I appreciate the advice. You sound like you now what you're talking about
so I'll elaborate on my situation.

My ceilings are low (8') and the natural sunlight I get is mostly northern
reflected light. The floors are white oak without any stain, just the
natural wood color + urethane.

I want the house to have a century modern vibe and to me that means white.
However, as much as I love pure bright white, as the following poster
points out, it can look like an operating room. I hate antique white
because it looks like white gone bad -- sort of yellowing white. But a
soft gray may look too dingy, so I'm perplexed.


I like your idea about the ceiling/wall line. It's a little spooky but I
may give it a shot. I'd like to see a room like this for myself.




"jeffreydesign" wrote in
oups.com:

Darker on the walls, however a white ceiling isn't always the best
idea - you may want to consider a complimentry color (several shades
lighter) for the ceiling. It really depends on your room, the
lighting, etc.

One thing I do when painting walls/ceilings that always gets positive
comments is I cut the wall color in about 1/4" below the actual
ceiling line. The reason this is done is that the actual line is
RARELY straight and if you have a lot of color difference between the
walls and the ceiling you don't want a jagged line (it will show.) I
cut it in slowly by hand and the results are spectacular and really
worth the effort.

Another tip; if you're changing color on any vertical line, use blue
painter's tape to make the transition, but before you paint your new
color, paint a light coat of the "other" color over the tape first.
This will prevent bleed-under and give you a distinctly sharp line
between the two colors. If you don't have any of the "other" paint
handy, some have used hairspray to seal up the tape line.

I used to paint professionally and I painted several "stream of
dreams" type houses in Seattle (these are high-end homes put on
display to the public to show the BEST in building/decorating.) I am
sort of a perfectionist, but I find the extra effort to be well worth
it, after all you have to live there and look at it every day!

Jeff


crabshell wrote:
I want to paint most of my interior walls bright white but I'm not
sure what to do about the ceilings. My ceilings have the identical
texture as the walls so the only way to create some contrast is by
varying the color.

Should I use a darker white on the ceilings and a bright white on the
walls or would I be better off using the bright white on the ceilings
and a slightly darker white on the walls? Yes, this question may
strike some as ridiculous but it's driving me crazy.

-crabshell