WALL COVERINGS /
Voguish
vinyl membranes
by Angelica Pence
There's
a sleek new import from Europe: french ceiling.
And if you haven't
heard of it by now, you soon will.
Marie and Jean Gachet moved
from Marseilles to the Bay Area in 1999 and
brought with them the voguish product -- a vinyl membrane, which is
heated, stretched from wall to wall (or ceiling to floor) and tacked to
a frame. The material molds easily over any shape, disguises the most
unsightly surface and comes in six dozen vibrant hues. While so-called
stretch ceilings long have been used in commercial spaces, the product
now is gaining ground in private homes.
"Stretched
ceilings have been popular
in France since the '70s. But here,
very few people knew what we were talking about,"
says Jean Gachet. No
need to move your furniture, french ceiling can be
installed over most
facades -- flat or stretched --
within hours. Yes, even over that circa
1972 popcorn ceiling. The wrapper like material is available in 75
flat, satin or glossy finishes, requires minimal maintenance and is
decidedly less messy than painting.
Soundproof
or thermal
insulation can be added -- key features when
designing music, rec or bed rooms. It lasts about two decades, can be
perforated to allow for lighting, sprinkler or ventilation fixtures,
and can be swapped readily for a new color. "We simply unclip and
change it. You can redo a ceiling overnight," says Marie Gachet.
Modern
day PVC stretch ceilings date back three decades to Sweden,
where they were used as a remedy for damaged plaster ceilings. french ceiling's
formula is more environmentally friendly because it's made
with 50 percent sea salt and 50 percent petroleum ). The mod material
was a big hit at last month's "Dining by Design" charity fundraiser,
where the Gachets created
a retro red awning and wall for interior
designer Steven Miller's festive table, as well as some sleek panels
for DeSousa Hughes and Antoine Proulx.
Esmeralda
Mondoloni had french ceiling
installed in several rooms of
her Marina District home, including a bathroom shower
stall in which
the silken black vinyl created an illusion of a much larger space.
"We
didn't want to move any walls or worry
about painting," Mondoloni said
of her 1936 villa style house. "So we're very happy with it.''
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