Should I paint my ceiling white? What color walls? New stove surround?

last year

i all. We are renovating our beach house and have installed new floors and cabinets. Prior to installation, we were planning to leave the ceiling as is, but now I'm wondering if we should paint the ceiling white to brighten the space up a bit? Also wondering what color you would recommend for the walls? I would like to keep it neutral and was looking at SW Basalt Powder and Behr Looking Glass but I don't know if they will provide enough contrast with the white cabinets while helping with the brightness. We haven't picked our countertop, but will either go with the gray quartz that is seen in the picture with backsplash and floor, or go with a very light quartz with veining and a darker backsplash/something with blues in it. I've also included a picture of the appliances we are purchasing to give a better idea of the space and colors used there. And finally, what should I do with the stove surround? I wanted to paint it white but the contractor said it will get very dirty and may even yellow so now I need to come up with another solution.

Thank you in advance for your help!!

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Comments (22)

kj s
last year
With a different flooring choice, I think keeping the ceiling as is could have been good. It really clashes with the flooring to my eye. I'd paint it at this point if it were my place. Congrats on the new place!
decoenthusiaste
last year
The cool floor and warm ceiling aren't working together, so you're forced to do something about the difference. Did you consider bleaching or whitewashing the ceiling? As for the stove surround, talk to someone at Romabio.
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have they already primed the ceiling? you could get your primer tinted in a 50% of the Moth gray. have them do the ceiling in it. if you don't like it, then they can just continue on and paint it in the regular white color. not a big deal. but getting a small sample from Behr is only $3. they can color match the Moth color and cut it by 1/2. it won't be exact, but it will be close enough that you can see if you like it or not. painting the ceiling is going to take on a diff look because of the way light reflects up onto it. So really, it's hard to say. try the tinting the primer option. it does't cost you anything extra.
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lharpie
last year
I love the ceiling and would want to keep it, but agree the floors look too grey to match it. I think it would be better with on of the green paints, but may work better painted at this point.
susan49417
last year
Agree with above.....your new flooring does not work with the wood ceiling so painting is in order. I also am not loving the cabinet color with floors either but could just be my monitor.
PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
I love that ceiling--the wood has such character and warmth. Sorry to be blunt but I would never have used that flooring at all, and I would not paint the ceiling, especially white. You'll be left with white/gray overload, which will lead to a cold, sterile look.

If at all possible can you remove the flooring and install a real wood floor, perhaps oak? Then paint the walls either white to match the cabinets or a color that works with whatever furnishings you plan to use in the family room.
PRO
User
last year
It’s the floors that are the issue. If they are wood, consider painting them. A nice deep beachy sand or ocean blue. If its plastic, consider that it won’t hold up to ground in sand anyway, and just put it on Marketplace.
Tonya McMichael
last year
That ceiling is awesome! The floor is causing the problem here.
stressba11
Original Author
last year
Wow, thanks for all the comments but I guess the pictures didn’t do the floor justice. These floors are actually more brown than grey and @Verbo, definitely not “death grey”. They actually pull out the wood tones in the ceiling . @decoenthusiaste, thanks for the Romario suggestion, I’ll check it out.
Debbie Downer
last year
Im usually in the 'save the wood' camp - not seeing that this particular wood is anything that great , guessing its of recent origin, not vintage/higher quality. What are those odd squares - if you paint ceiling those will become very visible. Too bad about the floors - not only clashing color but theres a disconnect between the rustic-ness of the real wood and the artificial-ness of the fake wood. At this point lets think more in terms of a wholistic color scheme instead of approaching it piecemeal as you have.
tracefloyd
last year
last modified: last year
Since the floors are done, you will have to sacrifice the wood ceiling and white is sterile as mentioned with the gray. I always believe play up a percieved negative, paint the ceiling in a bright beachy vibe, it's a beach house so have some fun! The gray flooring has a purple undertone so I thought periwinkle blue for the ceiling. Found some inspo photos in gray/periwinkle scheme.

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User
last year
I'm in the "don't compound the mistake by doubling down on it" camp. The floors are the major issue with the space. They require changing the basic nature of the home into something it is not. The worst type of selection is something that is at odds with the home, and that requires the expense of changing everything else in the home to work with it. That's also the most expensive option. Work WITH the home's warm nature.
M Miller
last year
As others have said, the floors are throwing everything off. I am not buying that it is just how they look in the photograph. The photo cannot be that off, as these floors look that bad with the rest of the kitchen. I am being blunt, because you've gotten so many comments here about the floor, and you have not accepted them.

will either go with the gray quartz that is seen in the picture with backsplash and floor, or go with a very light quartz with veining and a darker backsplash/something with blues in it.

