Glowing stretch ceilings: decoration and design ideas

Stretch ceilings have long gained popularity due to their practicality and beauty. Luminous stretch ceiling is a new word in interior design. The construction, made according to the same technology, but with some peculiarities, can give a unique look to any room.

As the name implies, luminous ceilings are equipped with a built-in lighting system. The material itself can be more or less transparent, capable of gently diffusing light. Thanks to the placement of lighting fixtures behind a translucent stretch ceiling, it is possible to achieve a unique effect in which the ceiling itself becomes the light source.

The ceiling can both replace and complement the main lighting. The full range of design options includes all combinations of placement order, color and power of lighting fixtures, quality and transparency level of the material.

Glowing structures have all the advantages of the technologies used, efficiency, ease of use, and most importantly - aesthetic advantages. A skylight can create a unique atmosphere in a room.

An additional field for applying the designer's creative ideas is facing the ceiling and other surfaces of the room (walls, etc.). Luminous stickers and wallpapers that accumulate light energy are also included in the new light design methods. Several such techniques, such as combining a light ceiling and light-accumulating paints, can create a truly unique design.

Placing more complex lighting fixtures than LED strip can allow you to control the lighting solution of the ceiling using a special controller. This design does not require special skills. It is only necessary to have several independent light structures and their connection to the control panel.

Only the best materials are used in the construction of light stretch ceilings. This is a high quality translucent dense PVC film. Translucent material is used in most stretch ceilings that are not even used in conjunction with LEDs.

The level of transparency or light transmission of such a film can be up to 50%. This indicator itself is also associated with the selected color of the tension structure. Dark tones help create a special decorative effect, while lighter shades, including white, allow such a ceiling to be used as a main lighting fixture.

When installing a light stretch ceiling on your own, you should not choose a film of glossy, reflective tones. This can lead to a "garland" effect, when each LED creates its own additional glare on the canvas, and this interferes with the general scattering of light over the surface of the ceiling. For the installation of structures of this type, translucent matte coatings of any color are suitable.

One of the most popular and economical lighting options is LED strips. They are perfectly combined with a translucent stretch ceiling film.

LED strips have all the advantages of diode lighting devices:

• durability;
• minimum requirements for operation;
• reliability;
• cost-effectiveness.

LED strips, hidden behind a stretch fabric, form light strips on the ceiling, which is one of the most popular ways to decorate rooms now.

This option for placing the LED strip is preferable when combined with other lighting fixtures, niches, architectural differences in the level of the ceiling.

By placing the tapes in dense rows directly on the ceiling, you can achieve more illumination. However, the decorative possibilities of highlighting the perimeter of the ceiling cannot be combined with this. In such cases, to save tape, the technique of placing "LED lamps" is used, when the tape rolled into a spiral forms a circle with an area of ​​15 cm. Such spirals illuminate the space well enough and are perceived as one light source, for example, a large lamp.

Additional possibilities in controlling the type of lighting that the use of LEDs gives:

• manual and mode power adjustment;
• fine-tuning the operation of diodes of different colors;
• management of the power consumption mode.

The technology for installing such ceilings includes two stages:

• installation of lighting devices, most often an LED panel;
• web tension.

Each of them, in turn, is divided into sequential execution of simple tasks according to a given algorithm.

Installation of the lighting part is carried out according to a certain scheme:

• The first stage is preparation (cleaning from potential sagging, priming and leveling the fastening surface).
• Then the LED strip itself is attached with adhesive tape. The process does not require complex assembly devices due to the relatively low weight of the products.
• The ribbon allows you to place a light source of any shape and length, it can also be cut according to the indicated marks and connected to individual segments using connectors.
• The design of the lighting part, made using LED strips, includes a controller and a 120/12 V transformer.

When installing yourself, you should pay attention to several fundamental points:

• The accuracy of maintaining the level of the ceiling due to the operation of lighting devices will be more noticeable than without them.
• The translucent sheet should be placed at least 150 mm below the light source. This will create a space or box in which the light diffuses.
• Heating with a heat gun or a construction hair dryer must be carried out in compliance with all safety standards, since in this case we are talking not only about the integrity of the canvas, but also about the serviceability of electrical appliances.

You will learn more about how to install the ceiling in the video below.

When installing yourself, you should not use lighting fixtures with incandescent lamps, since due to low ventilation inside the stretch ceiling box, overheating can occur. This can lead to rapid failure of lighting fixtures and even fire.

Please note that the design of the luminous ceiling does not imply routine maintenance of lighting fixtures. This means that it is preferable to choose high quality LEDs, not the lowest price category.

Also, do not forget that most LED structures require a voltage of 12V, therefore, to connect them to a regular 220V network, you will need a special transformer. In most cases, such a transformer adapter comes with an LED strip. In addition to it, it is recommended to equip your system with a controller that will allow you to control individual sections of the light strip and their power.

It should be borne in mind that the power of the LED strips is not too high. If the transparency of the ceiling does not exceed 50%, a large number of LEDs may be needed to fully illuminate large rooms.