Creating a cathedral ceiling in the studio cottage was a fun and rewarding experience. When we first bought the studio cottage, it had an ugly drop ceiling that was moldy, smelled horrible, and—worst of all—was filled with dead bats!
After we removed the drop ceiling and cleaned the entire area of debris, a spacious open ceiling was revealed.
We wanted to leave this area simple and bright to truly open up the space. It required a lot of wood, which was much darker than we wanted it to be. I decided to whitewash the wood to make it as light as I could get it. I took all the tongue-and-groove planks out in the yard and painted the front and the back of each one.
It was an enormous undertaking, taking three days overall, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of our friends Kevin and Eric. And talk about sore arm muscles! I will never forget how it felt each night, but it was so worth every second.
And that was just the beginning! There are lot of intricacies in actually installing a tongue-and-groove ceiling. Once the whole area was stripped to its essential structure, we flew in 3-4 inches of insulation.
Then Kevin and Eric worked their way from the top to the bottom for each of the four sections. It required a lot of measuring to make sure all the pieces fit together correctly as the space got bigger towards the bottom. You need to be a pretty good mathematician to get it done correctly, and I have a lot of respect for folks that do this type of work.
The original structure left furring strips for us to attach the new tongue-and-groove planks to. Kevin placed each plank next to the other with the tongue edge of the planks facing out—the groove on the other edge fits the tongue like a jigsaw puzzle when the next piece is put down. He secured each pair of the planks in place by tapping the exposed, tongue side with a hammer. When doing this, it is important to use an extra piece of wood as a buffer so as not to damage the tongue.
After the planks were put in, we cut small holes for lighting on opposite sides of the ceiling and installed two-bulb fixtures here.
With the lights set up, we added additional planks of wood to form borders at all the corners and a shorter piece of wood at the very top.
Having the lights on the sides left room for a fan at the apex of the cathedral ceiling. We bought a fantastic Aero fan from Restoration Hardware, and it’s one of the best pieces we got for the cottage. Guests absolutely love this fan and always comment on how big and beautiful it is. It shows off the ceiling, opens up the space, and totally brings the room together. It sort of looks like an airplane engine which is super cool.
Because of the insulation and the fan, the studio cottage never requires AC. With such a high elevation in Lake Placid, the summers are cool and breezy and have virtually no humidity. All it takes to sleep super comfortably is to throw on the fan and open a window or two.
The Cathedral ceiling is one of the most distinctive features of the studio cottage and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. This cottage is a perfect, cozy spot for any romantic couple, athlete, or small family, and if you’re celebrating a birthday or an anniversary I highly recommend staying here.
