Help with painting sloped walls

15 years ago

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum for this, but...

We are renovating our Victorian mansard, and are starting to discuss moldings with the contractor. This led me to the paint issues we have with the upstairs, since the walls are sloped due to the mansard roof.

I am very anti-wallpaper, even though it would probably add visual interest to the rooms since art can't be hung. What I was thinking was maybe to install a molding about 8-10" down from where the ceiling and wall meet, painting the molding white, and then everything above the molding (wall, ceiling) a color, while everything below the molding would be another color. I've seen examples of this in rooms with straight walls, but would it work with mine? BTW my ceilings upstairs are almost 9'.

Here's an example:

Here's my room:

Sorry I dont have a pic of the wall meeting the ceiling, but there is no crown molding and won't be because of the slope. I was thinking of also adding a ceiling medallion stencil around the light fixture to add interest.

if that isn't a good idea for my sloped walls, do you have any other suggestions? I am thinking the ceiling should NOT be white - either the same color as the walls or a couple of shades lighter, if I stay with a monochromatic look. But I'm not sure how this would look if there is no molding to act as a divider.

Comments (6)

User
15 years ago
I have my whole attic reno with 45" knee walls in most of the space and the ceiling is all different heights in the space. I always do sloped walls 1/4 of the wall color. I have some pics I will attach and you can see what I mean. I love your space. Would love to see the rest of the house too ! I have an 1890.

Here is a link that might be useful: attic sloped walls
kpaquette
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Trailrunner! I'd appreciate pics - I am at a total loss. I have a thread here somewhere with my house - but here's a link to my website, has pics of before and what's happening now with the renovation.

Here is a link that might be useful: Newport House
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Debbie Downer
15 years ago
What a beautiful cozy space - I love slanted walls. I would paint walls/ceiling in all the same light to mid tone - otherwise theres just too much going on visually if you divide it up with different colors. Let attention go to the interesting woodwork around the windows -that can be a different color. In a boxy room you want to use different colors for visual interest, but in a room like this you've already got plenty of visual interest with the architecture so keep it simple.

Those stripes would give me a migraine!
kpaquette
Original Author
15 years ago
HAHA - yeah, we inherited the stripes - and when we tried to take them down, they took hunks of the horse-hair plaster with them!! You gotta give whoever hung the paper credit, though, that must have been a nightmare where they meet in the corners.

The woodwork is being replaced and will be a little beefier so there will definitely be interest there, as it will be painted white. But I'm afraid that it still won't be enough, since there can't be art on any of the exterior walls. Would a ceiling stencil border be good? with a center medallion stencil around the light fixture? Normally I don't like that kind of thing but there are some beautiful Victorian stencils out there.
kimkitchy
15 years ago
I like the victorian stencil idea a lot. I also like the idea of a center medallion around the light fixture. I don't think I would bring a moulding down 8-10" from the ceiling and paint two colors, myself. To me it would seem to visually draw the ceiling lower and I prefer the feel of high ceilings, especially when the walls are sloped.

We are still working on the reno of the half story in our bungalow, so I love to see everyone's upstairs pictures. Keep us posted on what you do.
SuzyQ2
15 years ago
I like the idea of painting the walls one color and then the top part of the walls & the ceiling a lighter color. Most paint stores have something called a "ceiling tint" which is, I think, usually 25% of the wall color. I think that would visually add height to the room. I'd second the idea of using a stencil to create a "break" between paint colors. Very cute house....I think you can remove the words "in the rough" from behind "diamond" on your website ;-)