity begins. Which stretch ceiling to choose - multi-level or with photo printing? Are stretch ceilings safe in the nursery? And what if the child wants to see the starry sky instead of the ceiling in the bedroom? Let's tell about everything in order.

Experienced designers and caring parents use stretch ceilings as the best way to change the room for children's games and recreation. These popular ceiling designs appreciate for an infinite variety of options, non-standard execution and bright effect, reliability and practicality, ease of installation and simplicity in the care.

Stretch ceilings are beautiful, aesthetic, durable (manufacturers give guarantees for a period of 15 to 50 years), absorb noise well, do not require special repairs and are able to fit into the most exotic interior design solution.Advanced developments in the manufacture of stretch ceilings for children's rooms allow us to give them high strength, flexibility and any texture, as well as provide an opportunity to paint in various colors and apply various images to the surface.

Stretch ceilings, safe for children's rooms, are made of thin PVC film or specialized fabric impregnated with a special vinyl compound. These materials do not emit harmful substances and do not have a strong odor, and therefore do not cause allergies. Stretch ceilings designed for children's rooms are not subject to burning and do not collect dust and condensate on their surface.

The film for the stretch ceiling in the nursery is more often chosen by those who seek to fill the living space of the child with his favorite characters and color accents in combination with an unusual approach to the design and affordable cost of such repairs. A fabric stretch ceiling for a nursery is preferred by those that are ready to pay for its breathability and long service life, and wait until the selected design is applied and dried.

Both film and fabric stretch ceilings are of three types:

Matte ones are deservedly considered “classics of the genre” due to their low cost, high moisture resistance, ability to conceal communications and ceiling flaws qualitatively and successfully fit into almost any interior. The matt surface of the stretched ceiling of a children's bedroom does not attract too much attention to itself due to the reflection of what is happening in the room and the reflections of the light from the window. It can imitate a plain bleached or wooden ceiling, a sky with clouds, or a traveler’s map, and any landscape or fairytale drawing — it all depends on the overall design idea of ​​the room and the preferences of its young inhabitants.

Glossy - universal assistants in the arrangement of "mirror", spacious and non-standard interiors filled with light, color and creativity. High-quality glossy ceilings for children's rooms are made from hypoallergenic and anti-static materials, just take care of them and easily hide electrical wiring and ventilation equipment. The glossy coating of the suspended ceiling will come to the rescue in a small and poorly lit nursery - with proper planning, the space of the room can be visually almost doubled.

Satin - justify the glory of the "golden mean" between the glossy and matte stretch ceilings, in no way inferior to their external and technical characteristics. Convenient when combined with plasterboard structures and the construction of curved ceilings, resistant to dust and dirt. Due to the soft reflection of light, the satin stretch ceiling brings to the children's room an atmosphere of comfort and tranquility, and depending on the time of day, the lighting of the room or the viewing angle, it can change its color. Ideal for calm and elegant interiors without excessive pomp. And to create a favorite “starry sky” by children, it’s certainly impossible to do without a special interweaving of the satin canvas of such a stretch ceiling.

All materials used for suspended ceilings have their own advantages and features. The glossy canvas fills the children's room with fancy reflections and originality, matte fills with a chamber atmosphere, and the satin one will always delight with the endless play of shadows and light on its mother-of-pearl surface.

A separate category - multi-level stretch ceilings.They help compositionally divide a children's room into functional or thematic zones. Different levels of stretch ceilings allow for discreetly positioning behind them bulky air-conditioning equipment and a complex lighting system, to mask the defects of the main ceiling and, if required by the design project, even visually change the geometry of the children's room.

Film or vinyl canvas stretch ceilings are successfully used to create multi-dimensional space in the nursery. And playing the role of domes, arched vaults or various inserts in plasterboard structures and successfully combined with lamps, multi-level stretch ceilings can transform a children's room beyond recognition.

The main and, it seems, the only significant problem of suspended ceilings in the children's playroom is their vulnerability to sharp objects. Yes, as the reviews and customer experience show, a thin canvas of a stretch PVC film ceiling with due diligence of a child can still be damaged by aptly launched boomerang or blades of a flying airplane.However, this can be easily avoided if you move these games outside or immediately install them in a children's stretch ceiling made of more durable vinyl fabric. After all, a torn canvas stretch film ceiling aesthetic reconstruction is not always subject to.

Another disadvantage is the impossibility of installing a stretch ceiling in the nursery without the involvement of an experienced master. With all the apparent ease, high-quality installation of a suspended ceiling is a delicate matter and requires special qualifications.

The last and absolutely insignificant minus of stretch ceilings for a children's room is the intolerance of some models for wet cleaning. Seamless stretch ceilings can only be wiped with a dry cloth (otherwise they will lose elasticity), and fabric ones with a slightly damp soft sponge or microfiber cloth. In any case, the cleaning of stretch ceilings should be carried out sparingly without the use of coarse brushes and hard washcloths, since with a strong mechanical effect the canvas of the stretch ceiling can easily come off the attachment.

The main myth about stretch ceilings is that it is possible to eliminate the consequences of the flood from the neighbors from above with the help of cuts or punctures of the canvas.In fact, the whole canvas of any stretch ceiling will calmly hold even 100 liters per square centimeter. And in order to remove water from the seamy side of the stretch ceiling, which probably sagged under its weight, it is necessary to remove the lamp and drain the accumulated moisture through the opening in the tension structure. Then the remaining water should be carefully removed from the surface of the stretch ceiling with a dry cloth. If everything is done on time and accurately, the canvas will quickly restore its elasticity and return to the specified parameters.

