apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have a room painted in almost this exact scheme, but it's a closet that's been converted to a bedroom, so to make it a little more cavey and intense (to match its small size) I took the ceiling color a little darker, like a duller robin's egg. It looks really good - as does this room above. I think a lot of it, in both rooms, has to do with the decorative moulding. I'm not sure if this look would really rock in modern construction.

This is beautiful. I like it...would look nice in my work area as well

A darker ceiling is an old trick for improving proportions when the ceiling is too high for the size of the room, so there are definitely rooms where this will look incredible --including many a hundred-year-old kitchen, study, or small bedroom where you have a 10' ceiling in a tiny room.

I'd use caution and keep it subtle in mid-20th-century construction with 8' ceilings, where a much darker or brighter ceiling color is likely to make the ceiling seem to come looming down at you.

I don't understand why people *don't* paint their celings. Even if it is the same color as the walls or a variation thereof, unpainted ceilings look unfinished.

My ceiling is sky blue. Cliche, maybe, but classic, methinks.

People don't paint their ceilings because it's miserable work. I spent a good long time cutting in the trim along our ceiling and that was quite enough for me.

Although it's pretty, no question.

My landlord is pretty good at design decisions. When we moved in she asked us to pick paint colors for the rooms and had her painters paint them - they painted the walls and ceilings the same color. I think it makes the room look a lot bigger. Now I don't like it when people have colored walls and white ceilings but...this picture is really pretty.

The light-filled room in the picture looks great, but the wall colour is not anything near white. In fact, it's more like the dreaded and oft-reviled beige. So maybe that's why 'we' have hated so hard on beige walls: With white ceilings pastel tan walls make an uninteresting combination.

amed studio is right - Beige with an off-white ceiling is drab and boring - Beige with a sky blue ceiling is uplifting and elegant.

I love it. It makes you look up in the room, and not just around. I had a smallish bedroom I once painted.. the walls were a light yellow and the ceiling was a navy blue. Then I bought some gold paint and hand painted old fashioned looking stars on it. The navy went down about a foot on the walls, and I had wall to wall track lighting that from border to border. I was a teenager at the time, so for a bedroom it was very fun. It really gave a good feel, and I always got a lot of "wow!"s.

I painted my sunroom/sunporch ceiling a bright emerald green, both to bring down the ceiling, to match the greenish, metallic fleck vinyl floor and the garden outside as well as to give a springy air to the room and to reflect into the kitchen in the dull months.

I have a kitchen that has 9 foot high ceilings and I'd love to do something like this. However, i don't have the decorative moldings. How much of the upper part of the wall should i paint blue? 1 foot? I wonder what the proportions of this beautiful room are?

I just painted my bedroom including the ceiling and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I used the Shur-Line paint edger and that eliminated any taping. I could weep at the number of walls I've edged with just a brush and bow down to the inventors of this tool! An edger makes it a million times easier. I also used a paint pad on an extension pole which eliminated roller splatter. While I was still a little stiff in the neck and upper arms the next day, it was nothing compared to other times I've tried it.

I have painted every ceiling in my house (12 ft) the same colors as the walls and I will never go back to white ceilings if I can help it. Love it! Most advice said 2 shades lighter for the ceiling but we were too lazy. I can't imagine loving it more than I do already. We have done this with light and very dark colors.

Pale blue ceiling with ivory or beige walls is a giant YES! in my book. I would love to see other color combinations. I agree that high ceilings are a must for this look to work well.

My really tiny bathroom is white walls, white fixtures, white floor, lots of mirrors, with a sky blue ceiling and I love it. It's clean and simple looking and it doesn't feel like I'm in a little box. The blue ceiling makes it feel less confining.
I'm also a huge fan of painting walls and ceilings the same color. My bedroom is all a light blue, with pale oak floors. I used to hate lying on the bed and staring at a blank white ceiling expanse and I think it also makes this small room seem airier. If I had to do it over again, I think, like Kimberlina suggests, I'd paint the ceiling the same color as the walls but one or two shades lighter.

I'm about to embark on a project to paper my father's bedroom with maps the color of manila file folders and paint the ceiling palest blue. This photo gives me confidence!

This looks so lovely, but how do you paint the ceilings without making a big drippy mess??

This the the exact picture we just gave our painter for an office that is getting a face lift. I can't wait to see it completed.

Amed: its not beige, its more mushroom-y with a brown cast than beige.

I'm actually adding some picture molding that we were going to trash, to make sure that there is a visual distinction and cleaner line for where the blue comes down the wall.

I'm in love! It's beautiful, just may start experimenting...