Add to Your Light Fixtures with a Ceiling Medallion

A ceiling medallion is an easy way to spruce up the lighting fixtures throughout your home. By adding one of these simple additions to the base of any lighting fixture in your ceiling, you can add an air of elegance and class to any living area in your home.

What is a Ceiling Medallion?
A ceiling medallion is simply a decorative, usually circular, ceiling addition that you apply to the base of your lighting fixtures. Think elegant homes, and how there's rarely any small, brass, dome light fixtures that fit directly into the drywall. Instead, fixtures tend to be surrounded by a decorative garnish, anywhere from a few inches to several feet that add an extra aesthetic appeal to an area. Usually decorative ceiling medallions are graced with flowing curves, floral patterns, and other traditional decorative patterns.

What Are They Made of?
A medallion can be made from any of a number of products. Traditionally, they were cast in plaster, which meant beautiful results, but also heavy and fragile additions to a home. Newer decorative ceiling medallions are usually made of a polymer plastic that is lightweight, durable, and very easy to install. Almost all medallions are painted, or appear so. Though, if your budget allows, there are certainly specialty manufacturers that make metal medallions of stunning brass, copper, and stainless steel, for higher end decorating solutions.

How Should I Choose My Ceiling Medallion?
Choosing a ceiling medallion is mostly a matter of personal preference and current home design. You want to choose a medallion that matches your personality and your home. Before you decide to purchase, however, there are a few steps you ought to take to make sure you're making the right choice.

Make Sure It's the Right Size: One of the biggest homeowner mistakes is purchasing a decorative ceiling medallion that is too big or too small for the room where they want it installed. To avoid this problem, cut out paper templates of various sizes that you can hold up around your light fixtures to get a better idea of the impact your new medallion is going to have on your room. It'll take half a Saturday to do right, but it can save you major headaches down the road when you realize you've ordered a medallion that swallows up the room, or that isn't big enough to be noticed.

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Look at Other Decorative Wall and Ceiling Fixtures in Your Home: This is very important to do before purchasing a new medallion. That medallion is going to be a centerpiece of your room, and people are going to notice if it clashes with the existing light fixtures, crown molding, or other decorative trim in your home. Take note of your current design features, and make sure to buy a medallion to match.

Can I Install It Myself?
To some extent, this depends on the size and material you've chosen for your new medallion, but as a general rule, this is a manageable project for a home handyman. Remember, however, that you'll be working around electricity, so make sure you know what you're doing and turn off electrical sources at the fuse box before you start any work. And also consider that this is a decorative addition. Sometimes it pays to hire a professional experienced in finish carpentry and other decorative home improvements, just to ensure that you don't scratch, dent, damage, or otherwise blemish what is going to be a decorative focal point of your home.

Matt Goering, formerly a carpenter and house painter, is a freelance writer for the home improvement industry who has published over 600 articles.