Need paint color advice: black ceilings?

9 years ago

My wife and I are buying a foreclosure and having it remodeled. It is a modern house with a flat roof and lots of plate glass windows. It has potential, and we are really excited, but we are so nervous about taking risks with paint colors and making design mistakes.

Details: All the ceilings are low (8 feet I think), but the windows in the great room go from floor to ceiling. Also, their is an atrium in the middle of the house, but the glass roof is boarded up right now (it leaks). That will be getting fixed, so the great room will have floor to ceiling windows on both the exterior wall and the opposite interior wall where the atrium is. This means there is very little wall space but lots of natural light coming from both sides of the room.

We are switching the floors to an engineered wood floor that has a grey-ish undertone in color, which I have attached a picture of. We tend to like Restoration Hardware greys, so we had planned to paint the whole house in various shades of their grey colors. Our last house turned out well doing that, which I have also attached a picture of if you want to get a sense for some of our existing furnishings and tastes.

All that said, my wife is convinced we should paint the ceilings darker than everything else. She is trying to talk me into black even. But I am so afraid of doing that. I've seen pictures that look great, but I'm having a hard time picturing our space that way. Also, the floor plan is so open, that the ceiling is continuous from one public room to another with no break points between. So committing to a ceiling color in the great room means I'm committing to it in the kitchen, hallways, dinning, etc. Pretty much everywhere except bedrooms, baths, and laundry.

Question: What do you think? Would you do it? If not, what colors would you do with a modern house with low ceilings, lots of windows, and eclectic decor?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Featured Answer

jen046

9 years ago

I can really see your house turning out just like this.

http://houzz.com/photos/14626171

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Comments (43)

Monica Monson
9 years ago
Chris, by painting the ceiling black or a dark color it will feel cramped like the ceiling is even lower than 8'. I would suggest that it's painted the same as or lighter than the walls which gives an illusion of height and will be complimentary to the floor to ceiling windows.
Eileen
9 years ago
I agree with Monica, I'd do the same shade of grey you pick for the walls. I wouldn't go darker than the floor with such low ceilings.
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PRO
User
9 years ago
You may want to look at our colored ceiling in our glacé project
Chris Treadwell thanked User
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
9 years ago
Black will make it feel like the ceiling is going to fall on your head. I usually paint the ceilings the same as the walls or 1 shade lighter in a space with 8' ceilings.
leelee
9 years ago
Do you want to live in a cave? Try painting the laundry room ceiling black and see how you like that. Under no circumstance would you want to paint all the ceilings in your home black.
PRO
sstarr93
9 years ago
No, ceiling should be off white. 8' is not a low ceiling.
The flooring you have is IMO not suitable for this Modern space.
I would install a very large format ultrathin reinforced laminated porcelain panel, such as Slimtech Basaltina Stone Project from LEA Ceramiche. This comes in a dark grey that would be fabulous in your house.
Regards, S*
PRO
Michelle Scott for Ethan Allen - Laguna Niguel, CA
9 years ago
Black ceilings can also give the illusion of height - it can depend on the space, and the finish of the black. There are many beautiful spaces, especially modern ones with unexpected color on the ceilings. I found a whole pinterest board devoted to black ceilings- some of which are 8', and modern.
http://www.pinterest.com/stikmou/plafond-noir/
Chris Treadwell thanked Michelle Scott for Ethan Allen - Laguna Niguel, CA
PRO
Gray & Walter, Ltd.
9 years ago
The lines of your house are very attractive. You are the custodian of this house, so it is your job to do right by it. That said, it's your house so you can do anything you want. If this were my home I wouldn't do anything darker than the warmest white or the palest grey. Grey is a nice color, but it is becoming so ubiquitous it is now 'beige'. I would do much of the house in whites, this will keep the house light, bright and look more expansive. Black ceilings are terrific, but I think it's best to confine black to a room where you have lots of white and higher ceilings. Perhaps a black or silver Venetian plaster ceiling in the powder room?
Chris Treadwell thanked Gray & Walter, Ltd.
PRO
Gray & Walter, Ltd.
9 years ago
See above.
PRO
sstarr93
9 years ago
Here is the product.
jen046
9 years ago
I'm intrigued with your wife's idea of black (or dark) ceilings, but I don't know how I would feel about in in the entire house. I have a dark candy-apple red ceiling in my bedroom and really like it.

