Personally I hate most white ceilings. I've painted the ceilings in my home a cottage white. I have rooms with cottage white on walls and ceilings and rooms with other colors on walls. The ceiling look great either way. The off white doesn't scream for your attention like white white does. Unless you have a fabulous ceiling, who wants to have your attention drawn there! Julie

"What is ceiling white anyway?" Chalk?

White ceilings tend to save energy, or helps lower your power bill. You won't turn on as many light bulbs, nor flick on that light as often, nor buy that bigger bulb, nor open the curtains a bit extra for more brightness.

And I happen to like white ceilings. However, I didn't go for some generic "ceiling white" whatever that is. I took just as much care in choosing the white for my ceiling and the finish as I did the colors for my walls. White reflects alot of light, which, since my house is very shaded is a very good thing. Also makes the ceilings appear higher to my eye, which is always a nice thing. However, I only paint ceilings white when I have crown molding. In the bathrooms where I choose not to put crown moulding, I take the wall color all the way up to the ceilings. And yes, the ceilings feel lower to me in there. But I like that in a bathroom. I know others believe it makes the ceiling feel higher to paint it the same color, but I don't see it that way.

While I enjoy the ceiling in a different color from teh walls look, like the big rage for celadon walls and soft blue ceilings, I know it's a look I'd get tired of. And once I'm done painting this house, I'm done for a LONG TIME (I hope).

Ivette

I personally don't use "ceiling white" - it is way too harsh for my rooms as my wall colors all tend to be warm shades. The ONLY place I could see it being used would be in ultra-contemporary rooms. I paint my ceilings a warm off-white or beige, even if with medium toned walls. Makes the room look more airy. Good luck!

My house is all very pale and I have BM superwhite ceilings throughout. With the gray light and the 8' ceilings I felt I needed all the height I could get. The white is bright and helps to set off the very pale colors. Even the cream looks good against it. I've had it for 2 years now and I'm very pleased. No crown molding.

I don't especially care for colored ceilings as they always look lower to me. I don't get the pale blue ceiling thing at all.

Apart from contrast, which I was going for, the white ceilings offered me the advantage of recently having my living room color changed very easily since the ceilings weren't touched.

I generally use a "White" on the ceiling but usually it's actually a very, very, very light tint of another color chosen to harmonize, titrate or otherwise interact with the main body paint color. At the very least, I choose a white with a warm, very faintly pinkish cast (unless this would look wrong, as it does with certain wall colors) to warm up the light reflected back down from the ceiling. I look on the ceiling as another surface to use to play with light and color. I have never chosen a really visibly tinted color (the blue or celadon, thing Rococogurl mentioned), just a color that if put up to dead white would definitely look slightly tinted, but otherwise you'd think it was "White".

Molly~

I agree. I fell so in love with Farrow & Ball's "Pointing" that I ended up using it in eggshell for all the trim, doors, interior windows, and in Modern Emulsion for the ceilings. It's a beautiful color, sort of like vanilla milk. Very warm, but still very white and beautiful. And the different sheens make the ceiling look different from the trim.

Ivette

Anyone care to provide a good technique for painting ceilings...especially a large one where the foyer opens to the kithen and onto the family room. Is a 12" roller in conjunction with a 9" roller better for large areas.

Gee If I could rig up a 4' roller I'd be done in no time....guess I'd need a big tray though!

I don't think I could manage a 12" roller. I've finally mastered the 9". But I am so not a pro. I've gotten pretty darned good though, I must say.

When ceilings run together, you have to paint it all at once. I was very grateful that in this house I only had one largish expanse of ceiling; the living room that extended to the foyer and then the hallway. Not too bad though.

I suppose those extra three inches would save you some time though, if you can manage it.

One thing I found, and maybe EVERYONE knows this and I'm an idiot, but they make this amazing telescoping handle that gets longer or shorter based on your needs. OMG. What a life saver it has been in painting ceilings AND walls. It was recommended to me by the paint store guy and I will forever thank him! Get it, it's worth every penny.

Ivette