6 Ceilings, Doors, Floors,
Lighting, Walls, and Windows
The six basic parts of almost every room are the ceilings, doors, floors, lighting, walls, and windows. At the end of this chapter, you’ll find a Ceilings, Doors, Floors, Lighting, Walls, and Windows Checklist. Once you begin filling in this checklist, file it in Binder 4.
As you make decisions regarding ceilings, doors, floors, lighting, walls, and windows, record these on the appropriate Individual Room and Closet Fact Sheet (page 81) and file it in Binder 4. If you need further explanation on the options and questions on the checklist, ask your architect or interior designer for opinions and suggestions.
Some homes have flat ceilings that are the same height throughout the house, while other homes have a mixture of ceiling styles and heights. A home may have flat ceilings in most rooms with a cathedral ceiling in the living area, a domed ceiling in the entry foyer, and a vaulted ceiling in the master bathroom. The style home you want will influence which style ceiling will work in your home. Though you may not have answers to these questions, you will know some of the questions to ask when meeting with your architect. In Ceiling Shapes (page 210), you’ll see examples of dropped, cathedral, tray, vaulted, domed, and shed ceilings.
Once you have determined the styles and heights of the ceilings you want in your home, then you need to decide what kind of ceiling material you want to use. The most common is sheetrock, which can be smooth or textured. Depending on the type of material, an array of options for the finishes and special treatments can be applied to the ceiling.
FORMS TO USE
Ceilings, Doors, Floors, Lighting, Walls, and Windows Checklist (page 212)
Individual Room and Closet Fact Sheet (page 81)
CEILING SHAPES
TIP: Ceilings should be no lower
than nine feet tall. In today’s
market, higher ceilings will help
with resale. A home with
eight-foot ceilings is harder to sell.
The three main types of doors in a home are the front door, other exterior doors, and the interior doors. A typical three-bedroom, three-bath home will have about twenty doors. Properly placed doors, the swing of the door, the type of door, and the type of interior door opening are all important in the overall aesthetics and function of a home.
TYPES OF DOORS
Dutch doors are split horizontally, letting you open either the top half or the bottom half, and a pocket door is an interior door that slides into a “pocket” in the wall.
Common types of doors are French, paneled, flush, sash, shutter, glass, screen, and louvered, which you’ll find illustrated in Types of Doors (above). Interior Door Openings (page 207) illustrates eight common types of doors: single, double, pocket, sliding, double swing, double pocket, Dutch, and bifold.
You can learn the terms for different parts of a door in the Door Components illustration (page 207), which will be useful in planning your home. And in the illustration on page 208, you’ll see examples of decorative windows—fanlights, side panels, and transoms—that can be positioned above or beside interior or exterior doors.
INTERIOR DOOR OPENINGS
DOOR COMPONENTS
FORMS TO USE
Ceilings, Doors, Floors, Lighting, Walls, and
Windows Checklist (page 212)
Individual Room and Closet Fact Sheet(page 81)
FRONT DOOR
The first tactile experience a visitor to your home will have is touching the front door or knocker. A solid, heavy, and beautiful front door and the entry hardware on that door give the feeling of quality and stability, making a lasting impression.
EXTERIOR DOORS
Exterior doors come in many shapes and sizes, and the number varies from house to house. You have many choices of materials to use on your doors. Doors off the back of a home often have glass in the door for a view of the backyard and patio. If you entertain on your porch, patio, or deck, a Dutch door is a great solution for keeping pets outside and being able to pass food or drinks through the opened top half of the door.
INTERIOR DOORS
Interior doors in a home should be consistent in height, whether a pantry or closet door. Aesthetically it is more pleasing to the eye to look around a room and see all doors at the same height than to move your eye up and down as door heights vary.
There is a direct correlation between the height of the ceiling and the door; the higher the ceiling, the taller the door. A higher ceiling evokes expansiveness. When shorter doors are used, the feeling created is that of a maze. Shorter doors negate that expansiveness feeling. They also imply that whatever is behind this door is unimportant.
When guests use the powder room or coat closet, they have physical contact with the interior of your home by opening and closing the door. Once again, a solid, thick door conjures up a feeling of quality and stability.
Unlike exterior doors, which may all be different, interior doors are generally the same style and material.
SHOWER DOORS
Once you have made your decision on whether you will have a shower or shower/tub combination in each bathroom, you need to determine whether you want a hinged glass door, sliding glass doors, or if you want to use a shower curtain.