If you do go with dark ceilings, I'd do a dark gray, with a little brown in it (a warm charcoal gray). Then I would do the walls a bright, bright white. On flooring, I would keep in in the medium color range. I agree with the alternate flooring idea suggested above.

I do think if it is done right a very dark ceiling can make the space look like a box with the lid off...no ceiling at all in a beautiful, velvety-dark night. It could be a show-stopper. Frankly, I'd go for it! Yes, it's a pain in the @$$ to paint over a dark color, but no guts, no glory, and it's not like you are trying to turn a clearly modernist home into a Cape Cod (Uhhh! I hate it when that happens!).
jen046
9 years ago
By the way, I would kill to have your wonderful new home to re-do. Judging by the pic of your former living room, you have wonderful style and taste. This is going to be an amazing project. Please keep us posted!
Chris Treadwell thanked jen046
jen046
9 years ago
Here is the color I was thinking about.

http://houzz.com/photos/2920006
Chris Treadwell thanked jen046
jen046
9 years ago
Some samples of dark ceilings with white walls.

http://houzz.com/photos/1780097
jen046
9 years ago
http://houzz.com/photos/2961384
jen046
9 years ago
http://houzz.com/photos/71736
jen046
9 years ago
Here's a medium gray with white walls. May be a good compromise? Not quite as dramatic.

http://houzz.com/photos/1071205
User
9 years ago
No, don't do black ceilings.
Jules I
9 years ago
I think the darker ceiling would be amazing. Not sure I would have the nerve to go black but the darkest grey on the ceiling along with lighter shades on the walls. You could even do the wall around the windows in white. With light decor, splashes of color, the windows and that floor, beautiful.
PRO
Decorative Philosophy
9 years ago
My first dark ceiling was when I was 12 and Mom ( who is still very much with us in body and spirit!), Helped me paint my room and remove the sliding closet doors where a princess phone was installed on my 14th birthday ( from that moment on, I just put lots of pillows in and rested and read there ).
When I was 17 the color was very dark brown. I have been hooked on dark ceilings ever since. No idea where it came from. I grew up in a home very mid 20th century modern white.
Karen
PRO
Decorative Philosophy
9 years ago
There are some great sample photos here. We cannot get you more confused! You have a great space and plenty to work with. Personally we'd go with that darker color and the drama of it all!
Enjoy and NO FEAR!
Chris Treadwell thanked Decorative Philosophy
User
9 years ago
Your ceiling is lower than most of those pics.
leelee
9 years ago
Very good point chookchook.
PRO
User
9 years ago
We have completed a few low ceiling in dark colors that are unusally beautiful, however our glacé finish is very reflective and creates depth. We have also completed ceiling using off whites in this finish they will softly reflect the colors around them to offer a very classic yet contempory look. All of our glacé ceiling change shades as the bounces off of them at different angles at different times of the day.
PRO
sstarr93
9 years ago
Here are some mockups of your room, showing color combinations and effects. Done in 3D because I feel it is more realistic in this kind of discussion:
Chris Treadwell thanked sstarr93
Monica Monson
9 years ago
I vote for option 3 - light, bright and open - if that's the look you are going for. The 1st one will feel like the ceiling is dropping down on you and the 2nd has the reverse effect.
User
9 years ago
Yep, go white.
decoenthusiaste
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
With your taste in furnishings and penchant for pops of color, I'd advise surrounding yourselves with a white envelope (ceiling, floors, walls) to serve as a palette for an amazingly colorful house - all done with the furnishings, art and accessories!
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sstarr93
9 years ago
And now two views of the blue flooring with white and charcoal ceilings:
Chris Treadwell thanked sstarr93
jen046
9 years ago
I have to say that the mock up with the dark ceiling does look a little oppressive. I wonder whether art and furniture would help.

