Paint can not only set a mood for your room but can also create illusions. With color you can make a large room seem cozy and a small room appear to expand. When you want a small room to look bigger, the color you paint your ceiling can help create this illusion.
The Classic White Ceiling
Painting your ceiling white is a method to make your room look bigger and is the classic color choice for ceilings. But is it right for you? While a white ceiling will make your ceiling appear to be higher, it is not always necessary when trying to give your room an impression of a larger, airy space. White ceilings will help keep the focus on your room's furnishings and the mood set by the color of your walls.
Cool or Warm Colors
It is more important to use "cool" colors on your ceiling in a small room and determine how the shade complements the walls. Cool colors make things seem distant, which enlarges a room. Warm, rich colors will bring the ceiling lower, which is beneficial when ceilings are too high. Yet in a small room, this can make the room seem suffocating instead of cozy. The ceiling should be several shades lighter than your walls unless your ceiling is too high and your room too narrow. In the case of a narrow room with a high ceiling, paint the ceiling a warm color. Bring the same color down on one wall for accent, and paint the other walls a lighter shade. This can actually open out a narrow room. Use light, cool tones of blue, peach, green, tan, or pink on your ceiling to get away from the "blahs" of plain, sterile white.
Other Tricks
Extending the color of your wall into a one-foot border on the ceiling with a lighter shade in the middle is another trick to make your room seem larger. Painting the trim or molding the same color as the wall helps to give the impression of flow. Sometimes trim painted in different shades can break a room up, which makes it look smaller.
The color of your ceiling needs to appeal to you and work well with the colors you choose in your room to create your own comfort zone. As long as you stick to the rule of "lighter" for small, low- ceiling rooms, very little clutter, and light-reflecting walls, your room can easily pose as a "big room."
Related posts
Color can have a significant impact on the overall look of a room. If you are looking for a change from standard builder white walls, choosing the right color for your rooms can make a difference...
Paint RollerA small living room can make you feel cramped, especially if it is painted in dark colors. To liven up the area and give the illusion of space, take advantage of natural lighting or ad...
In the renovation and decoration of existing buildings, making a room with a low ceiling appear taller is often a challenge. There are several strategies to achieve this. Ceilings act as a light r...
Several techniques can help that small, ugly room in your house look bigger, brighter and more welcoming. The basic rule of thumb is to use light colors in smaller rooms; dark colors make spaces f...
Small rooms can look stunning in rich, dark colors.Sometimes it's best to work with what you've got. A small room is never going to look spacious, no matter what color you paint it. Instead, go fo...
