Copper Tin Ceiling Tiles | Jewelry for your walls and ceiling

As many of you know, I love copper. I love its warm, amber hues as well as the darkened patina it developed over time. It is such a rich, warm-hued metal that I can’t get enough of it. As a result, I use it frequently in the jewelry I make as a metalsmith.

So it should come as no surprise that I love it equally in my home as accent pieces and part of the overall decor.

Using Copper in your Decor

In fact, when we built our American bungalow-styled home (which I designed to be circa 1930) copper was integral to the design. It is used as flashing around the windows—starting its life as bright as a shiny, new penny and is now a darkened, aged bronzy color.But that’s not all. I wanted to use it indoors, too. Naturally, I thought to use it on my kitchen pendant light fixtures as well as my cabinet door hardware.

But there was more I wanted to do.

The Color Palette

Fortunately, it was easy to incorporate copper into the the vintage aesthetic of our American bungalow home.Tin ceilings were popular in the U.S. between 1890 and 1930s, having been introduced as an affordable alternative to highly detailed and intricate plaster work on the ceilings of European homes. Consequently, tin ceilings became quite popular and many homes built during the era of our home did  incorporate a lot of copper. So it was easy for me to integrate it into the design without making it look like I was trying too hard.

When we first built the house, I wanted to use copper tiles as my backsplash, running behind my counter and stovetop from counter to ceiling. The island countertop, at the time, was green slate. That color, coupled with the cranberry color from my AGA range, the cherry wood countertop, looked like a color story that would work.

After installation, I was thrilled. The color palette, along with my red accent pieces, was perfect!

A Copper Backslash

A Copper Ceiling

Six years later, we decided to add a copper tin ceiling to the kitchen, dining and great room—essentially the main gathering areas on the first floor. The change is dramatic. I was a little afraid that the copper on the ceiling would make the kitchen too dark compared to the white ceiling that was there previously.

While the copper did darken the room ever so slightly, the white cabinets kept it from getting too dark. We also have some great windows on the east and west sides of the house that let in plenty of light. Also, while some may think the copper darkened the room, I think that the new look is better described as “warmed up.” The copper definitely added warmth and brought out amber tones in the wood floor and countertop. When my sister saw the new ceiling, she quickly exclaimed, “It’s like jewelry for your ceiling.” And she’s right.

Subsequently, when we expanded the size of our island, we changed out green slate island top for Dekton Trilium from Cosentino. That move included also replacing the stainless steel sink with a farmhouse sink and changing out the faucet.

Jewelry for Your Walls and Ceiling

For someone who loves coper, I’m in my happy place when I’m in my copper-tiled living space. I had already included this look in my pantry and office/design studio where I used wallpaper created to look like ceiling tiles. The embossed wallpaper was white and a faux artist added copper tones to the raised areas to make it appear as white-washing copper ceiling tiles. I love that look, too, but now, I have the real deal in my main floor living area.

What do you think? Have you used tin ceiling tiles in your home? If so, where. Tell me below.