Instead of the exact same shae -- how about a shade lighter?

Or -- for a more dramatic look -- how about several shades darker?

hmmmmm, great suggestion about the darker shade. I actually have a little bit left of the darker shade down from Tobacco Road, Tattersall Brown. I might put a little on the ceiling to see how it looks. The dining room does get a lot of natural sun light.

I'm assuming you have a chandelier in the DR. If so, the light looks so great at night reflecting off of a darker ceiling.

lauraa - I LOVE your colors. When you describe your layout - it sounds exactly like mine. I'm looking forward to seeing the results! Good luck!

I think you should do this on your ceiling, Laura:

{{!gwi}}

Of course, this would certainly add something unique to your diners' experience... ;-)

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: You can get more ideas & some you might like here

Personally I think a dark ceiling would feel oppressive. To set off the pretty crown molding I would mix some of the wall color with white so that it is a shade or two lighter then the walls.

All my ceilings are white with the exceptions of the foyer and guest bath. If you haven't seen the photo's I've posted, let me know and I'll post them for you. They both look fabulous if I say so myself!!

I think that a darker ceiling in the DR w/ that great moulding would look fantastic! The ceiling in my central hall downstairs is the only ceiling painted in our house. It is light blue w/ off white walls. The light blue ceiling picks up all of the light blue accents in the adjoing rms. off of the hall. Everytime I look at my gold mini chandelier w/ black fringed shades against the ceiling I still absolutely love it!

Well if you've read my posts over the past year, you know I'm the biggest cheerleader for color on the ceilings. I think it would look great and isn't too dark for your color scheme. If you're the least big worried, go for the one shade lighter!

My favorite poster (fab40) who had lots of color on her ceilings doesn't have her links available anymore. I swear she had a room with a color similar to yours. ???

If you already have the Tattersall Brown, then paint a poster board and tape to the ceiling to get an idea. If it is too dark, then paint with the Tobacco Road. It will look gorgeous!

Lauraa-

I don't have any suggestions for the ceiling, but I love your window treatments.

Could you tell me where you got those short curtain rods? I'm looking for some 12"-18" ones to do something similar. Are they wood? Did you cut them or did you find them that way?
thanks.

Painted ceilings look awesome. For subtle color, go a shade lighter, if you want to go dramatic, have it faux finished. I sponged a Ralph Lauren gold on our textured ceiling. I had done the same thing in our previous home, only the ceiling was not textured. I loved it in the previous home, the gold looked like it had a leather finish. Here you cant tell that because the ceiling is textured, but it will give you an idea.

This is just one color, you can have it fauxed with multiple colors, several friends have done it, and it looks beautiful.

I finished the ceiling yesterday and I LOVE it. Makes me want to go and paint more of my ceilings!!!!!!

Oceanna, if I could only be so talented!!!!!

dabunch, I got the rods at JC Penneys on sale. I think I paid about $30.00 for each. I did buy them online. I did not find them at the store. I will try and find them and post a link for you. I love them. I didn't need to close the drapes, I just wanted them for decoration. When I had my hubby put them up for me he asked me if I had bought the wrong thing, he thought I had bought the store sample. MEN!!!!!

gk5040, your ceiling is amazing!!!

Here is a picture of mine:

dabunch, here is the link to my curtain rods. I think they are 14 inches long and then you screw the decorative thing on the end.

http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/ProductsHOM.aspx?DeptID=25437&CatID=28612&CatTyp=DEP&ItemTyp=G&GrpTyp=SIZ&ItemID=13fa19d&ProdSeq=2&Cat=wood&Dep=Window&PCat=Hardware&PCatID=28419&RefPage=ProductList&Sale=&ProdCount=6&RecPtr=&ShowMenu=&TTYP=&ShopBy=0amp;RefPageName=CategoryAll%252Easpx&RefCatID=28419&RefDeptID=25437&Page=1&CmCatId=25437:28419:28612

Wow Laura!!! That looks fantastic!! So did you end up with the Tobacco Road or the darker one, I can't tell.

What a good example of how gorgeous color on the ceiling can look. This post should be bookmarked for all those who are unsure! Great job!

Lindy

absolutely beautiful! Is that the shade darker that you already had or is that same as walls. Whatever it is, it's awesome!

I ended up going with the color that is on the walls, Tobacco Road. When you walk into the house from the front door the two story entry wall connects with the dining room ceiling and I thought that it would look better if the colors were the same.

