I have been wanting a fancy ceiling in my living room for years. Well, the time has finally come! We tore our boring drywall ceiling down and put in a DIY coffered ceiling! I’ll be honest- it was expensive and took weeks, but it was also definitely worth it. I thought I’d share how we put it together in a step by step tutorial.

Before of the living room-

What Is a Coffered Ceiling?

A coffered ceiling is an architectural feature with a grid (either rectangular or square) that has been framed by beams. The coffers are the series of sunken panels that create a repeating geometric pattern. The word “coffer” comes from the Latin word “coffra” which means box.

Coffered ceilings are added to homes to create character in the form of architectural interest, they increase texture by breaking up the normally flat ceiling, and enhancing the aesthetics of the room by adding depth and visual interest. The look can be customized by size, shape, color, and the materials used.

If you’re looking for a historic feature to add to your house, coffered ceilings were originally used in Greek and Roman architecture over 2,000 years ago. The grid panels were a structural solution because they reduce the weight of stone ceilings and domes. If you’ve ever visited the Roman Pantheon, you might have noticed the coffered ceiling there. Built in 126 AD, the coffers circle the center oculus.

Inspiration

One of my favorite things to do is tour historic homes. When we were in Miami, we went to Viscaya. I took pictures of each ceiling while we walked through. My favorite was a coffered ceiling. So that ceiling will be my inspiration. I do plan on eventually adding floral onlays, that’ll be in a few weeks though.

Instead of floral onlays on the sunken portions, I’m planning shiplap and painting the whole thing pink. So you can see the inspiration, but how I’m putting my spin on it, here’s a mock-up below.

plan out your coffered ceiling

Start by figuring out the height of your ceiling. Ours is 103″ which is 8′-7″. If you have 8′ or lower ceilings, this might be too bulky of a look for your house.

Another way to successfully get this look? Have a square or rectangle shaped room. Our room is pretty much exactly 14-6″ square and worked nicely. If you have an asymmetrical room, it’ll be very tricky to pull this look off. A square or rectangle room works best with a coffered ceiling.

What room should this go in? Well, any room really. But traditionally this look was used in rooms that were more formal. So I’d suggest a living room, a dining room, a main bedroom, or a library.

If you have higher than 8′ tall ceilings and a square or rectangle room, next plan out the grid. The simplest way to begin is with a grid that looks like a hashtag– a series of 9 squares (three on each row). That’s the minimum you need to do to get the coffered ceiling look and the easiest way to plan this.

For our living room, we also decided to have a border around the edge and crown molding for a little more interest.

Measure your room, draw it on graph paper, and figure out how many squares you want to create the coffered ceiling look.

For our room, we’re using lumber 2×6’s to create the beams (knowing what you’re using is important so you can get the correct measurements). So we measured the wall, subtracted 24″ (4 of the 6″ beams- 4×6=24), subtracted 6″ (for the crown molding on each side) and divided by 3 for the coffers on each wall. Repeat for the adjacent wall and you have your measurements.

how to build a DIY Coffered Ceiling

SUPPLIES

2×6’s to make the grid (31)
2×4’s to go around the perimeter of the room (the crown molding goes on top of this) (19)
Screws to attach the boards into the ceiling
Crown molding
Shiplap
Shoe Molding
Dentil Molding
Paint for the Ceiling (Beloved Pink by Behr)
Wood Filler
Primer
Ceiling Medallion (19″ wide)

step 1- remove the ceiling (Optional)

To begin this project, we started with demo. We live in a house built in 1905, so we knew that the odds were that the drywall was covering lath and plaster which makes locating the joists next to impossible. Those two layers also took away from the ceiling height. And we needed every inch since we added coffers.

Plus, we knew that when taking down multiple layers, our old house is usually hiding things. My husband took down the drywall, lath and plaster, and removed the blown-in insulation.

