wouldn't a white ceiling give the illusion of being higher?

No, a strong contrast between the ceing and walls makes it more pronounced as a low ceiling

Ceiling

IMO if you were painting the walls in a light color then the ceiling the same would be a good idea but a strong color will not give the illusin you want. As for pot lights I like 4" with LED s in 4000K you can do them on dimmers but I like them to be in addition to table lamps and floor lamps too so a lighting plan that has layers of light . BTW I would not paint over those walls without cleaning them first , smkoe has a way to work its way out into the new paint .

You can get recessed lighting with a fairly narrow trim or if you have a high enough budget you can get recessed lighting that has no trim at all.

But you could always have the trim rings on the recessed lighting painted to match the ceiling.

https://www.ylighting.com/recessed-lighting-trimless-trim/

https://www.pureedgelighting.com/pure/products/al2-are3.php?bc=Products|Recessed|Downlights|Recessed%20Downlights

I would go with white for entire room.

IMO your rendering with the dark ceiling is not giving the illusion of space or more of it. The way to reduce glare is to have the table and floor lamps for task lighting, dimmers on overhead. I would not push to 4k, but stay a little more warm at 3500.

What all one color does is blur the boundaries between corners and walls and ceiling, and it can work particularly well if the ceiling is uneven or if there are odd jigs and jogs in the wall or there is an awkward shape. It doesn't actually make it look bigger per se, but it may make the "smallness" of it less distinct.

I painted the stairwell walls of my previous place which was an 18 foot 6x6 vertical shaft with an adjacent walkway on the second level about 3 ft wide, with a corner cut out (and an uneven ceiling --180 year old house --I painted the walls nearly black, and I painted the linen closet door which was not important, the wall color.

It actually did seem a bit bigger because things receded. And apparently it worked because when the property sold, there was lots of positive feedback about the interiors, and two subsequent owners and tenants have all retained that black stairwell.

Am not worried about making spaces seem bigger, per se. I am trying for green in that back room to bring the garden feel into the home minus a bunch of plants. I have read a bunch of designer blogs that discuss how to compensate for low ceilings, and a number of them say to paint the ceiling the same color as the walls, or about 20% lighter than the walls. The paint scheme is green, navy, orange, and brown, with some walls painted cream, and one bathroom painted apricot/pink. Am planning for recessed lighting at 2700 K in the main house, and 3000 K in the bathrooms. 4000 K is way too cool for my taste. Except *maybe* in the garage. Have been overwhelmed by the number of recessed lighting options. Am interested in alzak trim, or alzak haze trim, and whether that's something good to use here.

For instance here: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/painted-ceilings-tips-tricks

I agree with Celery about it all white. Looks like you have a great space. Don't screw it up. Can you change out the light bulbs in the existing track lighting?

I would never paint an 8ft ceiling a color if I were looking for more visual height. You're going to lose the light bounce from the windows and the room is always going to appear darker. Your rending shows the ceiling as lighter than the walls, but it may end up a few shades darker in reality unless you cut the color by half.

Painting the room green will actually diminish the effect of the garden outside the window.

I can also be sympathetic to anyone who might have a black thumb or not want to address the mites that seem to arrive with indoor tropical plants, however, there are many great options for faux greenery if you select carefully.

https://www.earthflora.com/8-foot-cordyline-tree-x-3-on-natural-wood.html

https://www.crateandbarrel.com/faux-olive-tree/s441742

https://www.cb2.com/potted-coin-tree-5/s136976

Am not going the ”all white” route, although I realize that’s quite popular. I really like bold, colored walls.

so are you planning to use chrome reflectors? I assume this is because you want them to reflect the ceiling colors? are you using standard light bulbs or integrated LED?

I would agree with I think everyone so far, that a darker same-color on the ceiling will not support the illusion of expanding the space, and because of shading on different planes, may even appear darker than the walls. As an example, on many commercial projects with open-to-roof ceilings, a suspended ceiling "cloud" is hung over a seating area, retail section, or something like that. Still being maybe 10'-14' high, painting it dark brings it down further and makes it feel "cozier" to those under it, as you do not have the reflection and bounce of light and other colors off of it. When looking across a space at eye level, a neutral (family of) white color on the ceiling will disappear in your peripheral vision.

To combat lighting glare, using a recessed fixture where there is a deeper inset baffle will reduce the potential because you cannot see the light from the side. As well BR, PAR, & R 'bulb' shapes diffuse the light on the side of the curved shape. Most of the Edison-socket housings will have deep baffle choices, for LED fixtures you'd have to search a liitle more as most are closer to flush. Also, you can paint the trim and baffle any color. With Edison-socket it's easy, with intergral LED, you'd have to tape the lens before painting.

I would agree with a baffle over a reflector