Going strictly from the mock ups, I think I like the gray ceilings, but I would not go that dark with the flooring. The all white just doesn't look that interesting to me, but, as with the dark ceiling, I wonder whether furniture and art would make the difference.
PRO
sstarr93
9 years ago
All the mockups I did are with either white or charcoal ceilings. The rendering engine provides lighting adjustments which make the white ceilings look more grey when faced with darker flooring. There is less light reflected from the darker flooring. S*
Chris Treadwell
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks to all for the wonderful comments. We never even would have thought to do dark ceilings had we not seen an article here on houzz explaining that dark ceilings add height. And of course the example photos were stunning. But just as some of you are mentioning here, this runs contrary to what I had always thought, and not only that, but most example photos are of spaces that look different from mine (higher ceilings, more moldings, etc). Hence the dilemma. This is reflected in the contrarian advice here. Even pros don't agree.

I have to say, the photos jen046 posted, particularly the "West Lake Hills" and "Hanging Rock" houses are particularly stunning. Thank you so much for showing me those, because I was having a hard time finding modern examples. They are very inspirational. Like you, I am trying to imagine each different type of color palette with all our furniture and decor.

And the glace finished ceilings that are shiny. Wow. I'm seeing that more and more lately, and it looks amazing. I love the grey one that is in MS Colours' portfolio. That looks so expensive; I'm guessing it isn't in our budget? Does anyone know how much this costs?

Sstarr, your renderings are so cool. How did you do that? Do you mind telling me what program? I have something called "sketch up" but have never used it.
Lynne Mysliwiec
9 years ago
Dark ceilings are like the night sky -- they go on forever. The example photo I liked the best had deep grey walls with a slightly lighter grey. You're going to want to make sure you have LOTS of light fixtures if you go dark walls and dark ceilings, but it could be the most lovely and sophisticated space you've ever lived in. One note -- it's just paint. Try it out. You can always repaint.
PRO
sstarr93
9 years ago
Hi Chris,
I use Sketchup, the pro edition. But the free version will do everything you need, most likely. There is a definite learning curve.
I use a couple of rendering engines on he finished drawings, Vray and Twilight. These are certainly optional if you are just doing your own designs.
Regards, S*
PRO
User
9 years ago
Send your ceiling size and I will give you appromiate cost. Please send it to me by email
PRO
Shearer Painting
9 years ago
MS Colours are the best around for ceiling finishes. I like the dark ceiling idea. Good luck.
PRO
User
9 years ago
Thanks John
pickyvicky
9 years ago
Try it....it's only paint. The result may surprise you, or send you back to the store for white.
glschisler
9 years ago
My question is which direction do the windows face? My wall of windows face east and shadows in the rooms by noon. Not as light & bright as morning. But I didn't want blinding afternoon sun & heat as our patio is also that direction.
Natalie
9 years ago
Hi---lovely space! I do agree with others, the black is just too much. Perhaps a charcoal? Like this color combo-walls/ceiling. Good Luck!
[houzz=
Jane Lockhart Interior Design · More Info
]
Chris Treadwell
Original Author
9 years ago
@glschisler, the large exterior plate glass windows in the great room face south. Any thoughts about that?

@Natalie, that's funny, my wife and I picked this exact color and saved this very photo in an idea book if, in fact, we do end up pulling the trigger on darker ceilings. I've never used Benjamin Moore paint before, but it seems like they have some really great colors.
User
9 years ago
On seeing the Jane Lockhart picture and your response to it, I am wondering if you should replicate that idea. You could use a lot of white around the edges and place the charcoal in the center with some sort of unusual shape. Something with curves to smooth out all the angles or if you want to accentuate the existing angles perhaps squares that mimic the cut outs of the room. This way you get the drama of the dark ceiling without the heaviness it may cause.