Here’s something you don’t need me to tell you, but I’m telling you anyway: You get to choose whether you want to paint your ceiling or not! But, still, almost daily, I get asked “Why don’t you paint that ceiling the color of the walls?” If you’ve never tried painting a ceiling and you’re considering it, I’ve developed a formula for when I, personally, paint a ceiling a color and when I keep it white. It’s taken some trial and error, so I thought I’d share it with you! Again, this is my personal formula in this specific house, and you get to do whatever you want!
Primary Bedroom Sources
When to Paint the Ceilings a Color
There is something so undeniably appealing about a perfectly color-drenched room. It’s just this immersive experience that I love so much. And yet, in some rooms that I’ve tried painting the ceiling, it just…didn’t work. So, I’m diving into reasons why I think it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.
So here’s one element of my formula: If the ceiling has architectural details on it (as in it’s vaulted or paneled or trimmed out), I’m more inclined to paint the ceiling. Now, of course I don’t follow this or any other “rule” 100% of the time, because that’s too rigid and predictable. But it usually works for me!
For our primary bedroom, I wanted the place to feel like a high-end retreat. We added this beautiful beadboard to the ceiling and some detailed trimwork. So when I chose this rich, chocolate color that I added to the walls, it made sense to extend it to the trim, and ceilings. And it softens the whole look, it makes the room feel less bold and more enveloping and romantic—just what a bedroom should feel like. We have 10′ ceilings in our bedroom and vertical height to spare.
We also painted the paneled ceiling on Faye’s real-life princess room in our Modern Cottage home, which follows my formula, double time. A vaulted ceiling, that has trim work on it gets painted.
Since our living room has this very vaulted ceiling, we also carried the beautiful blue-green-gray Farrow & Ball Pigeon color across. Here’s the before and right after we painted and added furniture back to the room:
Living Room Sources
What a difference, right? Throughout the day, in different lighting, this room’s feel changes. And this paint color leaned into that, creating a truly living, breathing color that makes the room feel so much more sophisticated.
When we added planking to the bonus room, I knew we were going to carry the rich Farrow & Ball Stiffkey Blue up the walls onto the ceiling. It creates this incredibly cozy effect. It’s been my favorite room in the house for a while! Here’s the transformation
Shop the Bonus Room
Painting a ceiling that has angles the same color as the walls makes the angles feel more intentional, which I love.
There is one room that is the exception to my “don’t paint flat ceilings”: the powder bathroom – it has black trim and the ceiling is black. I wanted to do that to add a modern feel. But it’s a very very small room. So I’m adding that to my formula. The smaller the room, the more I’m inclined to paint the ceiling a color. The area on the ceiling is much smaller, so there’s no risk of the color overpowering and the payoff can be very satisfying! This is especially true in a small room that’s wallpapered with contrast trim.
Powder Bath Sources
Check this post for our tools list: Painting 101: Answering All the Painting Questions
When to Keep the Ceilings White
I have a lot of white ceilings in my house, and I’m actually happy with that. And another part of my formula? When I want the wall color to be more bold and stand out, I will keep the ceiling white.
Mudroom Sources
The mudroom is a perfect example. The rich burgundy of the cabinetry and trim work is even more emphasized against the light ceiling. I want that color to be as rich and stand out as much as possible – contrasting it with the light? It does that. There’s a crispness to the clean lines. Because the red paint (Preference Red by Farrow and Ball) was the color of the cabinetry, it didn’t make sense to carry it to the ceiling in my opinion. That’s the cabinetry color! Not the wall color! And I love how the warm white ceiling lets the cabinetry shine.
The study is another example of when I tried to paint the ceiling and…had to revert. We went through a few iterations (full sob story here!). But there was a moment when the ceiling was the light blue of the trim and panels.
It just wasn’t the right vibe in the end. So we updated the trim to this glossy green and allowed the ceiling room to breathe. This also worked into my formula of trim and millwork get painted, in a wallpapered space, but a flat ceiling with no trim, wouldn’t,
Study Sources
When we worked on Greta’s teen room transformation, I wanted the show stopper to be the wallpaper with the contrast blue trim adding interest. We started with pink walls and a white ceiling:
I thought it would be even more beautiful with a painted ceiling. But when I painted the ceiling the same color that the trim was going to be? Well, then the room started to feel too blue…
I didn’t want the contrasting color to be 50% of the room’s color! So back to white it was! Also, the white chandelier we ended on melts so perfectly into that white ceiling. Having a white ceiling here, follows all of my rules, AND allowed the merlot walls to be the primary color of her room and let the blue be the smaller contrasting color–always my intention. Here’s where we ended up:
Greta’s Room Sources
One space that I haven’t yet followed my own formula, and it’s bothering me? The dining room. The ceiling is vaulted, it’s white, and it’s an interrupter! I have to paint that ceiling. There are so many diagonal lines that I don’t love. So I want to minimize that by painting it all one color. I’ve also thought about going one shade darker on the trim in here–which would be a good time to do that.
Dining Room Sources
When I do keep my ceilings white, I tend to use Sherwin Williams White Flour in an eggshell finish. That’s the white I use throughout my house. I typically prefer whites and beiges with undertones on the warm and sometimes green side—it just goes with the other colors I have around the house.
I have noticed that a lot of designers that I admire keep the ceilings white. And they’ll paint the crown the same colors as the trim. No way is wrong!
That’s the best thing about paint. It’s yours to play with, and you can take a risk or even make “mistakes” and redo ceilings for cheaper than most other home renovation projects!
