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Paint Home Decorating Design Dilemma

black basement ceiling looking for harmonious floor/wall companion

6 years ago

It's almost a blank slate: we pulled up carpet and cleaned the concrete floor; we removed our low-lying basement drop ceiling, rewired and painted it black; drywall went up today. We have decided on vinyl plank (LVP) flooring but are overwhelmed with color choices: Do we go dark (like the current wood floors on main floor) or will that make it look like a cave? Would greys make it look cold? Light oak color too bright from main floor's dark walnut? And then what about corresponding wall color? Basement is approx 550 sq ft and the ceiling is lower than most, but much improved now that the drop ceiling is gone. It will be a gathering room, not a toy/storage-dump room any more!

Featured Answer

P Banos

6 years ago

I looked at a bunch of rooms, and every one I liked had medium wood color. They grey ones looked like a garage. Then I noticed the ones that caught my eye also had taupe walls. It looks good with both the black and the wood.

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Comments (15)

deegw
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Do you have a picture of the space with the new black ceilings? Is there a particular reason you picked black for the ceiling?
greaterjoy48
6 years ago
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Thank you everyone for your initial suggestions! Worthy: thanks for the tips you provided. My plan is to take out the drop ceiling and go to town with a ship vac to get the entire basement clean. Trust me, we have plenty of spider webs, etc. down there. Once it is all clean, I will identify all the wiring and make sure if it is used, it it fastened into the ceiling. My next step would be toreplace the current lighting with the recessed can lighting. I'm thinking four lights across in three rows, with an additional light by the bathroom and one at the bottom of the steps. I've measured it out and I can space them all out about 5 feet apart. Then lastly would be to paint. Although I am bit of a novice, I plan to knock out the ceiling painting. I'd like to start on one area and master it before moving to the rest of the ceiling. Once the ceiling is done, then I will go for the walls. I'm considering painting that built in entertainment center as well, just not sure what color to go with.
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The basement ceiling height of the house we lived in when our kids were teenagers wasn't much higher than yours. My husband sprayed the underside of the main level floor matte black, covering all pipes and ducts. If you DIY, be sure to use a good respirator mask. Our son was the same height as your husband (now slightly taller) and my husband was just a tad shorter. Neither one was bothered by feeling as if they were about to bump their heads. We had no issues with dust. As for noise in the basement, I think it was only noticeable when someone overhead wore high heels. I didn't find that the sound of video games or movies in the basement carried upstairs any more than in a later house with a drywall ceiling. My family liked the look and I was happy to put the money that would have been spent on a finished ceiling toward other things in the house.
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I said I’m not sure . When did I say I have decided ? We discussed with the renovation team again and we will test to paint just a little part of the ceiling to see how it looks with pot lights and wall lights that we will install . If it is very dark then we may not paint the ceiling . Also after gathering all your opinions , we have decided to use the dark color for just the living room ( as a theatre room) and a lighter color for the rest of the basement Also I checked again . The height is actually 8ft for most of the basement Thank you everyone !!
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Dusty Cohen we can't tell you if you really can paint the tile or not because you have not told us what kind of tile it is. I do think overlaying a vinyl plank floor would look and wear way better. it would be easier than painting too. I also like other people's suggestions of carpet tiles, which is the easiest of all of the options. Flor is expensive, but there are other brands. but if you are still curious about painting, here are some deets: if your current tile feels plasticky (like vinyl or linoleum), then no, you can't paint it. if it's stone/ceramic, then possibly yes.* however, it could be prone to chipping, hence my suggestion to also cover with a huge rug. and painting is a lot of work -- you need to clean the hell out of it with major chemicals, prime it, and use a special kind of paint. *caveat: if it's high polish, paint will not adhere well at all.
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greaterjoy48
6 years ago
We picked black because we have a lower ceiling and the Black makes it seem to fade away not draw attention to it.
greaterjoy48
6 years ago
Thank you. We have decided on and ordered our lvp flooring. We went with a medium tone—will post a picture when it’s installed!
P Banos
6 years ago
Will be looking forward to seeing it! I am a fan of this ceiling style - it looks way better than the old school drop ceilings. You can always refresh the paint when needed.
Ula Julien
3 years ago
I have the exact same dilemma, I plan to paint the exposed ceiling black, will have sherwin Williams grey cabinets for the home office/ family room and am struggling with the choice of floor color, doing luxury vinyl as well. Would love to see your after photo - it’s been a while since you originally asked the question I wonder if there is a chance for you to see my request 🤔
greaterjoy48
3 years ago
I quite forgot the pictures, didn’t I? Well, here we are in the basement a few years later...lived in and quickly tidied up!
We love, love, love our LV flooring which we also put in the laundry room with the extra (I can dig up what we used/where we got it if needed. We heard varied results from people using other products but had no problem whatsoever with our installation, usage and wear.)
Paint color is SW Sea Serpent (so cheery still!) and SW Skyline Steel which I would describe as a warm “greige” that complements the flooring.
Ula Julien
3 years ago
This puts me at ease !!! I picked a very similar floor! It is shaws line from floor and decore that has a very similar color and texture ! Thanks
So much for sharing ! Looks great 😊
greaterjoy48
3 years ago
Fantastic. Would love to see a picture when finished. If anyone else is reading this thread I need to make a correction: the blue paint color is SW Deep Sea Dive not Sea Serpent as stated. Sorry for the confusion!
Ula Julien
3 years ago
It will be a while :) here is where I am at the moment :
Ula Julien
3 years ago
Adding a bathroom 😱
HU-206677430
last year
last modified: last year
Greaterjoy48 do you have the name of your flooring? our drywall is also now up and ceiling is blacked out. i bought grey flooring, but do not like it with the industrial office office/bourbon bar theme i am going for. A medium would look best. thanks
greaterjoy48
last year
Life proof —Woodacres Oak
PRO
Bergen Furniture & Design
last year
Your idea of using black for a lower ceiling is good but that makes it tricky to find the right interiors to make them work with it. Lighter walls and flooring would do the job well. And looking at the pictures shared in the thread, taupe walls with medium wood flooring are looking great.

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