So yesterday, I stopped at Lowe's, grabbed a card that is very close to Pismo Dunes, but slightly more taupe. I really like these 3 colors--Coastal Villa, Seine, and Italian Leather (6005-2A,B,C).

I would really like to paint the ceiling in this large (44' x 13') area, but the ceiling is only 8' high. If you have a dark ceiling can you post it for me?

Also, since we were thinking the ceiling was going to be white, all the recessed lights we did are all trimmed out in white, will this be enough to drive me nuts? Do I need to change the trim kits? There are only 6 of them.

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with, the floor will be a dark cork all the way through.

This is one before the chandy over table was up, as well as the new chairs were delivered. But the lighting is better. Also, that little part of the 1/2 wall is all gone now.

Can anybody suggest "how" a non-white ceiling should be done...ie, if I have 3 tones on my swatch that I want to use...the darkest being for the wall with the fireplace, should the mid tone be for the walls and the lighter one on the ceiling?

Or should the lighter be on the walls, darkest for the accent at the fireplace wall and then the midtone on the ceiling?

Where are the great decorators? I need your help. I have 3 posterboards painted and I'm getting ready to start taping them up in various combinations.

My dh can't see my vision of having the ceiling painted.

Thanks!

Your rooms are so very beautiful! I'd think about "raising" the ceiling by painting it the lightest color. IMO the darkest color around the fireplace, the medium color on the other walls, and the lightest on the ceiling. For our ceilings, because I don't care for stark white and didn't much like the various next colors up on the charts, I had the painter mix a bit of the wall color into a white base - that gave a bit of soft color without a white glare.

Can't give suggestions about changing the trim on the lights. I believe that because of the beauty and elegance of your rooms, no one is going to be examining the ceiling. You could leave them as they are and then see how you like them after the room is finished.

Good luck!

It CAN look good in small spaces, halls or with high tray ceilings...has to be a "certain" type of space I think to have it work. (Like the DR featured above...note too how the dark table balances the ceiling)

But I'm no fan of really white ceilings either...that contrast can also bring a ceiling down visually. I like to have the ceilings meld with the walls to give the illusion of height. Normally I've had good luck with a lighter variation of the wall color since the same color on the ceiling will appear darker. A 50/50 mix of ceiling white and the wall color has normally worked pretty well. But test it first...depends upon your lighting.

I'd really love to see a nice crown to finish off the space...it's very elegant and that's the only thing that seems missing.

So then I was considering the 50/50 mix...I will have to see how this looks, since it is a gray/taupe color, I can just imagine the ceiling looking dirty!

There is very little chance of doing crown molding in there at this time. But you never know about in the Spring. ;)
If we did do the crown molding, would it look weird over the cabinets since they have crown molding? I'm sure installing it over top of the cabinets will not be difficult (hahahah) especially the pantry/fridge wall.

I will try the 50/50 mix but if it looks just plain dirty, would you suggest I go with the color of the cabinets? It is BM White Cloud. We will be doing our baseboards in this, after the floor is installed.

Then I began to wonder, is there some sort of white/silvery color I should consider? Any suggestions?

Never in a million years would I think I would get stuck on my ceiling paint decision.

I have NO idea how we would do this anyway--It would require some really tall friends and ladders to reach over that fridge/pantry area!

Thanks or the ideas.

I have 9' ceilings and in my halklway w/ the black ceilings and bone walls I swear the ceiling feels 12' tall now and I'm not the only person who has noted the difference. Black absorbs all color so when you are actually standing in the hallway it feels like there 'is nothing' above you. It just sort of seems to disappear. It's actually a fantastic optical illusion.

Now in my DR where the walls are painted BM Winter Wheat I have the ceiling painted a darker brown by SW called Universal Khaki. Looks great but it's a whole different feeling than the hall w/ the black ceiling. In the DR you notice the ceiling as an accent to the room. I can't say that it makes the ceiling feel as high as in the hallway. No pics yet - hopefully DH will get the chandelier up this Sunday and then I will take pics and can show you.

In my LR where the walls were painted SW Universal Khaki I was going to paint the ceiling a hair darker to give it a cozier feel and it would have felt cozy since the walls were a mid tone brown. In that instance while it may not have brought the ceiling 'down' the room would def. have felt more 'enclosed'. I know because I had already swatched out a portion.

In your kitchen above if you wanted an 'enclosed feeling' then def. try darker, however, if you're not sure and want to play around a bit you could try painting your ceiling w/ leftover wall color. The color will appear slightly darker on your ceiling than on your walls because there is not as much light bouncing off of your ceiling. I think that would look very nice.

The next house that we are moving to has 8' ceilings and I am ef. considering keeping the walls a rich warm white while doing the ceiling in a dark tongue and groove.

In our last house, we had an 18' ceiling painted dark, never switched out the trim on our two fireplace spots, and it just drove me crazy.

Clearly the rules are different for an 8 foot height, but I can't say for sure what they are. Perhaps there is something about the relationship with the wall colour or the transition to it. I don't think it's an accident that in these 9 and 10 foot rooms, it is typical that the ceiling paint colour is taken down the wall for a foot or so. And in my case, our wall colours are all pretty light.

But it may also have to do with light. There is something about your space that would make me hesitate to darken the ceiling. I think it may be that the ends of the space at both ends are windowless.

KarinL

I saw something bat a home remodelers show where you can fake a tray ceiling using plastic molding that is two feet wide. I don't remember the brand.