Please, no more gray. It's wrong. Actually I would not go with Quartz at all for that home. IMHO, it's not the right vibe. Soapstone would look great.

And finally, what should I do with the stove surround? I wanted to paint it white but the contractor said it will get very dirty and may even yellow so now I need to come up with another solution.

The name for what you are talking about is "cabinet hood surround". It is helpful to have the correct terminology in a kitchen renovation so that there is no mixup. Your contractor is a good contractor; many would just let you go for the wrong choice. He is correct about the painted hood surround becoming dingy. Also, they also are almost always too shallow front-to-back, so that they don't cover the front burners, and anything cooking on the front burners goes right onto the front of the shallow hood surround. The solution is a stainless steel hood. Easy to clean, goes with everything, adds some gleam, and you won't have to buy separately the hood liner and motor.

During your renovation do not omit correctly sizing the duct that goes from the hood to the outside. It should be 8" diameter. If the duct is too small, and you will get more noise and less efficiency through no fault of the hood.
George
last year
The flooring looks dated and really was not the right floor for this room. Gray flooring was a trend long gone . I’m not against painting natural wood but your ceiling is pretty great looking . Change the floor to warm brown that works with the ceiling’s undertones and eat the loss . It’s better then bringing the entire room down .
Debbie Downer
last year
last modified: last year
Cant argue with your logic Floored. Unfortunately lots of people seem to approach these choices in piecemeal fashion, and then are left with a salvage operation trying to think of ways how to tie together the disparate elements. The OP has stated that he thinks the floor and ceiling colors work together, so.... not sure where else to go with it. Im off to next post - Im sure theres an innocent brick fireplace out there being threatened with white paint that needs my help!
elcieg
last year
last modified: last year
I don't like the new floor with the ceiling...real wood and LVT...apples and oranges.

Paint the walls a light shade of the floor. If you paint the walls a completely different color/tone that either the floor of the ceiling, the walls will look sandwich in between them.
cat_ky
last year
I agree with all the others. The ceiling is gorgeous, and I would never paint that. However, the floors while very pretty, do not go with anything in the room, especially the ceiling. Its a big mistake, and could be costly, but, those floors need to be changed. Dont make a bigger mistake in painting the ceiling, because of the mistake in flooring. It would be a ton of work and money, to ever get that ceiling back, to what it is now, if it was painted. Better to change out the floors now, and hopefully learn from a big mistake.
decoenthusiaste
last year
last modified: last year
Some of us are confused about the stove surround; I assumed you meant the brick behind the wood burning stove, while others seem to be discussing a kitchen cook stove. Please clarify. If it is the brick/wood stove, Romabio may have the solution.
M Miller
last year
@decoenthusiaste - you are so right about being confused about the OP’s reference to ”stove surround”. In my comment earlier, I thought she meant a cabinet hood surround, especially since she mentioned the possibility of it getting yellowed. So now that you pointed out it could be something else, I don’t know what she meant by ”stove surround”.
iroll
last year
A stove surround refers to the wall protection behind a wood stove:
iroll
last year
A paint with a high clay content and without acrylics and oils, can be used to paint brick, will not discolor and is rated for high temperatures.
stressba11
Original Author
last year
@ decoenthusiaste yes that’s correct. I was referring to the hearth and walls around the wood burning stove.
I will look into Romabio.
@ iroll- thank you for this suggestion, I will look into it
PRO
lisedv
last year
last modified: last year
I think that painting the ceiling planks white is perfect for your beachhouse, it just needs to be accessorized correctly so that it doesn't look too white and gray (see illustrations below). For the walls, I suggest a light greige, BM Balboa Mist, that mixes well with white, gray, and wood. Or a neutral gray such as BM Gray Owl.

Any paint you choose I highly recomment that you paint a large cardboard (available at Dollar stores) with 2 coats of paint (samples available at paint stores) and walk around the room to see the colour in different lights.

For your corner fireplace, it looks like something black on the floor under the fireplace, not sure what it is but I would do a black porcelain tile under and on the sides of the base. You can also replace the spotlight on the ceiling by a more modern black one, Amazon has nice ones around $40.

Have fun with your project!