There is a direct correlation between the height, weight, and thickness of the shower door and the number of hinges needed, as well as the length of the hinge screws. When selecting shower door hardware, take along the height, weight, and thickness measurements of all of the shower doors in your home.
FANLIGHT, TRANSOM, AND SIDE PANEL WINDOWS
There are many different types of floors to use in your home and most homes use more than one type. A home may have a stenciled design on the wood floor of the entry hall, wood planks throughout the living areas, carpet in the bedrooms, and stone in the bathrooms. Each type of floor has many different finishes or applications that can be applied. There are also different levels of quality and price.
When selecting the type of flooring you will use in each room of your home, consider how much traffic this particular floor will receive. The more traffic, the more durable the floor needs to be.
What is the main focal point for this room? You don’t want a floor or a finish that will compete with the main focal point. If your interior design is a minimal look, a strong statement by the floor would work well. If your home is filled with art and accessories, a more minimal design on the floor would work better. And keep in mind how your furniture will work with your floor. If you have hand-painted furniture, a stenciled floor may seem too busy.
FORMS TO USE
Ceilings, Doors, Floors, Lighting, Walls, and
Windows Checklist (page 212)
Individual Room and Closet Fact Sheet(page 81)
WOOD FLOOR GLOSSARY
Distressed: a technique used on wood floors to give an old, worn look. This is achieved by using items such as heavy chains that are beaten against the wood to create nicks, gouges, and other imperfections.
Hand scraped: after floors are installed, a scraping tool is run over the floors either with the grain or against the grain (each creates a different look). You can minimally scrape the floor or use deep scraping for a rougher look.
Parquet floor: hardwood blocks that are glued individually to the subfloor. Examples of patterns include basket weave, diagonal basket weave, brick pattern, single herringbone, and double herringbone.
Saw blade cut: a technique in which the surface of the wood flooring shows the circular motion of the saw used to cut the wood.
Stenciled: designs or borders are stenciled directly onto the wood floor, creating designs through different applications of stain colors or paint.
Many different lighting fixtures and applications for those fixtures are on the market today. Adequate lighting in the appropriate area is a crucial component of an aesthetically pleasing and functional home. Properly placed light fixtures can add beauty to a room as well as enhance illumination.
Centeredness is an important element of lighting fixtures. All lighting should be centered, either on furniture, on windows, on doors, within a hallway, on a mantel, over an island, and so on for aesthetic purposes. An experienced lighting consultant can help you select the proper lighting fixture, the number of fixtures, and the appropriate location.
FORMS TO USE
Ceilings, Doors, Floors, Lighting, Walls, and
Windows Checklist (page 212)
Individual Room and Closet Fact Sheet(page 81)
TIP: For light fixtures that are
extremely difficult to reach to
change a burned-out light bulb, select
a light bulb style that you can change
with a light bulb extension pole.
LIGHTING FIXTURE GLOSSARY
Halogen strips: a strip of lights that is sold by the foot and can be cut to any length.
Puck lights: approximately the size and shape of a hockey puck, these round light fixtures can be mounted under the upper cabinets, with one puck light per eight to 12 inches of cabinet length.
Rope lights: a strip of lights that resembles a rope. Often used inside a cabinet with a glass cabinet door, underneath an upper cabinet, on top of an upper cabinet, on staircases, or to light the toe kick.
Interior walls can be made of numerous types of materials, with a wide range of applications and finishes. The most common material is sheetrock, which can be smooth or textured. Other common options include log walls, stone or tile walls, and wallpapered walls. Multiple design elements can be applied to a wall, such as a chair rail and wainscot, a different finish on the lower three or four feet of the wall. You’ll see these and other parts of a wall illustrated in Wall Components (below).
FORMS TO USE
Ceilings, Doors, Floors, Lighting, Walls, and
Windows Checklist (page 212)
Individual Room and Closet Fact Sheet(page 81)
INTERIOR WALL GLOSSARY
Beadboard: can be applied to an entire wall, as a wainscot, and to cabinet doors. It has one or more half-round beads milled into the finished surface.
Chair rail: usually installed between 24 and 48 inches from the floor, it is an accent to a room while protecting the walls from scuffs or dents from the backs of chairs.
Faux paint: uses a variety of techniques to apply paint and glaze to a wall. The techniques include sponging, rag rolling, stippling, and dragging.
