Why not paint the pipes a metallic color (I did this with radiators, using barbecue paint)? that way they'll look natural whatever the background color is.

I know the general wisdom is to paint pipes to match their background, but one apartment I rented had been painted by the former resident, with white walls. But he painted the exposes piped and the radiators black. It looked surprisingly nice and I didn't change it.

So maybe if you are worried about the pipes standing out, deliberately make them stand out. It all depends on what your final vision for the space is.

The light in the space in that photo doesn't look bad...but doesn't look spectacular either. Maybe you'd consider a color not too too dark. Perhaps a rich gray, with the white pipes...would look industrial and not too dark.

Those pipes are all you can see because the rooms are empty. When you furnish the room you will have a clearer idea of what you want. I think painting the walls to match pipes is OK and so is contrasting them depends on whether you want them to be a focal point or part of the decor or you want to put them in the background. Get some advice about how to prep and paint them so you dont have flaking pain coming off them.

I think a lot depends on the proportions of your new space. From the pictures, your ceilings don't look very tall/high. You'll have to remember that painting the pipes a contrasting color will visually lower the ceiling. Although you have your heart set on a darker color you may wish to go up a shade or two to make your place look larger, not smaller. Light colors recede, dark colors come forward. If your ceiling is stark white you'll also need to consider the sharp contrast between the white and the dark.

Try looking online for photos that have a white ceiling and dark walls in houses with similar sized rooms. This will help a lot.

You could make the pipes a cool feature depending on what look you are going for. They could be a glossy red or bright glossy yellow. Or paint them a deep color with a metallic finish. The black idea could be nice too.

I think you need to go ahead and paint the walls first and see what you think. Where your pipes are fitted, its a call (assuming you still want to have them blend), between matching them to ceiling or matching them to walls. For high pipes, I prefer it to 'be part' of the ceiling.

They are going to be a little bit apparent no matter what you do, but honestly, after a few months in the space you won't even notice them unless you decide to make them stand out with a contrasting paint color.

If you paint walls dark do the same with the pipes but in a metallic finish - giving the room an industrial edge. Or if you want to take away attention from the pipes you should paint them the same color as the walls (whatever you decide the color to be).

Keep them white, pipes are a pain to paint and if you do a dark color you'll see all the dust they can collect. Once you place your furniture and hang some art you'll forget they ever bothered you. And if i'm wrong. . . you can always paint them.

Keep them white, pipes are a pain to paint and if you do a dark color you'll see all the dust they can collect. Once you place your furniture and hang some art you'll forget they ever bothered you. And if i'm wrong. . . you can always paint them.

Keep them white, pipes are a pain to paint and if you do a dark color you'll see all the dusk they can collect. Once you place your furniture and hang some art you'll forget they ever bothered you. And if i'm wrong. . . you can always paint them.

keep them white, red goes good with white, so does chocolate brown.

because most apartments don't have exposed pipes, i consider them too be a bonus. i think it would be a good idea to keep them white and paint the walls something like benjamin moore's rockport grey. but, like others have suggested, i think you should live there for a bit to see how you live in the room. you might find that even with white walls, the place becomes too dark after the the sun goes down. and every place looks different when furniture is brought in for scale.

I have the same type of pipes in my converted school room loft. We painted our walls Benjamin Moore's Edgecomb Gray and kept the pipes and ceiling white.

I live in an apartment with white walls and white pipes. I want to paint the pipes metalic copper. Does anyone have a suggestion of what paint/primer to use?