Ceiling paint color

May get better results in the dedicated HT or PJ forum...

But the answer to your question is yes, as a general rule, you will always get better results by painting the ceiling darker. Some people use flat black, otherwise Ben Moore carries a "Milano Blue" color that seems to be popular. Searching in the dedicated HT forum will indeed provide more details.

Soapy

I painted my ceiling and front wall "Ink" which is a very dark blue from Sherwin Williams. My walls are a dark sand color. WAF was very high!

A darker color will improve your percieved contrast at the screen or tv location. I recommend a neutral color, grey or black but other dark colors seem to work well too such as burgundy, etc.

I used a very, very dark grey flat paint on my ceiling. It definately made a difference. In concert with the dark burgendy walls, it looks very nice.

Shan

Yup.

Flat "Black Suede" on the ceilings and a dark "Chianti" red on the soffits.

I am considering the same color combination but my room is a combo room. One part is home theater and the other is a pool table and a bar against the wall. What does every one think about this ceiling color when used in a dual purpose room?

I went a different way. My HT is a dedicated room with no windows. All of the walls are flat black and the ceiling is a dark blue with granite flakes in it that the soffit lighting accentuates when the house lights are on. It vanishes when I turn them off but I have cobalt blue step and accent lighting.

I bet that looks really good. How about some pictures?


On the question of black in a dual purpose room, my Theater is actually my Family room and, as such, is open to the rest of the house. I was very nervous about a black ceiling but, to be honest, you would be surprised how few people even notice...at least until they look up at the projector. Will a dark colored wall, especially, a dark ceiling does not stand out.

Worse case, just paint part of the ceiling dark. Because my kitchen ceiling and the ceiling in my family room are the same, with no divider, I took a piece of 1x2 with rounded corners, painted it the black ceiling color and tacked it to the ceiling between the two rooms. Looks very good and allows me to keep the ceiling in the kitchen white.

Shan

Thanks for the reply that makes me feel better about painting the entire ceiling black.

Granite flakes! Yes we need pics diver90! lol. Or at the very least can we get paint manufacturer or where do you get the granite flakes?

It's really hard to take pictures of this and convey what it's like in person. The camera doesn't catch all of the granite eye-dazzlers. But here's what I've got.

To recap -

Black Walls
Cobalt Blue Ceiling with Gold Granite Flakes
Up Lighting From Columns when house lights on
Blue Rope Lighting in Soffit when movie plays (also on steps)

The paint came from Lowe's. They have granite flake, textures and all sorts of good stuff.

Earth Elements Signature Series - Lapis Stone EE2117 with Granite Crystals (the crystals come separately and are mixed in. I did a double load for each gallon of paint).

Thanks that is a really good look. The flakes will certainly find their way into my ceiling. But now I have one more color to consider for the ceiling... Picking the colors of the room are proving to be the most difficult task.