I’m glad we removed the drywall and lath and plaster because we found the electricity done improperly. There was a nail through the electrical because of how it was run which was a fire risk. We had a light switch not working and old knob and tube wiring that needed to be updated. We called an electrician for that step.

In general, if you have drywall in good condition, it can stay up and the coffered ceiling can be placed over it. To leave the drywall, you must be able to locate the ceiling joists through it, but that’s pretty easy with a stud finder.

After this step, we added back in some insulation around the perimeter of the room since the blown-in insulation was removed. The living room has a bedroom above it. Because the HVAC isn’t great in our second floor (again, thank you old house), we left the insulation out in the center of the room so heat can rise and help warm and cool the rooms above the living room.

step 2- Mark where your beams will go

Next, find the center of the room. This might seem like a dumb step, but it’s really important that the middle square is right in the middle of the room. We pinned up yarn from corner to corner to find where they hit. For us, that’s where we put the box for our ceiling fixture.

After the center is found, mark where the beams will go.

The best way to do this is with a chalk line (especially if you’re going on top of drywall). Our chalk line wasn’t showing up well with the joists (the lath makes them look striped & hard to see markings). So once again, we used a push pin to hold yarn in the right place. Then my husband used a straight edge & a marker to show where the beams will go.

For us, symmetry is really important. We made sure to line the beams up with the molding in the room. It creates a really nice visual line. If you have a window, fireplace or other feature that is centered in the room, try to line the beams up with those items. Take your time making the plan and then marking the beam placement so you’re happy with it in the long run.

step 3- install the first set of beams

And now, it’s time to begin installing the beams! For this step, we’re using 2×6 lumber which is pretty inexpensive. We want it to be deeper than one 2×6 so we’ll be stacking two. For the boards closest to the ceiling, we choose the rougher boards since those won’t be seen.

To begin, we put up the boards for the grid. Since it’s important where they hit in the room visually, we wanted to get that right. We also started with the easiest direction- perpendicular to the joists. This is easier because you can drill directly through the lumber into the joists.

We started from one end of the room and screwed them into the joists. Next, we cut the second board to extend the beam to the other end of the room. To support where the two boards end up, my husband used scrap 2×6 to create a brace to strengthen the ends.

Once the first 2×6 was in place, we layered it with a second board. This time making sure to use the nicest boards because this second layer will be showing in the room.

step 4- install the second set of beams

After the first set of beams are in, begin on the beams perpendicular to them. These are trickier. Where we didn’t have joists to attach to, my husband put up 2×6 boards to span between the joists that can be screwed into. Begin with the perimeter as that is the easiest to know where those beams go.

Next, start putting up the beams that will make up the center of the coffered ceiling. Measure carefully to make sure the placement is matching your plan. Or if your plan is to prioritize what’ll look best in the room, try a few options to see what’ll look best.

For these beams, you’ll probably have to put up 2×6 boards between the joists to screw the beams into as well.

Continue across the room until all the beams are up, two thick. As you can see, we really prioritized symmetry in the room and the beams line up really nicely with the molding on the wall. This will make a great base for the DIY Coffered Ceiling.

On the other ice of the room, they line up with the trim on the windows. This old house made some things more complicated. But it also has great bones so the coffered ceiling will really compliment the room.

Note, around the perimeter of the room in addition to the 2×6 beams we also installed 2×4’s that my husband cut down to be 3″ wide. These act as kind of spacers- the crown molding will go right on top of them.

step 5- install the shiplap

Between the coffers, on the sunken in part of the ceiling we’re next installing the shiplap. This will close up the ceiling!

I want a pink ceiling so I’m painting the shiplap before it goes up. With the ridges of the shiplap, it’s really hard to paint after install. Plus painting any ceiling is awful, so painting before the boards go up saves some neck ache.

Painting the shiplap pieces took up a ton of space as they dried! Our whole kitchen was covered.

