People often don’t give a lot of thought to selecting a ceiling color to use in a home painting project. This can be a mistake, because the paint color you use on your ceiling has more of an effect on the room than you might realize.
With any painting job, of course, your personal tastes should determine the colors you use. But in case you’d like to explore ceiling colors more in-depth, here’s some things to consider.
Ceiling color overview
There are essentially three ways to approach painting a ceiling:
1. Paint it the same color as the walls
2. Paint it a darker color than the walls
3. Paint it a lighter color than the walls
Let’s look at each of these.
Same color
When you use the same color for the ceiling and walls, you’ll create a unified look and feel to the entire room. Same-color ceilings usually work best in “busy” rooms with more than the usual number of furnishings, wall decor, window treatments and other objects. The variety of pieces within the room will provide a great contrast to the same-look walls.
Keep in mind that the shade you choose will have an effect on the room. Darker shades of paint will make the room seem smaller – which could mean “more intimate,” or “claustrophobic,” depending on your viewpoint. Lighter shades will open the room up and give it an airy and spacious feel.
Darker ceiling
A darker ceiling can make an attractive contrast between it and the adjoining walls. The two sections can have similar colors or strongly contrasting colors. A good way to “shop” for color is to use Benjamin Moore’s color visualizer, which lets you select a model room and then apply colors from a vast palette to see how they work together.
A room with a ceiling that’s darker than the walls is going to seem a little smaller than a room with a lighter ceiling or a ceiling that matches the walls. Ideal spaces for a darker ceiling include rooms that you want to make more intimate and rooms where high-intensity light isn’t wanted or needed.
Lighter ceiling
Lighter ceilingThe best way to add “space” to a smaller or cramped room is to go with a ceiling color that’s lighter than the walls. Every home is different, as are the people who live in them, so use your judgment as to which sections in the house you’d like to fill with some breathing room.
You can create a magnificent effect of spaciousness throughout your home by painting all the ceilings in lighter shades than the walls. Where a darker-colored ceiling provides more of an immediate visual contrast, lighter ceilings tend to blend in more thoroughly with the walls, and this gives the impression of a larger space.
A final point: when considering the color of your ceiling (and walls), take into account all the other colors in the room. Walls and ceilings are just two elements of a room’s total color scheme, so think ahead about how certain colors and combinations of paint will affect the overall feel of the room.
If you want a great ceiling paint job with the perfect color but don’t want to go to the trouble of doing it yourself, call Franklin Painting of Farmington, CT. Our professional crews will produce a result that will amaze you and please you for years to come. Call us at (877) 646-7774.
Frank Campanelli, the esteemed founder of Franklin Painting LLC, has been leading the company since 1986. He takes immense pride in the stellar reputation his dedicated team has built by consistently delivering top-notch service to each customer.