It looks great lauraa!

What impresses me the most is the fact that the it's done two days after the OP. If I posted something, I'd still be trying to make up my mind months later.

Ceiling looks great!
My husband painted our bedroom ceiling a shade lighter...
I love the look...we haven't had white ceiling in years!

Laura, I would also paint the return register the same ceiling color. Take it down to paint it a few light coats. Should you go back to a white ceiling one day they are so cheap to replace. I think it needs to blend into the ceiling rather than sticking out. Otherwise, it looks great. I have painted mine since the pic was taken. Another way to dress up your ceiling is to add a medalion around the light fixture and paint it white.

You have inspired me to paint mine. The only problem is, my ceilings aren't smooth. I have searched previous post so long that my eyes are watering. Do you remember any discussions on that issue? (I'm sorry if it's rude for me to ask on your thread, I'll blame it on being delirious from looking for so long) :)
Thanks!

parma42, I have been thinking about doing it for awhile and this week was a good one. I jumped right in!!!!!

dprisock, I painted the ceilings in my old house that had popcorn but I painted them white. I think that you could still paint the popcorn ceiling a color. In my old house I ended up getting a floor scrapper (the kind you use to get old linoleum up, kind of looks like a snow shovel but flat) and scrapped the popcorn off. It did not all come off but it made the ceiling looks as if it had a texture to it. Paint your ceiling, it will look good!!!!!

gk5040, I stood there yesterday when I was done but had not cleaned up the paint mess and thought about that register. I ended up pulling up a picture on hgtv.com message board and they had not painted the register. I thought to myself then that if I wanted to paint it I could do it easily. I also like the medallion idea. Thanks!!!!

dprisock, what kind of texture do you you have? We don't have smooth ceilings either. Not popcorn but textured ceilings are the norm here.

I really love the smooth ceilings but I don't dare mention scrapping the ceilings to my dh after our kitchen remodel. However, if you guys think a color would look alright on these, I think I would do it. If it looked half as good as laura's I would be happy. What do you think?
{{!gwi}}

Looks great! I'm playing around with the idea of a blue ceiling in our Mbed and Mbath (with SW latte walls).

Anyone have any pics to help inspire me?

Thanks!

dprisock, that's called Slapbrush or Crow's feet. It won't be as bad as trying to do it over popcorn textures but you would need a good roller. I found a few articles on painting textured ceilings and they recommend a long nap roller. Mine doesn't have as many points as yours since it's knockdown but here's a couple pics.

lindybarts - Thanks so much for the information! I had no idea what it was called.

Has anyone seen this type ceiling painted in a color?

I'm with Parma. My questions get posted and weeks later, I get the job done. This turned out very nice...

Red

dprisock, I do not think that I have seen any pictures of a ceiling like yours painted but people take pictures of their painted ceilings and really from a picture yours would look smooth unless you took a picture really up close. I think that your ceiling would look GREAT painted. If you want to do it, then jump right in and do it. When I painted my popcorn ceilings I used a smooth roller. I found that with the bigger nap roller the popcorn was flying all over me.

I defer to Laura on what kind of roller to use since she's done it before but just wanted to show dprisock how your ceiling looks with a bit of color....fabulous! Sorry Laura, guess we did kind of hijack your thread!

Thanks lindybarts - that does help! I am going to show my dh laura's pictures so that he will get inspired to try it.

Laura - I really apologize for hijacking your thread. I just absolutely loved yours so much that I couldn't help but ask questions. Sorry but one more question if you don't mind, where did you find your drapes?!?! I am in LOVE with them.

Looks great!

dpriscok, you did not hijack my thread, we are all talking about painting ceilings!!!!! If I inspire someone then that makes me feel good.

When I started thinking about drapes in my dining room, I really knew what I wanted. I started shopping around and kept finding the same fabric at different fabric stores. I was at one and got a price and it would have been over $800 per panel. Then I went to another fabric store and got a sample of the same fabric. The lady there then told me that they had panels already made in the back of the store. I paid about $120 per panel and they are lined. I jumped on that!!!!! I bet if you went to your local fabric store/stores you would be able to find drapes already premade.

What a great idea! I will do that this weekend! I was shocked at prices when I started shopping for drapes! It makes you want to take up sewing!

Thanks again for your pictures! I will post mine as soon as I get it done!