Painting Your Ceilings the Same Color as the Walls
Posted on July 5, 2021
When it’s time for your next interior painting project don’t forget to consider the options your ceilings offer you. There is no rule that says they have to be painted traditional white. You can use paint to unify a look, offer contrast, or extend the color of your walls.
The first option you have with a ceiling, besides painting it white, is to extend the existing color on the walls. You make your painting project simple by requiring only one color of paint and any leftover paint can be used for touchups throughout the room later if needed.
By painting the ceiling, the same color as the walls, you create a unified look that lets the décor, and trim provide more focus. In an environment that is already visually busy, removing additional contrast may be just the ticket to give your room some additional balance.
Another benefit of using a single color can be found in rooms with unusual angles and slopes in the walls and ceilings. If your room isn’t a perfect cube shape, using one color helps to mask the asymmetry. This works especially well in bedrooms with dormers or partially sloped ceilings.
If you really want your artwork, furniture, large windows, molding, or ornate trim to serve as a focus you can increase that focus by decreasing it elsewhere, specifically the ceiling.
Depending on the color you can also make the room look expansive with light colors or smaller with darker colors. The same is true with the apparent height of the room, using a single color removes the visual cue that indicates where the walls end. It’s at the extremes of light and dark that the effect is the most dramatic.
One small warning, if the room you are planning to paint has minimal furniture or is sparsely decorated it may make the room look too spare or sterile.
You also have the option of using a contrasting color on the ceiling, you can go darker than the walls for an added bit of drama or go lighter to make the room a bit brighter. In both cases, there is still a relationship between the ceiling color and the wall color versus the hard break that a white ceiling will give you.
Want to go for an even more distinctive look? Here are a few bonus ideas:
Paint the trim in a lighter or darker shade of the color you use for the walls and ceiling, this works especially well if you have crown molding, a fireplace surround, window trim, or a decent number of places to display the contrast.
Alternate the paint finish while using the same shade. If the walls are done in eggshell consider doing the ceiling in a satin or semi-gloss finish. This works well in concert with your room’s lighting like a dining room chandelier.
If you have a very smooth ceiling in a formal room like a living room or dining room, consider painting the ceiling in a different shade but use high-gloss paint to create a near mirror finish.
If this inspires you to come up with your own creative painting project but you need help picking the perfect shade(s) why not schedule a free color consultation with our experts who can point you in the right direction. At CertaPro of Reno, we are standing by to help you make your interior painting project a reality.
