Color on the Ceiling: 4 Rooms That Can Handle Some Ceiling Drama

Does painting the ceiling a color other than white freak you out a little bit?  If it does, that’s okay – it probably should.  It’s a great way to add some unexpected oomph and joy to a room.  If you choose the correct room, it can really pull together your look and add some delight to the space.  The key is to choose one room to try this in – too much of this in a home and it can get too decorator-y if you know what I mean.  In general, look for a room that has high ceilings as the color will lower them visually.  To keep it modern and fresh – try leaving the walls white and just paint the ceiling a color.  Here are 4 rooms in a home that can handle a painted ceiling easily.

1. Children’s rooms: A child’s room or nursery is a perfect room to add some color up top.  Keep the walls neutral and choose something bold and playful or something delicate and airy – just go for it!
   I love this unusual and retro color scheme for a nursery. It’s bright, friendly, gender neutral and manages some sophistication! (Source)

   

   Pale, pink with white walls keeps it girlish yet hip. I love the bright coral of the door as well! (Source)

   

   This is so soothing and peaceful – I love the color. What a great way to get a little bit of the sky into a bedroom. (Source)

   

   Stripes are a common design element in children’s rooms. There’s lots of photo’s of circus tent type stripes or just plain wide bands of color. I like this room because it’s a little bit different. I like the white walls and how the rocket burst stripes come down onto the wall. If you want to do stripes – think of the room shape and think of the child that will be looking at it every night! If it’s too much for you, it might be too much for them too. (Source)

2. Entries:  This is my favorite place to use a colored ceiling.  It’s a transition space that can always handle more drama than the rest of the home.  I’m thinking about painting my entry ceiling a coral/red to add some drama to the all white space (hence this post).

Here’s my tiny, very unfinished entry with a Moravian star lantern – I’m considering a red to match the art…too much? I was going to put wallpaper here until I hung the star lantern up and realized how much pattern it throws! There’s a lot of little finish work still to do in this small room and the photo is awkward because I had to fend off the dog when I was crouched down at the door taking the shot. Good times.

This is a great entry space made a little more interesting with the mustard/gold ceiling. I like the bright white and the dark iron with the bold color although, the more I look at this, the more I think the color might be photoshopped in…the accessories are also super generic. Still.  It’s an interesting color and it works! (Source)

Southern porches are traditionally painted a pale sky blue – I love bringing this porch color inside. It’s a great way to transition from inside to outside. If you need a front door color think about matching your front door to your ceiling. It doesn’t need to be the same color – just go one up or one down on the color chart. (Source)

Here’s another very pretty sky blue ceiling and door. Notice how the walls are kept white in all of these schemes. (Source)

Starbursts and stripes aren’t just for children’s rooms – they work great in a small entry way with little to no architectural interest. (Source)

3. Hallways: Hallways are another transition space that are usually up for some dramatic impact.  Hallways tend to be a bit boring and repetitious – painting the ceiling is an quick way to make the passageway more interesting.

This is a long, blank hallway. I love the black ceiling and the art ledge. These are two easy ways to make a basic box look interesting! (Source)

Okay, your hall probably doesn’t look like this one and if it does, you don’t need to be reading this blog. However, the charcoal gray ceiling creates a moody atmosphere that is quite interesting here and is probably very lovely at night when it might feel like open sky above your head. (Source)

I find this beautiful and unusual. This unexpected red ceiling really helps liven up a calm passageway in a manner that doesn’t seem overly contrived. (Source)

Emerald green! Wrapping the wall color up onto the ceiling is a great decorator trick for making a room feel cozier.  (Source)

4. Bathrooms: Powder rooms and bathrooms are the other room in your home that can usually handle a color on the ceiling.  However, if your ceilings are low, I would shy away from using something other than white just so you don’t get the ceiling color reflected on your face.

Turquoise ceiling in a white and gray bathroom.  (Source)

This bathroom has a similar color scheme but it’s made more crisp by the black trim on the windows. I would have had the HVAC piece painted to match the ceiling. (Source)

Bold and gutsy: a black ceiling in a bathroom. This look is dramatic, formal and unforgettable. (Source)

Are you really sure that a floor can’t also be a ceiling? – M.C. Escher

I absolutely had to include this Paul Simon song: One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor