To paint, or not to paint… that is the question when it comes to the ceiling. We’re actually huge fans of painting the ceiling in many cases, especially because people fear that it might make a room feel closed in but it can actually have the opposite effect. Think about standing in a small room and looking up to see a giant white square above you. That big stark square (the unpainted ceiling) can look like it’s right on top of you, and all of that contrast that it has from the wall color can really make it pop, in a chopping-up-the-room sort of way. Meanwhile if you painted it the same color (or a slightly lighter tone) than the walls, the entire room can feel more expansive because there’s less contrast, so it won’t feel as choppy or as in-your-face as a bright white ceiling might.
Many folks will tell you not to paint your ceiling anything too dark, but we have seen that in a very small room, like a bathroom, even a relatively dark color, like a medium gray tone, can look great on the ceiling and the room will feel more open and less fractionalized by a stark white ceiling. Take our tiny master bathroom, for example, which we painted Rockport Gray:
It’s nice to see the same seamless color on the walls and ceiling. And it doesn’t feel dark since there’s a nice big white door, a white shower curtain, and some large scale art (as well as a colorful light fixture) to break things up. So if you have a room with medium or dark toned walls, but you have some lighter items (like a light sofa or duvet) you might be surprised how lofty your room might feel if you lose the stark white box over your head and make it blend with the walls!
We also painted the ceiling in our first house’s bathroom the same tone as the walls, and even though it was a khaki green color (Dune Grass), it worked! We didn’t look like martians when we looked in the mirror, since it was a subtle tone that didn’t reflect down on our faces like lime green might have. And once again it made the room feel taller and less boxed in since the ceiling sort of blended into the walls and disappeared.
I mentioned that a lighter tone of the wall color could work for the ceiling too, so that’s always an option if you’re afraid to go with something too dark. You can always ask a paint pro to give you a “half-tint” of a specific wall color, which means they’ll cut the formula with 50% more white paint, creating a lighter tone that is guaranteed to “go” with the original color. Or you can even go with something in a totally different color than the walls for a more playful look, like we did in our daughter’s nursery with celery green walls and a soft aqua ceiling.
As for the finish, most ceilings look great in a flat finish since it hides the most imperfections, although in a bathroom, something eggshell or even semi-gloss can work since it’s great for the moisture-factor in a room that might get a little steamy.
What are your preferences for ceiling color? We know tons of folks who embrace white ceilings and others who don’t have one in their entire house! There’s definitely not one “right” answer, which is kind of the fun part!
Perfect timing for this post. I shared it with clients building a spec home. I recommended painting the ceilings the same in all rooms and I know your comments will reinforce my recommendation.
Thanks, Faith
Yes, the ceiling is an often-ignored facet of a room. I think that the vertical spaces (walls) in a space are the most important to get ‘right” since they are the ones we actually look at all day long. Unless you choose a dramatically different ceiling color, the risk of making an unlivable mistake is probably pretty low. We painted our living room ceiling a deep gold/tobacco to offset the slate blue walls because the white ceilings reinforced the cool spectrum a bit too much. The gold ceilings make the space much cozier!
My husband and I have had this conversation a lot… when we redid our master suite, which is the entire floor of our upstairs, we painted the ceiling the same color as the walls. We did this mainly because there are also slanted parts to the ceiling/wall and so by painting it all the same color, and sticking with a lighter color, it allowed the room to feel really open and light. The previous homeowner painted every room a different color and the ceilings were just a 5th wall to her – wallpaper, paint colors, you name it. I’m toning them down but I’ve done everything except a bold color… unless you call sky blue bold. I’d love to paint our future nursery/current catch all room’s ceiling a bold color and go more neutral on the walls for just a fun punch of color.
I’ve used harp strings as a wall color with the lightest one on the card (happy valley or fresh air? can’t remember) as the ceiling and loved it.
Also Sapphire Ice as the wall color and 2 shades lighter on the ceiling … that room seems a bit dark, but the goal was to make it darker so our son slept longer.
Our old bathroom had lavender walls and a light blue ceiling (Can’t remember the exact colors we used) … also nice. It looked like hydrangeas to me.
It’s funny to me how dark the colors look as you’re painting, but how they almost look like they could be white next to the wall color once you’re through.
what if you have crown molding? does it still work to paint the ceiling then?
Hollyloo,
We actually think crown molding can really make a room with a painted ceiling pop even more because it often highlights this nice architectural feature (your molding) that otherwise might just blend in with the ceiling. So we so go for it!
-John
Has anyone ever painted swirled ceilings?
My ceilings are all the dreaded popcorn texture – so they are staying flat white.
But I remember our kitchen when I was a child had a peachy-pink-melon sort of color on the ceiling that picked up one of the colors in the wallpaper. The wallpaper background was a dark mushroom sort of color with the melon and turquoise and off white design. It was so unexpected to look up and see that lovely color.
Paint it!
I have a chair-rail molding in my study. Above the molding we painted the walls a very soft pink and extended it to the ceiling. Below the molding is a slightly darker shade of pink. It’s very “cocoon” like. I love it.
My popcorn ceiling took the color with no problem, for those who are wondering.
I love painted ceilings – especially since our house is older and not always level. The rooms with white ceilings and colorful walls make this really noticeable but in our painted ceiling rooms you can barely tell.
This is one arena where I am such a fraidy cat. Michael however is all like “It can be done!” and I’m all like “But I’m scared…” but in the end I know that I can kick the fear and try it out in some back remote bedroom to test it out. Thanks for the insight.
My best, Lynn
I’ve been mulling over the whole painted-ceiling thing all weekend. I bought a 3 level townhouse and the main floor is an open concept kitchen/dining/living. The room is big so that’s not an issue but the ceiling is white, the treads on the staircase and the spindles on the railing are white, plus all doors, frames and window frames. I’d also love to put in crown molding at some point. Decisions, decisions.