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So You’re Thinking about Extreme Funk? Well, Let’s Get Right to the Answer
Yes. You can paint your ceiling black. But hang on, there are a few fundamentals you’ll want to know before jumping in with both feet and hands!
Ask yourself these questions before you get started:
- Do you already have furnishings, bedding, and accessories to compliment a black ceiling, or will you use your existing stuff that doesn’t tie into a black ceiling?
- Which additional colors are you considering, if any, for the walls?
- Will the wall color match the black ceiling and your accessories and furnishings?
- Are you planning on adding accented trim in white or another color to break up the potential feeling of overwhelming blackness?
- Is there a lot of light in the room?
- Is the purpose to hide a messy ceiling?
- Are you trying to create a lower feeling in the room because the ceilings are very high?
- Do you need a way to create higher ceilings visually?
- Do you have sloped or angled walls?
- Are you working in an open-concept area where you would like to create a defined separation of space?
[Click to Tweet] – I’m planning on painting my bedroom ceiling black #wishmeluck
Let’s Quickly Address the Above Questions:
1. Your Furnishings: It’s the overall completed look that will matter. Just painting a ceiling black without considering all the other decor aspects in a room is a recipe for failure. If you’re planning a black ceiling, consider furniture and bedding that matches/contrasts to bring the room together.
For example, decorate the walls with neutral-colored floral or geometric patterned wallpaper or contrasting solid paint colors. Accessorize the furnishings with black accents, bedding, tables, dressers, pillows, etc. If the floors are also dark, lighten the feel of the room with a neutral light-colored area rug that brightens the space.
2, 3, 4. What Color Will Your Walls Be: You can have black walls with a black ceiling. However, if you’re going down that road, it’s better to break up the wall and the ceiling with white crown molding. Neutralize the space with a light-colored rug and lighter-colored furniture or accessories if the flooring is dark.
If you’re planning on light-colored walls, black furnishings or bedding should work fine. Just remember to bring in lighter contrasting tones if you’re overwhelming the walls and ceiling with black.
5. Is There A Lot of Light in the Room: If you have a large window in the room with a beautiful view, you can use a black ceiling to draw attention to that view. With lighter colored walls and a black ceiling, the window will almost appear framed for the view.
If you’re adding black to a room that doesn’t have a lot of natural light, add lighting. Some considerations would be Pot Lights, a Chandelier, Table Lamps, Floor Lamps or Track Lights, and String Lights.
6. Using Black to Hide a Messy Ceiling: If you’re working in a room with an untidy-looking ceiling, perhaps some pipes, various dips and curves, and multiple shades on the ceiling, you get the picture. Painting all aspects of the ceiling with black matt paint can help to disguise that mess. However, be careful that you’re not painting things that shouldn’t be painted, like pipes, ductwork, or electrical wires – get a professional opinion if your ceiling has all of that – or choose a black drop ceiling instead.
7, 8. Creating a Lowering or Heightened Ceiling with Black: When you have very high ceilings, sometimes the room can seem impersonal, almost more like a warehouse. When that’s the case, a black ceiling can help lower the ceiling visually and, thus, cozy it up a little bit.
9. Do You Have a High Sloped Ceiling? High-sloped ceilings can look lost in an open space. One solution is to paint that sloped wall black. Again, only do that when you’ve considered the entire decorating scheme for the room.
10. Do You Have Multiple Levels of Ceilings In an Open Space? You can use a Black Painted Ceiling on one of those lower ceilings in your open space to create a defined separate area. By painting that ceiling black, you’ve defined that area and can decorate around that one spot to distinguish its’ purpose from the rest of the space.
Important Final Point to Keep in Mind:
Semi-Gloss and High-Gloss paint can be VERY unforgiving. It WILL show flaws in the wall. When you’re not sure what to do, you can certainly ask a professional painter their opinion, or choose an egg shell or Matte Finish. From my own personal experience I can tell you that paint with a ‘Flat’ finish is difficult to keep clean, and not a paint finish I personally use on my own walls. I would choose egg shell, but that would depend on the amount of flaws in the ceiling – if there are too many, matte could be the better option.
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I could so do a black ceiling in my bedroom. I like my room dark as coal when I go to sleep.
There are so many ways to do it as well, can look really amazing!
Nicely done! I love light rooms but I do like drama also. Might have to move outside the box and do a black ceiling.
Lori thank you! and thanks for stopping by – it can look so nice when it’s all tied together, and doesn’t have to cost a fortune either – so many good deals out there
I just had to click through when I saw your title on The Writer’s Door. Painting a ceiling black never occurred to me! But you’ve given some excellent tips on when and where a black ceiling might be just the thing. Thanks Barbara.
Kathryn, thanks for stopping by ð – takes a little bravery to plan for black walls, it’s actually pretty nice too – We painted an entire wall in one of our sons rooms with chalkboard paint (of course all black), the rest of the walls were Aqua. It looked great he had an 8 foot wall to wall chalkboard, and he used it all the time – so did I, I used to leave him notes on it lol – He’s since redecorated his room, so we no longer have the chalkboard – really easy to get rid of, simply paint over it
I have actually never considered painting a ceiling, or even the walls black, but it sure would be different and dramatic. You have certainly given some great suggestions and valid concerns to consider before grabbing that paint. I have seen dark painted ceilings in theaters before and I actually really like them, a lot! Maybe I should give more thought to adding a touch of flair and drama to a room. It would be lots of fun, and quite funky ð
Cynthia, it sure takes a little bravery to step outside of our decorating comfort zone – in response to another comment on the page, I mentioned we painted an entire wall as a chalkboard in one of our sons rooms when he was younger – and oh my, it was a bit freaky to see black paint going on the wall! Turned out nice though, and he was able to freely write on the walls at that point lol
Rather an interesting concept. I’d never considered a black ceiling before. I know my daughter & SIL live in a funky old apartment with extremely high ceilings. A black ceiling would aid in giving a room a lowered look.
would look fabulous on a high ceiling
I’m not brave enough to do this, but the picture looks fantastic….
lol, I know, it sure does take a level of bravery – when we did one wall as a chalkboard (black) in my son’s room years ago, I about had a heart attack when the first few strokes went up
Lordie! I would have never thought about a black ceiling. It is truly funky. You made it look nice.
It takes a brave soul to try this, but it can work and look pretty stunning