We've seen color on the ceiling before here at Apartment Therapy, but it's something we rarely see in the actual homes we visit. Why is that?...
Is it about white reflecting a light canopy overhead? Is the difficulty of painting the ceiling tempered with neutral and white colors so repainting doesn't have to be done as often as the rest of the room? Or is the ceiling simply forgotten in our perception of spaces?
Are your ceilings white? Was it a conscious decision or a no-brainer?
Our ceilings are all white. Our reason is that a ceiling color reads, to us, as a heavy object looming overhead. White simply floats. Some colored ceilings we like are pictured here: we think we like these because, in some instances, the ceilings are either the same color as the walls or, in other instances, the color is light enough to act like white. We can also handle color on ceilings when paired with exposed beams. This is probably because the beams are visible and obviously carrying the perceived weight of the colored ceiling.
Images: 1: House Beautiful, 2: the San Francisco Decorator Showcase, via Katiedid, 3: Philip's Perfect Colors via Alicia B. Designs, 4: Decor Pad, 5: Francois Dischinger/Domino via Apartment Therapy
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most blues look great on the ceiling... but i have a hard time with that light blue on the kitchen walls... i wonder why?
Gee I wish that kitchen was mine!
My husband and I painted all the ceilings in out 1000sf townhouse - in each room (except the red bathrooms), the ceiling color is one shade different (lighter or darker, depending) than the wall color. We're very happy with the result. Since we chose all warm colors, our home feels very cozy and the spaces blend very well.
However, the actual painting wasn't any fun. If I ever want to change the ceiling colors, I'm going to hire professionals!
Every time we've painted a room in our house, we've painted the ceiling also. We don't have a single white ceiling! I think that colored ceilings tie a room together, just like great flooring...but on the flip side of the room!
I painted my celing blue and walls tan similar to the Domino inspired room you pictured - it looks so great! I wish I had gone with a brighter blue though. Depending on the lighting, it sometimes is more mute.
My ceilings have most often been white because if my husband has to repaint because I don't like the first color, we're going to end up divorced. Next apartment, though, I'm going to try it.
Color on the ceiling is very very nice. But what a pain. Especially for a short person.
We just moved and have been painting almost every wall stark white (don't worry, plenty of crazy color still abounds)- and the non-whites are things like bright yellow or chartreuse. The living room has an off-white ceiling with fancy moulding that actually looks great. (We were going to paint it to match, but when we finished the walls, we loved it!)
In my childhood home, however, my mom painted my huge vaulted ceiling dark blue and put glow in the dark stars in actual position from a sky map- very cool (at least kid me thought so). Sister's room was light blue with clouds & glow in the dark yellow sun- her's was cool because at night it looked like a moon. While they're certainly kid-only options, I always thought they were charming.
I love all the colors in these rooms. They are pleasing to the eye and flows nicely visually. I have a harder time whenever there is a huge pop of bright color in the ceiling.
Makes me want to re-paint my white ceilings...
I've painted some of the ceilings in our house. Light gray blue in the kitchen, grayish white in the den, and a warmer but still grayish white in the bathroom... I love it. They're all very subtle colors, but just what I was after... I've been slacking (because painting ceilings is pretty brutal work), but the dining room is next...
-maria
rachelj02, me too!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jendavid1000/3445724268/
Totally should have gone about four or five shades stronger.
The unit of our two-flat that we currently live in will become the "rental" unit when our tenants move upstairs. Keeping that in mind, I tempered my inclination towards bold colors by painting the walls a neutral color and the ceiling of the dining room a saturated blue with hints of green. I love it, and it adds color to the room without being overwhelming.
In our small foyer, connected to a room with strong red accents, we painted the ceiling a similar shade of deep, rich red. I think this ceiling in particular looks great, because from the vantage point of the living room couch, the red ceiling just peeks out.
In general, I am a big fan of painted ceilings. The one warning I offer is that if the reflection of the ceiling can tint the walls a lighter version of the color.
I love the colors in #1 and #3. #2: I love antelope horns. #4: I'd feel like I was trapped inside a banana.
Pale blue always works especially well on coved ceilings. Just looks like sky. There must be a deep-rooted human affinity for open spaces.
http://inspiredroomdesign.com
Funny, I had just stepped off the ladder to take a break from painting the ceiling in my dining room. My house has beams that (i forget what you call it but there was just a post about it) run across the ceiling. The beams are painted white but the ceiling is Ralph Lauren - Reflecting Pool. A very, dark blue green. I really like it but man it is a pain to paint because there is so much trim.
We have a paint sprayer and we when we painted the living room ceiling (white) it only took about 20 minutes. However, the taping off took forever.
The ceiling in my bedroom is the color of chocolate milk. I love it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psymonetta/1511172531/in/set-72157601092299799/
I always trended to painting the ceiling white but our house is old and not perfectly balanced. So even things like kitchen cabinets or an armoire are not even with the slope of the ceiling. Painting the ceiling the same color as the walls helped disquise the slope.
I did my livingroom in a pale turquoise similar to the last photo, i also used the picture rail as a guide. I have a white fireplace and white walls and trim, i like the effect.
Most of our ceilings are painted a lighter shade of the creamy wall color. First it seemed a little overwhelming, but I have grown to like it. It really makes our crown moldings (which is painted in a Swiss Coffee semi-gloss) pop - much more so that they did when we had flat Swiss Coffee on the ceilings.
Has anyone painted a textured ceiling a nonwhite color? It looks like the ceilings pictured here are smooth.
My dining room wall color is pretty similar to the blue in the first pic, with white molding and a slightly textured white ceiling (not popcorn). I am thinking about painting the ceiling to match the walls, but I wonder if it would look weird...
@Psymonetta Isnoful -- I love the way the color of your ceiling matches and flows down into your floor-length curtains. Excellent.
Thanks rosenatti!
@oaks - our ceilings have an orangepeel/splatter texture. It can make the color appear a shade darker in some light. That's why we went with a contrasting color rather than trying to match.
The ceilings in our living room are a light latte color as well and our walls are a mid-tone khaki. The latte color is just enough to warm up the room.
When I moved into my apartment I wanted to bring some color into my small kitchen but feared making it feel even smaller, and since the space had such high ceilings I thought that maybe leaving the walls white and putting color on the ceiling would be a way of drawing the eye upward and making the space feel larger. I chose a gorgeous orangey-ochre color which I absolutely love, it brings warmth into the kitchen and reminds me of tasty spices and delicious foods.