I am thinking about doing this, since the ceilings will have to be repainted anyway. I might do a very pale version of our wall color, which is sort of like a dark cream. Think of the palest color of coffee you could make, with tons of cream in it. That's our wall color. So the ceiling would be even lighter, if we do it.
I agree that this will make your white crown really stand out and look pretty.

Our last kitchen had little painted walls showing, and lots of windows, so it was painted a dark color and the ceiling a light medium yellow/gold. It was very pretty and once people noticed, they always commented liking. I also painted the DR ceiling a light medium green.

If your walls are a color, paint the ceiling lighter (don't go darker). If your walls are a shade of white or a very light color, don't go too much more tinted on the ceiling.

There are no white ceiling in my house......never have been

Bathrooms ceilings are all the same color as the walls and everyone always comments on how polished it looks...

Other rooms are usually a 1/2 or 1/4 tint or a complementary color to the walls.

I have indirect lighting so needed a whitish ceiling in my kitchen but still did it as a tint of the wall color. It makes a big difference.

There are all kinds of tricks you can do with a tray ceiling, which is essentially what you have. Beware of going too dark. I would stay in the pastels or tints (medium-light to light) to keep it feeling open and airy.

We had such a tough time picking colors that my wife hired a color consultant. She had us use a light green on the ceiling (Ben Moore camouflage) and a golden tan (I think it was Ben Moore Rattan) on the walls. Looks great.

We had already used a lighter shade of the wall color in our bedrooms and baths.

It was hard to get me to change habits and get away from white ceilings but its definitely nicer.

Not sure about the green walls but love the blue ceiling. Can't do white on white, right? There are many shades of blue ceilings on a post within the past few months.

it would look so much better with one of those newfangled LED light bulbs

Gosh, I hope I am not too late. It has been a busy
weekend. I plan to paint my ceiling. It will be a glossy
beadboard in a light blue color. Almost white sky blue. I
can not wait...And wish I could show you pictures of my
own space.

I was inspired by many of these beautiful ideas. Maybe
they can help you visulize your kitchen.
~boxer

Martha Stewart

KBD Award Kitchen

Lennox File

Arlene Kitchen Remodel

Boston Design guides

Mendelson

Sky Blue Chicago Home Mag

amylucey posted her finished coastal kitchen this fall, and it has a painted blue beadboard ceiling and is beautiful!

Here is a link that might be useful: amylucey's kitchen

We painted almost all of our ceilings blue. If they aren't this color, then they are the color of the walls (we have some low walls upstairs).

This is my stock photo of the color:

I've always wanted a very, very light blue ceiling in my kitchen, glad to know I'm not alone! The guys just finished installing my new beadboard ceiling in the kitchen yesterday (still have the pantry to do). There will be beadboard on all the walls too, and I'm hoping to find that elusive "creamy white/nearly yellow" paint color I've hunted for an equally number of years. Thanks for posting the pic of the blue beadboard ceiling!

Boxerpups,
Love that first photo you posted - thank you!

I like the colors I went with - I'll have to post a photo once the crown is up. The bedrooms in my place are white, but the living/dining/loft ceiling is slightly offwhite, as is the front hall ceiling. In the master bath shower (small) I painted the walls and ceiling all one color (fairly dark) but think it makes the room look a littler taller.

Schoolhouse - there is a thread on the forums about picking the "Right" white. For years I would pick a white for trim and hate it because it looked "blue" to me. Turns out, that's because the base tint had blue in it lol. This time I picked Bistro White from Lowe's and I love it. It's white but a creamy tint, not blue at all.

Thanks for the input everyone!

EBirdy

Boxer, I was going to ask u to find that picture of the dining room with the purple ceiling... Love it!

Could I be that brave?