Dragging: dragging a wide brush through a wet glaze on the wall with the brush bristles slightly bent
WALL COMPONENTS
Rag
rolling: similar to sponging, but you use a bunched up rag and press it against the wall
Sponging: dipping a sponge it in paint, then pressing it against the wall
Stippling: dabbing a brush dipped into paint against the wall with the bristles of the brush slightly bent
Painted design or landscape: a landscape or other scene painted onto the wall.
TYPES OF WINDOWS
Skip trowel: a technique using a watered down mixture of joint compound that is applied to a wall or ceiling. The trowel is gently dragged across the mixture that has been applied to the wall, leaving some of the mixture on the wall creating a texture.
Wainscot: applied to the lower portion of a wall, made of wood, stone, tile, or other materials.
The style of the home you have designed will limit the type of windows that will go with that style. However, you will still have decisions to make about the type of windows you can choose. You’ll find eight common window types illustrated on page 210.
FORMS TO USE
Ceilings, Doors, Floors, Lighting, Walls, and
Windows Checklist (page 212)
Individual Room and Closet Fact Sheet(page 81)
WINDOW GLOSSARY
Awning: a rooflike cover extending over or in front of the window.
Bay window: a window or series of windows that form a “bay” and project outward; has at least three sides, each with a window.
Bow window: like a bay window, but with curved walls rather than straight walls; usually five windows.
Casement window: a window with hinges attached so that it opens vertically, like a door.
Double-hung sash window: window panels that open by sliding up and down in vertical grooves, sometimes aided by cords and balanced weights.
Pivot window: opens by pivot points between the sash and frame, usually opening horizontally—allows easier cleaning.
Queen Anne window: has multiple-sized windowpanes, usually on the upper sash, with the lower sash usually one piece of glass.
Tip: Avoid placing windows in areas that
will make cleaning them costly and
difficult, such as at the top of a vaulted
ceiling. As they gather raindrops and dirt,
instead of being aesthetically pleasing,
the window will always look dirty.
Ceilings, Doors, Floors, Lighting, Walls, and Windows Checklist
Fill out the following checklists for ceilings, doors, floors, lighting, walls, and windows.
Ceilings
Fill in the room name in the left column and then fill in the rest of the information. If all ceilings will be the same height, material, and finish, you can state that and fill in only the rooms with special treatments or windows. Examples of types of ceilings: cathedral, domed, flat, shed, tray, and vaulted. See Ceiling Shapes (page 206). Examples of materials: sheetrock, skip trowel technique, log, wood beams, without beams, wood planks, wood planks with beams, brick, and stone/tile.
Examples of types of finish or paint: painted, stained, pickled, painted design or landscape, and wallpaper.
Examples of special treatments applied to the ceiling: distressing the wood or wood beams, glazing, faux paint, stenciling, and wallpaper.
Examples of windows in ceilings: skylight, dormer, glass pitch.
| Room | Type of Ceiling | Height | Material | Finish | Special | Treatments | Windows | Remarks |
Front Doors and Exterior Doors
Circle the shape you want for your front door.
Rectangular Round arch Pointed arch
Other __________________________________
Circle the shape you want for your other exterior doors.
Round arch Pointed arch Other __________________________________
Will your front door be thicker than the other exterior doors? Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will your front door be made from a different material than your other exterior doors? ____ If so, explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Circle the type finish you want applied to your front door.
Stained Painted Faux painted Other __________________________________
Circle the type finish you want applied to your other exterior doors.
Stained Painted Faux painted Other __________________________________
How many hinges do you want on your front door? (See Door Hinges and Miscellaneous, page 236.) ______________________
How many hinges do you want on your other exterior doors? (See Door Hinges and Miscellaneous, page 236.) _____________
Will your front door have fan lights, a transom, or side windows? (See illustration, page 208.) Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will any of your other exterior doors have fan lights, a transom, or side windows? (See illustration, page 208.) Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will your front door have a screen or glass door on the exterior side? ________________________________________________
Will any of your exterior doors have a screened or glass door on the exterior side? _____________________________________
Will there be a wood or stone header over your front door? ________________________________________________________
Will there be a wood or stone header over your other exterior doors? List.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please fill in all door information on the individual fact sheet for each room that will have an exterior door.
Interior Doors: Special Features
Fill in the name of any room that will have special interior door features and note those in the appropriate column. (See page 208 for an illustration of a fanlight and transom.)
Examples of types of doors: single doors, double doors, French doors, Dutch doors, double swinging doors, bifold, accordion, pocket, sliding, or other.
