Ceiling White Ultra White. The beams lower the ceiling. Are they staying?

If beams are staying, then I vote the light blue (like a Tiffany blue) if you'll use it as a pop of color in your accessories, pillows and on other levels in the room

One way to raise the ceiling is to paint the beams and ceiling both white. You could paint the ceiling a pale, pale blue and white wash the beams. If the beams stay brown they will always bring down the ceiling.

Tiffany Blue for the ceiling? No way.

I would paint the ceiling in your wood work color...satin finish, if the surface is smooth. If not do flat finish.

What will help raise up the feeling of the room....paint the dark wainscoting the same gray as the rest of the walls. Do a simple window treatment and hang as high as you can go.

If you must keep the beams, then I would paint everything white.

I would use a very light sky blue if using blue the tiffany is too aqua IMO to give the illusian of sky.

I think white is an act of cowardice! I like the beams, and if the walls are grey, I would pick a slightly greyed blue for the panels. A visually lowered ceiling makes a comfortable room, and is very typical of several building styles from Tudor to mid-century prairie. There is nothing worse than the effect you get from fighting against the bones of your house.

More info: the house sits on a large lake in Michigan. I like the wood look of the beams - a bit more natural. I'm afraid painting them white would make it look like we are trying to hide them. They are large beams so I feel painting them would be like trying to hide an elephant under the table. We will be selling the house in a year or so. We may whitewash the brick around the fireplace.

What is not shown in the pic is how large the space is (which I think contributes to the feel of a low ceiling). There will be A LOT of white in the space with all the woodwork going Alabaster white.

Any suggestions on a specific hue of light blue? Does anyone have experience with SW Ceiling Bright White which I hear has a blue tone.

if can't paint the beams and plan to paint the walls, trim, ceiling, and wainscoting, then I would paint the walls, trum, celing, and wainscoting the same color.

I'm still not sure how much it will give the illusion of a higher ceiling given the size of those large beams.

what is actual ceiling height?

Different woods have different tones; maple tends to be ashy, pine is yellow, etc. It is not always 'warm'. The darker the stain on the wood, the less readily apparent the undertone of the wood will be. It is hard to tell from the picture, but the beams seem to dark enough to read simply as a neutral 'brown'. If you've committed yourself to the wall colours, and it sounds like you want your ceilings to blend into the rest of the palette, just find a colour that works with with the two wall colours. Paint up a sample on a piece of wallboard or MDF, and put it up on the ceiling to see how it interacts with the lighting and beams.