Another myth about stretch ceilings in the children's room tells about the need to select special lamps for them. In fact, there are no restrictions on the choice of lighting for stretch ceilings, although there is a difference in their mounting (built-in lights are mounted to the base ceiling). Also, the recommended power of the screwed light bulbs is set in the range of 35 to 60 watts, otherwise a thin film of the stretch ceiling may be deformed or cracked.

There are entire legends about the dangers of stretch ceilings in the children's bedroom, which grew out of unpleasant associations and unfounded fears.Yes, it happens that the film stretch ceilings emit a sharp toxic odor, typical of really harmful phenolic fumes. But it is precisely this that is a sign of poor-quality canvas stretch ceiling, made with gross violations of the prescribed technology. Whereas certified stretch canvases of film that have received the ECO quality mark, although they contain chemicals in meager amounts, they do not evaporate them, and the faint odor that appears during manufacture quickly disappears after installation. High-quality fabric stretch ceilings do not smell at all and are also quite environmentally friendly and completely safe.

However, with fake suspended ceilings installed by chance or because of deceptively attractive low prices, the story is not so optimistic. Made from low-quality raw materials and without strict control of all stages of production, they can really negatively affect the fragile children's organism. Therefore, when choosing a stretch ceiling in a children's bedroom, parents should pay special attention to the accompanying documentation and environmental safety certificates, as well as directly to manufacturers and installers.

Special technologies of applying virtually any image to an artificial or woven canvas today allow you to turn it into a masterpiece of modern art or an elaborate copy of the works of great masters of the past.

That is why photo printing on a stretch ceiling is one of the most common ways of decorating children's rooms. Kids and teenagers especially like the realism of the resulting image - their favorite characters, scenes or landscapes, embodied on a stretch ceiling, look like real ones. To achieve this result, it suffices to use only the original high-resolution image and bona fide manufacturers and installers of the stretch ceiling with photo printing.

In their reviews, customers often note that the stretched canvas of a ceiling with a photo print comes out very dense, and it is much more difficult to damage it than a thin film. And many more complain that in vain for a long time they did not dare to order photo printing on gloss. Such a bold decision stretch ceiling looks no worse than the usual matte. Although still the best photo printing looks on a satin stretch ceiling.

So historically, the boys are not particularly demanding for interior delights. Usually they are quite satisfied with a simple stretch ceiling with a high-quality image of a popular cartoon character or a movie hero, a knight’s castle or a treasure map, a favorite landscape or a sports car.

But girls often require a special approach to changes in personal space, and therefore they are more selective in the design of the stretch ceiling of their room. Young ladies are vividly involved in the choice of style, and in the design of the frame design, and in determining the colors of all the details of the future design. That is why stretch ceilings in rooms for girls are characterized by high complexity and great variety. As well as a careful selection of shades of the image, which will decorate a stretch ceiling in the room of the little hostess.

But since children grow very quickly, and their tastes and interior preferences change even more rapidly, with a competent approach to the arrangement of a children's room, it is better to use a stretch ceiling with neutral motifs or scenes that reflect not so much the child’s age, but his character and favorite activities (sports, dances, history, music, drawing, theater, travel).

All children without exception - the youngest dreamers, the little pragmatists, the romantic young ladies, and the still hairless, but already very courageous admirers of flying in their sleep and reality. Stellar flicker helps to recreate tiny LEDs or thin fiber-optic cables that are attached to the stretch satin ceiling or go down through it to different heights, taking the light from the projector and reflecting it to the ends of the ceiling structure.

In order to populate the stretch ceiling of a children's room with magic stars, you need to mount a frame for it 120-180 millimeters below the base ceiling, then attach an optical fiber to the ceiling and place the light generator, and only then close the entire structure with a stretch satin canvas.

This type of stretch ceiling is the most expensive, but its lighting system can be adjusted both manually and remotely. Skillfully applied to the pearlescent surface, the picture very realistically represents on the stretch ceiling of the nursery the invitingly flickering known and unknown constellations that capture the imagination of galactic clusters and the infinitely mysterious milky way.

Work on installing a stretch ceiling - one of the fastest and cleanest: without plaster, whitewash, painting and mountains of construction waste. As a rule, it is made after finishing the finishing of the room, and it is not required to level the basic ceiling of the nursery. When, as a result, the stretch ceiling made of fabric or film looks ideally smooth, this is due to the correct initial measurement by a specialist technologist, competent drawings for factory production of the ceiling leaf and the flawless work of a qualified installer.

First, around the perimeter of the room or according to a sketch agreed upon in advance with the designer, a frame is constructed of aluminum or plastic baguette. After fixing the ceiling edge in its grooves, the final tension of the web is produced by heated to 45 degrees with air supplied from a specialized heat gun. So, before installing the stretch ceiling, it is better to remove from the nursery all the toys and objects that react sensitively to the temperature increase, as well as, of course, the young owners of the room themselves. And be sure to introduce installers to the wiring system in this room.

Mounting the stretch ceiling in a standard children's room takes about 2-3 hours. And the duration of the construction of multi-level stretch ceiling depends on its design and the number of lamps. It takes a little more than half an hour to assemble an ordinary chandelier, and about 20 minutes to install each spotlight.

By the way, no matter what the workers say, it’s better to categorically refuse to install the stretch ceiling in the nursery with the help of a gas cylinder - for the purposes of elementary fire safety.

It should be noted: any stretch ceiling in the nursery will surely become an important component of the interior and will provide every child with a fabulous immersion into the country of fulfilled dreams and fantasies. And the delight of shining eyes and gratitude of satisfied boys and girls will be the best confirmation of the correctness of the choice of a stretch ceiling for arranging their personal space.