While the ceiling was still open, we put a mini time capsule in the ceiling. I added pictures of working on the ceiling and our family plus $5. I hope it’ll be at least 50 years before it’s found!

Work one square at a time until the whole ceiling is completed. Use a nail gun to attach the shiplap to the joists. Apply the shiplap perpendicular to the joists so they’re easy to put up.

After the shiplap was up, we also installed the ceiling medallion and the light fixture. Which was so nice to have light in the room again! I’m eventually going to do a makeover on the light, so stay tuned for that!

step 6- install the decorative molding

At this point the ceiling looks amazing! But it does still need some finishing touching. The first one is putting up show molding around the inside of each square of the coffers. This covers up the gap between the two 2×6’s and gives a nice finishing look.

Next for the DIY Coffered Ceiling, put up crown molding around the perimeter of the room. These go on top of the 2×4’s that we installed in step 4. Use nails to install them. Cutting the big pieces of crown molding up and then installing it at the correct angle is a pain. But it caps the room off beautifully.

For the very last step, we put up dentil molding right at the edge of the crown molding on the ceiling. This is again decorative that’ll add to the overall look. In person, the dentil molding casts shadows and adds interest to the ceiling.

step 7- finish work

Finally, it’s time to finish up the ceiling! First up, wood filler in all the nail holes. Apply two layers of wood filler and then let dry and sand smooth.

The sanding is a mess and a horrible step, but key to having a nicely finished ceiling.

Second, use caulk on all the seams. So where the crown hits the wall and where the dentil molding hits the ceiling and crown, and on both sides of the show molding. It took 4 hours to do all of the caulking!

Third, paint everything. Anywhere with wood, I primed first. Primer is cheaper than paint so I like to prime to save time and money.

Last, I’m painting the whole ceiling pink. This finishes the ceiling! I’m using the color Beloved Pink by Behr.

after

This DIY Coffered Ceiling project took us three weeks. One week was demo and electrical work. Week two was putting up all the beams (and spacers so the beams could go up). Week three was putting up the shiplap, decorative trim, and finish work.

I love how this picture illustrates how nicely the beams line up with the molding in the picture as well. It’s thoughtful details like this that really pull a room together.

Although it was a lot of work, it was very much worth it! I’ve wanted a coffered ceiling for years so seeing it up was really fulfilling!

I love the pink ceiling. It feels formal, but with the sweet color it’s not too fancy.

While we redid the ceiling, I also painted the walls. They are a minty color called Mountain Morn by Behr.

We also put up new drapes. The old pink drapes were so cute, but were hung too low. So I ordered new aqua silk drapes and hung them high and wide.

With the walls painted the mint color, the white trim really pops. This is the only room in our house with original fancy molding, so I wanted to show it off.

I kept the chinoiserie wallpaper from before. It makes the room feel like it’s always spring, which I love.

I am honestly thrilled with how it turned out! Our whole family is so happy to have the space back! Living without a living room is not fun. But it was worth it for years of enjoying this beautiful space!

price breakdown

I thought I’d share how much this DIY coffered ceiling cost to make-

$30 Dump fees for the debris from taking down the ceiling
$126 2×6’s to make the grid (30)
$73 2×4’s to go around the perimeter of the room (the crown molding goes on top of this) (19)
$74 Screws to attach the boards into the ceiling
$175 Crown molding (4)
$358 Shiplap (58)
$226 Shoe Molding
$129 Dentil Molding
$40 Paint for the Ceiling
$15 Wood Filler
$24 Primer
$31 Ceiling Medallion

Total- $1,301

My budget for this project was $1000, so I got close! We also paid $650 for our electrician to come, so that really blew up my budget. But I didn’t think that should necessarily be included in the total above since most people won’t have to have that expense.

So, that is how we built the DIY coffered ceiling. It’s a high end look that celebrates the 5th wall. It helps dry your eye up. I’m so happy with how it turned out. Is this something you’d try? Any questions? Let me know in the comments below.

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