My designer chose a color a subtle shade darker for our ceilings. I love it!!

Did you mean BM Farm Fresh or SW Farm Fresh? I ask because you said you said the cabinets would be gray green, and SW Farm Fresh is a green, while BM is a taupe. I think the BM Farm Fresh would be too dark for a ceiling and would feel a bit oppressive to me. On the BM website they do have a room picture with Farm Fresh wainscoting and Lemon Chiffon ceiling, it looks very nice, so going a few shades light might be great.

Turns out, our GC had our wall color mixed at 50% for the ceiling. Found this out when I went to get touch up paint, since the blue tape DH used to line up the lights pulled the paint with it. I feel like I will NEVER get to post a reveal!! Sorry, whining.....

Anyway you might check out that mix on the Farm Fresh...I think it looks good, but I SWEAR I picked a color.....

Nancy

I would love to do a non-white ceiling...go for it !! but check the undertones of that color against your cabs & wall paint on the painting forum first. They know their paint :)

My friend, who is a terrific designer, did pale greenish blue walls and the palest lavender ceiling. It was gorgeous.

We have very few white ceilings in our house.

My kitchen ceiling IS white, but walls, floor, and cabs are shades of wood and the ceiling is cut by wide dark beams. This is the only white ceiling on the first floor, and it is white because we need the contrast and reflected light in a room where the wood sponges up the light.

The entry is darkish red. Walls and ceiling. Woodwork and moldings are off-white, foor is oak, and there is a lot of white up the adjacent stair well. The floor and steps are oak.

The LR ceiling is a pale, warm gold which reads as white until you see a white against it, the walls are papered with a mottled dark blue with a small gold medallion. Woodwork and a long floor to ceiling bookcase wall are a warm medium to light grey, but the molding at the ceiling is a very dark blue. White on the ceiling was stark and cold. The gold is warm and subtle as sunlight.

The tv room is a med. green and the ceiling is a lighter greyed green. A wide off white molding separates the two. Again, white was harsh, stark.

The family room is all oak--floors, walls, ceiling. No white ceiling here, either

In the bedroom, which is a HUGE room added to the house by previous owners who had eight kids and wanted to ESCAPE, the 8' walls are a med. darkish warm blue. Woodwork and cove molding is warm off-white. When the ceiling was white it loomed over the room like a sagging tent. A friend painted a faux cloud ceiling for me. I love it in all light levels.

Upstairs, one bedroom has terra cotta ceiling and walls sponged with white, pearl, and who knows what else over a somewhat lighter terra cotta. Again, off-white molding separates walls and ceilings.

This is awfully wordy. I don't know if it is helpful. I do know I love color on ceilings.

A general observation: Contrast is important. I don't know the color you said your cabs would be. Do you want to add warmth or to cool the room with the ceiling color? Will you have white or a very pale color somewhere in the room? A pale color will read as white if it is the lightest color in the room, but can hugely impact the feel of the room.

I just reread this. My house sounds like a six year old's coloring binge with a new box of crayons. Oh, well, it works for me.

Have fun, CEF. Do you dream in color?

Yup. I do dream in color.
localeater, the BM 'Farm Fresh' is a peach that's so tan it's almost a dull orange. It sounds hideous, but for some reason it speaks to me. On my monitor it resolves as a khaki color. Not even close to me! I have the huge square up in the kitchen and just bought a sample pot.

Bellsmom, your home sounds so pretty. So many rich colors!

It's kind of fun to have a world of possibilities. Until I actually have to paint, that is!

Nancy, I forgot to call Direct Buy. I will.

I have often painted ceilings a lighter version of the wall paint and really like that effect. I also once painted nursery walls yellow and the ceiling pale blue with wispy white clouds, which was fun, but maybe not for a kitchen.

The person (designer) who staged our last previous property said "a white ceiling is like always wearing a white hat"

So now, except in my rooms with the coved ceilings where it is curved down to a paint rail molding, they are the color of the walls or a very slightly lighter shade.

I'll never paint a normal (non-coved) ceiling white again. It adds much more flavor to the room to match the walls.

That said, if you are a serial repainter, leave them white :)

>>serial painterNo, thank goodness I'm not at this point in my life!

I appreciate the ideas. I just felt white would be so ... normal.

Well. When I paint someday, I know where I'm going with it!

Hmmm... this sounds interesting! I like my white ceilings in the bathroom (SW threshold beige walls, white door/trim) and "library" (SW obi lilac, trim is lightest color on the card but reads white, brown carpet).

I've already seriously thought about painting the powder room ceiling to match the walls when it's redone in May. It's small, so it should work well. And now maybe the kitchen?

What about in a great room with half normal ceiling and half vaulted ceiling? I think it would probably be best to keep the vaulted part white since it goes up the stairs and the upstairs hall. Would it look odd to color the half of the room that is normal height? Visual interest or bad idea?

I like using something opposite on the color wheel for the ceiling. If your wall paint has peach undertones, then something greenish or purplish. If you've got greenish cabinets, and a peach wall color, then I would look at doing something in a light lavender/taupe color. It all works if you have everything greyed down/browned down.

williamsem, I think it would look cool. It would depend upon the architecture, beams, soffits, etc.

hollysprings, everything will be a gray tone, so loving taupes into putties, this is a nice idea.
My cabinets will be a gray green, so I'm thinking towards the taupe/putty side!

We like BM Marble White for ceilings

Here is a link that might be useful: ceiling painting

Ooh ooooh, Exciting stuff to read! I'm still fighting my cream cabinets+ white ceiling. Good luck Christine, hope this is the project you finish this year. We will all be looking forward to your reveal pictures. I meant to compliment you on your bedroom cabinets; now that's some serious storage! Off to the painting forum now:)

BM farm fresh

SW farm fresh