Bulkhead

295yards

Okay,,,We are renovating our basement.

We had a bulkhead that covered a load bearing beam. It was finished with popcorn stucco.

We changed our house from electric baseboard to gas, and now the ducts are running close to where the bulkhead was so we just increased the size of our bulkhead to hide the ductwork.

My question is...I swear I've seen both bulkheads ( that are not running on an outside wall ) painted the color of the walls and done the same as the ceiling texture.

Should I paint the bulkhead the same colour of the walls or finish it the same as the ceiling texture.

A quick recap of the room to help...

It is roughly 220 sq. ft., the bulkhead runs right down the middle of the room the narrow way and is 4ft. wide.

wether it matters or not the ceiling height is 8ft at the highest and the low spot is 7ft.

Any suggestions are appreciated

CrpntrFrk

Got pictures?

jlhaslip

I've seem them done both ways you describe, as well as the side being the wall colour and the bottom being ceiling texture.
Take your pick.

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Renate

To me, there would be no question but what the bulkhead should match the ceiling, not the walls. If it ran right next to the wall, that's where you more clearly have a choice to make. In your situation, if you match the walls, then you will have an eye catching stripe running down the middle of your ceiling. Do you want to draw attention to this feature? Your ceiling is already low enough and I wouldn't think you would want it weighing down on you anymore than necessary, so I would suggest you go with a very light color (hopefully your ceiling is also light?) and try to make the bulkhead visually recede.