"Kidney dialysis is no fun."

December 14, 2005 12:54 PM

"At Ceiling Scenes, we believe the ceiling has a fundamental right to take part in the ambiance of any interior space." -- From their catalog (.pdf). Personally, I think tin ceilings are much more nifty, but I can see how these photographic tiles could really brighten up a dull office or classroom. Too bad they're so cagey about actually telling you how much they cost...
posted by Gator (20 comments total)

Found while searching for an answer to this AskMe question. I gotcher serendipity right here.
posted by Gator at 12:59 PM on December 14, 2005

I wonder if they get many calls from genleman's clubs.
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:17 PM on December 14, 2005

Too bad they're so cagey about actually telling you how much they cost...

Well, here I come to save the day. I went ahead and called them, just out of curiosity. I inquired about this image, which I thought just looked awesome, and asked how much it would cost to put it on three 2"x4" tiles or just one 2"x4". It turns out to not be ludicrously expensive, when you take into account the costs of large-scale printing. The single-tile layout was about $75, and the three-tile was about $225. So, there you go.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:18 PM on December 14, 2005

...aaaand this may just be the most terrifying thing ever, once installed in your ceiling. I love it.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:21 PM on December 14, 2005

This one is even scarier.
posted by brain_drain at 1:24 PM on December 14, 2005

Eurgh, b_d.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:29 PM on December 14, 2005

I use that cool Glidden ceiling paint that starts out pink but dries bright white. How do they do that?
posted by fixedgear at 1:30 PM on December 14, 2005

Hey, thanks for taking that extra step, Faint of Butt. Yeah, that's nowhere near as expensive as I thought they would be.

This one would have me ducking out of the way all the time.
posted by Gator at 1:30 PM on December 14, 2005

What? No strafing Japanese Zero?
posted by sourwookie at 1:34 PM on December 14, 2005

Put those birch trees on the ceiling of a classroom and who would ever look at the chalkboard again?
Now dentist offices I can understand; my dentist has an illustrated history of dentistry on the ceiling of one of his operatories. Unfortunately, it is not legible from chair distance.
posted by Cranberry at 2:59 PM on December 14, 2005

Why would I want a beach scene of kids building a sand castle on my ceiling? That just seems stupid really. Now the stars and skies and other stuff that's actually supposed to be above you makes sense (I like the tree ones alot) but I don't get the logic of putting something like this on the ceiling.

What would be cool is if they did insect perspectives, say of a horse running by or other stuff that makes it feel like you're on the ground looking up into a huge world above.

I suppose this will have to do until it becomes feasible to line my ceiling with lcd monitors.
posted by fenriq at 3:16 PM on December 14, 2005

Actually, it'd be even cooler to do an entire room in some of these things. Walls and ceiling and floor, it'd be like living inside a panorama. Immersive style!
posted by fenriq at 3:17 PM on December 14, 2005

Bonus: you could picnic inside without bugs and that funny-smelling air.
posted by Cranberry at 3:35 PM on December 14, 2005

Wow these are awesome, just what my office needs. Great post.
posted by ozomatli at 3:37 PM on December 14, 2005

fenriq, that's called trompe l'oeil.
posted by artifarce at 3:53 PM on December 14, 2005

Ponderosa Steakhouses have generic blue-sky-puffy-clouds prints set inside "frames" on their high ceilings.

When I was a kidlet, my family occasionally ate dinner at a Ponderosa, and this always confused the hell out of me: How could it be dark when I looked out the side windows, but still daytime when I looked up at the skylight?

My dentist now has a gorgeous huge image of the Earth from space on his ceiling. It's probably good news that I'm not fooled anymore.
posted by booksandlibretti at 3:55 PM on December 14, 2005

Ceilings have "fundamental rights?"

What, like, freedom of assembly?

Is that actually on the site? I couldn't find it.

And what's that about kidney dialysis, dude?
posted by spiderwire at 9:58 PM on December 14, 2005

Why would I want a beach scene of kids building a sand castle on my ceiling? That just seems stupid really.

Yeah, it does. Diff'rent strokes, I guess. They do take suggestions, though: Scroll down to the bottom of the photo gallery pages and it says, "Tell us what type of images you would like for us to add [e-mail]"

spiderwire, well, like I said in the post, that quote is from their catalog, the .pdf I linked to. So is the line about kidney dialysis; I just wanted to make everybody do a double-take, and I was waiting for somebody to mention it. ;)
posted by Gator at 10:05 PM on December 14, 2005

Here's a low-budget version for anyone with a color printer.
posted by brain_drain at 9:48 AM on December 15, 2005

These are also used in hospitals, for patients getting radiation treatment or other scary procedures that require one to sit still for long periods of time. Looking at a tranquil image of a forest or a brook would be quite soothing, I imagine, and somewhat preferable to a stark white ceiling.
posted by mapalm at 6:54 PM on December 15, 2005