In actual linguistic practice, with reference to English syntax, the term word order refers to the sequence of constituents (phrases, adverbials, etc) in a sentence rather than to the order of the single words. The shift in the word order in
(35) He painted the white ceiling
versus
(35a) He painted the ceiling white
is not a simple change in the position of the adjective but a change of pattern, from SVO to SVOC, and the adjective is no longer an attribute but a complement; this explains why you can insert the colour he likes best in (35a) but not in (35):
(35') *He painted the white, the colour he likes best, ceiling
(35") *He painted the colour he likes best white ceiling
(35a') He painted the ceiling white, the colour he likes best
(35a") He painted the ceiling the colour he likes best: white
It is basically true that English is a fixed-order language, especially if compared to classical languages but also to neo-Latin ones. However several devices allow speakers to bend sentence patterns to the requirements of discourse, the main purposes being:
Besides passivation and cleft sentences, other modifications allow the shift of noun phrases: it as an anticipatory or expletive subject; "existential" there and "existential" have.
a) It as an anticipatory or expletive subject
Expletive is a synonym of dummy, and refers to operators without a meaning of their own but which help in securing the syntactic correctness of the sentence. (9)
Expletive it fills the subject position without introducing another theme; thus the embedded clause can be shifted to the right, where it receives end-focus:
(36a) It is right that they should take care of us
(36b) It was easy getting the equipment loaded
(36c) It is annoying that he should be so late
In other cases, the object can be shifted:
(37) I find it exciting working here
Compare:
(37a) I find working here exciting.
b) existential there, allowing the subject noun phrase to be shifted to the right:
(38) There is nothing healthier than a cold shower
Compare with
(38a) Nothing is healthier than a cold shower
(38b) Nothing healthier exists than a cold shower
(39) I have two buttons missing on my jacket
Compare with
(39a) Two buttons are missing...
(39b) There are two buttons missing...