Examples of common finishes on a door: stain, paint, faux paint, pickled.
Examples of door headers: wood, stone, brick.
Please fill in all interior door information on the individual fact sheet.
| Room | Type of Door | Type of Finish | Fanlight | Transom Light | Side Light | Header Material |
Shower Doors
Do you want your shower door oversized or a standard size? _______________________________________________________
Do any of your showers need wheelchair access? Which? __________________________________________________________
If having a steam shower, the shower door needs to go to the top of the door opening. If no steam shower, how high do you want your shower door? ____________________________________________________________________________________
Will shower doors be clear or frosted? _________________________________________________________________________
Will you want your shower door to swing 90 degrees or 180 degrees? (180 degrees will allow it to swing both into the shower and open out from the shower.) ____________________________
If having a shower/tub combination, will you use a sliding door, hinged door, or shower curtain? _________________________
If using a hinged door, how many hinges? ____________________________ (See Door Hinges and Miscellaneous, page 236.)
Please fill in all shower door information on the individual fact sheet for each bathroom with a shower.
Floors
What type of floor material do you want to use in your home: wood, recycled wood, granite, marble, travertine, limestone, slate, tile, brick, bamboo, cork, glass and metal tiles, leather, linoleum, carpet, concrete, or other? List the types of flooring material you will use in each room.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will the wood on any of your floors be stenciled, distressed, saw blade cut, hand scraped, a mixture of wood and stone, or other? Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will any of the wood floors be installed with a design pattern such as parquet, herringbone design, basket weave design, or other? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
If using wood floors, how wide do you want the planks, or do you want a combination of plank sizes? Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If using stone or tile floors, do you want any type of medallion, mosaic, border, or other design? Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If using square pieces of stone or tile, what size square piece do you want to use?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If using brick in this room, what type of brick, size of brick, and pattern do you want?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If using concrete on this floor, do you want patterns scored into the concrete?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If using concrete on this floor, do you want a color in the concrete? Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please fill in all floor information on the individual fact sheet for each room.
Light Fixtures
Which of the following lighting options will be used in your home and in what room or area of the home will they be located: chandelier, wall sconces, recessed can lights, art lighting, wall light fixtures, ceiling light fixtures, or other? List fixtures and room(s) in which they will be located.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you want cove lighting in the ceiling? If so, which room(s)? _____________________________________________________
Do you want special bookcase lighting to illuminate the bookcase? Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you want lighting above any of your upper cabinets? Rope, halogen strip, or other?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you want lights underneath the upper cabinets? If so, which cabinets and what type: puck lights, rope, halogen strips, fluorescent, or other?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you want glass on any cabinet doors requiring lighting inside? If so, which cabinets?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will you use rope lighting, halogen strips, or puck lights inside your glass-front cabinet door?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you want toe kick lighting (lighting in the area between the floor and underneath your lower cabinet door or drawers) in your home? If so, in which areas?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you want all upper cabinet lights in a particular room linked to each other (even if the cabinets are separated on different kitchen area walls) and turned on at one light switch, or do you want each section on a separate light switch?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you want all lights underneath the upper cabinets to be linked to each other and turned on at one light switch, or do you want to reach under each cabinet section and flip the switch on separately?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you want exterior lighting on the house number, along the sidewalk, on the steps, or other?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Circle any of the following light fixtures you will have on the exterior of your home.
Hanging lanterns Wall-mounted lanterns Lanterns mounted on a retaining wall
Lanterns mounted on top of a short column Lamppost Other _____________________________________________
Walls
Circle the type of material you want on the walls in your home.
Sheetrock Wood panels Skip trowel technique Log Other ________________________________________
Circle any type of application you want on your walls.
Wallpaper Fabric Faux paint Mirror Landscape-type painted scenery Other _______________________
Will the edge where two walls meet be a 90-degree right angle or a soft curved shape?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will the walls in your home have any of the following: chair rail, crown molding, wood paneling, bead board, baseboard, wainscot, niche in the wall, or other? Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Windows
Do you want many windows or a minimal amount of windows in your home? ____________________________
Which type of the following window(s) do you want to use in your home: double-hung, fixed, sliding, pivot, awning, louver, bay, or other type of window? (See Types of Windows, page 210.)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Will any of the windows have a wood, stone, or other material used for the header? Explain.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Do you want any of the following?
Operable windows
Window screens
Window locks with keys
Double pane windows
Skylight
Removable windows for cleaning
Window tinting
Other ____________________________