Painting tray ceiling a different color? (panels, paint, Wainscot, pictures)

[Moving2GF]

Neutral paint color question. I'm painting my master bedroom a light caramel color (one shade lighter than the living room.) I have a double-tray ceiling, and I need to paint at least the angled section of it (it's a lot of wall space to leave white!) Should I paint it the same color as the bedroom walls, the slightly darker shade from the living room, or maybe go one shade lighter than the bedroom? I'm just having trouble thinking neutrally!

[twinmma]

I would go the shade lighter on the fan deck card...if you go darker I think it will make your home look smaller and cave like. Going ligher will make the ceiling look larger.

[dj32]

i would go one shade lighter... in our master we did a latte/tanish color on walls (we have wainscotting as well) and light light blue on ceiling. It looks great too.

[K'ledgeBldr]

I've had H/O request both ways, and my decorator has done it both ways.
The deciding factor I think, is what size is the trey compared to the room? Are there large expanses of flat ceiling and a relatively small trey; or do you have a 2' flat ceiling all around the trey and the majority of the ceiling is the trey? Also, is there trim detail on the sloping sides of the trey?
On one particular home (contract to build) the H/O wanted a cove around the base of the trey for accent lighting (used rope light), the trey was painted at least one shade darker- maybe two.
The difference imo is, how is it lighted? The greater the lighting- the greater the drama (as far as color). Besides, if you need a little mood lighting- pop in a dimmer.
I have also seen more and more requests for chandeliers in master bdrms than fans over the last few yrs.
Just food for thought-

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by K'ledgeBldr

I've had H/O request both ways, and my decorator has done it both ways.
The deciding factor I think, is what size is the trey compared to the room? Are there large expanses of flat ceiling and a relatively small trey; or do you have a 2' flat ceiling all around the trey and the majority of the ceiling is the trey? Also, is there trim detail on the sloping sides of the trey?
On one particular home (contract to build) the H/O wanted a cove around the base of the trey for accent lighting (used rope light), the trey was painted at least one shade darker- maybe two.
The difference imo is, how is it lighted? The greater the lighting- the greater the drama (as far as color). Besides, if you need a little mood lighting- pop in a dimmer.
I have also seen more and more requests for chandeliers in master bdrms than fans over the last few yrs.
Just food for thought-

I have done it both ways also, and k'ledge is right, I am going to post a couple of trays i have done in just a few minutes, gotta go find the pix!

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by twinmma

I would go the shade lighter on the fan deck card...if you go darker I think it will make your home look smaller and cave like. Going ligher will make the ceiling look larger.

This is the ancient wisdom. However we painted our dining room ceiling a burnt orange and the walls a shade of peach. It is kind of like a try ceiling. It has curved plaster things at the joint between the ceiling and the walls. The room looks wonderful. It is very cozy and does not give a cave like or cramped feeling at all. guests often comment on how nice the room is. Even Realtors agree after first flinching and asking why the ceiling is not white or off white. Do not be afraid of color and do not always adhere to conventional wisdom. We are eventually going to gild the curved part with a mottled copper material.

We painted the tin ceiling in our back parlor a dark forest green. It ties into the Victorian wallpaper and then the lincrusta dado panels are also painted dark green. Again against conventional wisdom. It may make the room seem a tad smaller, I do not think so really, but it might. However why do you want every room to seem huge and cavernous instead of quaint and cozy? This room is unquestionably the most beautiful room in our house. Again even Realtor friends are compelled to agree after they finish flinching over the dark ceiling.



I tried to attach pictures. The house was not finished when these were taken (still isn't), but it give you an idea.

[kshe95girl]

here are some examples of what can be done with paint and wallpaper. One of these is a wall niche, but the same thing may be done with a tray. None of these are difficult! The first was done by a faux artist with a stencil. I did the niche myself, and the third is all wallpaper and paint.







Just a thought on what can be done, other than just paint.

[bibit612]

When we painted the vertical part of the tray ceiling in the master bedroom and our dining room with the same color as the wall, it looked different up on the tray because of the effect of light, both natural and artificial. Much as we needed to distinguish the tray from the rest of the room with a shade/tint/hue of the same color, we pleasantly found that we got the same effect by just using the same.

[momof2dfw]

I've used the same. Since it IS broken up in most cases. My master is a golden color and both insets of the tray have great moldings but they blended right in w/ the ceiling(s) and wall portion. We painted ALL wall and ceiling the golden color and ONLY left the MOLDING white. It REALLY makes it pop and you actually notice the MOLDING and not the "ceiling" since there is not artwork in the ceiling part like a pic above.

[NorthmeetsSouth]

I've done it with both lighter and darker ceilings. With tall ceilings you can run some trim around the wall and "drop" the ceiling down a bit by painting the wall above the trim in the ceiling color.
I have also put trim up on the ceiling and painted a darker color inside it Just to draw the eye up.
I think a darker ceiling can look really good but it depends on the lighting and the ceiling height.