The fifth wall: ideas for painting the ceiling

The ceiling is often called the fifth wall because it is as large as any wall, yet most of us paint it white without a second thought. You have more choices. A ceiling can be a tint of the wall colour, the same colour as the walls, a contrasting shade, or a dark colour that pulls the room in. You can also pick out a ceiling rose and cornice so the plasterwork becomes the focus.

The right answer depends on the height of the room, how much daylight it gets and what is on the ceiling. Below are the approaches that work and when to use each.

Why not just white?

Brilliant white is the default because it reflects the most light. But in a room with coloured walls, a stark white ceiling can look cold and draws a hard line around the top of the room. Often a softer choice is better.

• A warm off-white sits more comfortably above most colours than brilliant white.
• A tint of the wall colour, roughly a quarter strength, keeps the ceiling light while linking it to the walls.
• The same colour as the walls blurs the edges of the room and makes it feel calm and enclosed.

Picking out a ceiling rose and cornice

Plaster ornament is designed to be seen in light and shadow. How you paint it decides whether it whispers or speaks.

• All one colour. Paint the ceiling, rose and cornice the same shade. The detail shows through shadow alone. This is the classic period approach and suits almost any room.
• A shade deeper. Paint the ceiling pale and the rose and cornice one or two steps darker in the same colour family. Subtle, but it frames the room.
• Picked out in parts. Paint the background of the cornice or the centre of the rose a soft colour and leave the raised ornament pale. This was popular in grander houses from the Georgian period onwards.
• A bold contrast. A dark rose on a pale ceiling, or the reverse, makes the rose the feature. It suits strong, simple shapes such as Art Deco and mid-century designs.

For inspiration, visit Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath, where Robert Adam's library ceiling uses soft pinks, blues and white to pick out its plasterwork. It shows how colour on a ceiling can feel delicate rather than heavy. Our guide to Robert Adam's interiors covers his approach in more detail.

Paint the rose before it goes up. Working on a table is far easier than working overhead.

Low ceilings

The usual advice is to paint a low ceiling white to make it feel higher. Sometimes that helps, but often it simply draws attention to the low line where white meets colour. Two alternatives work better:

• Carry the wall colour up. Painting walls and ceiling the same colour removes the edge, so the eye cannot measure where the ceiling begins. The room feels softer and no lower.
• Go pale but not white. A tint of the wall colour on the ceiling keeps it light without a hard contrast.

Keep ceiling fittings small and flat in a low room. A modest ceiling rose suits a low ceiling better than a large one, and wall lights can take the place of a hanging pendant.

Dark ceilings

A dark ceiling sounds risky but often makes a room feel more comfortable, especially rooms used mostly in the evening. Deep blue, forest green, aubergine and charcoal all work.

• Best rooms for it. Dining rooms, snugs, bedrooms, cloakrooms and high-ceilinged rooms that feel cold or echoey.
• Light it from the side. Wall lights and lamps make a dark ceiling glow at the edges. A single bright central light makes it look flat.
• Use flat matt. Sheen on a dark ceiling shows every roller mark and bump.
• Consider a pale rose. A rose left pale against a dark ceiling becomes a striking focal point, like a moon against a night sky.

Painted ceilings have a long history in Britain. The Banqueting House on Whitehall in London has a ceiling painted by Peter Paul Rubens, installed in the 1630s, and it remains one of the best reasons to lie on the floor and look up.

Practical tips

Use a roller on an extension pole and work away from the window so you can see missed patches. Natural plaster pieces need a mist coat of thinned emulsion before top coats. Our ceiling roses are hand-cast in Shrewsbury and made to order from natural plaster, so you can paint them any colour with ordinary emulsion, ideally before fitting.

Browse our ceiling roses and read the step-by-step guide to painting a ceiling rose before you start.