Can approach it a couple ways.

Can do the trim color on the ceiling but in a flat finish - flat is best on ceilings unless you're doing something special.

Can do a color of white that coordinates with the wall color but you have to be careful about how you do this. Sometimes the basic can of "ceiling white" will work with wall colors, sometimes it won't. Finding the right white to go with your wall color isn't exactly the easiest thing to do and you might want to see if you can get some color design help at the paint store.

Whatever you do, do not listen to advice that tells you to mix a little of the wall color paint into another can of ceiling white or white base. Worst color advice ever because when you do that you're making a completely new color. Because of the way colorant mixing works, there is no guarantee the resultant color will relate to the original wall color at all. . . and you won't know until you do it. . . and that's how you end up with ugly paint colors and gallons of wasted paint.

Any paint labeled "ceiling white" will be a dead flat. Most of them are guite white, but sometimes the manufactuter will gray the color up because it covers much better. For whatever reason, the cheap ceiling paints are frequently the gray ones. The danger of just tinting down a ceiling white that is grayed, is that it will distort the color. The lamp black in paints acts like blue.

Some ceiling paints, such as Behr, are very pure white and can freely be tinted down with a little of the wall color without distorting it.

Thanks for the comments. So is it best to "tint" ceiling paint at the store with a little of the wall color, or just go with a shade of white? It sounds like I need to pick my wall color and then get advice at the store regarding what white to go with for the ceiling?

You can have the paint store tint the ceiling paint with a small percentage of the paint formula. Or, you can take a couple cps of the actual paint and thoroughly mix it into the ceiling paint. This does work best when the ceiling paint is a clear white, not having been grayed down by the manufacturer. Interior decorators would often have me do this.

Thanks David. Still not sure that I have my question fully answered. What is the benefit of tinting the ceiling paint with your wall paint? Is this the best look, so that they blend? Why wouldn't you want to just go with a white - same as trim?

So is it best to "tint" ceiling paint at the store with a little of the wall color, or just go with a shade of white? It sounds like I need to pick my wall color and then get advice at the store regarding what white to go with for the ceiling?

While adding wall color to a can of white/ceiling paint might work on occasion, I'm not in a position to take a chance like that and hope and pray that it works out. Because it's my job to know how to find the right colors that go together and custom mixed anything is an absolute last resort. So, I'm not going to tell people to do something I don't/won't actually do myself.

IMO you should choose your wall color and then ask for some advice in the store about how to find the right white to go with it since you want a white ceiling.

Tinting the ceiling paint with a little of the wall color lessens the stark contrast to a super bright white at the ceiling line. It also helps reflect a little of the wall color around the room. The great majority of the time, I just go with a pure ceiling white.

The one place I always tinted the ceiling white down to a creamier white is when the room is wood paneled. The stark pure white just dopes not look good next to the warm wood tones.

Frankly, when I was working with decorators, I often thought their agonizing over the ceiling tint was to justify their fee to the customer!

Oh gosh, David, I'm so sorry you've not yet had the opportunity to work with a color professional who knows what they're doing and doesn't agonize over color choices. A skilled pro painter and knowledgeable color expert are a wonderful partnership when it works out.

quote "Any paint labeled "ceiling white" will be a dead flat" Not to be argumentative but that should read; SHOULD be dead flat, some of them are not.

Christopher,

I would agree that there are some differences. The Behr Premium Plus Ceiling Paint is quite flat, but the Ultra Ceiling Paint does have a little luster. Ultra is one of the few "ceiling" paints that can be used in high moisture areas. The nature of flat paints is that they are somewhat porous and therefore not suitable for baths and such. Neither are they very washable or stain resistant. Ultra fortifies the ceiling paint with nano sized metalic particles, making it extremely dense and moisture resistant.

There are plenty of others, SW's eminence being one, it's a terrible paint(IMO)

BM's Muresco is shiny. It's why I stay away from it. And I agree, Eminence is pure garbage.

Years ago I used to use MooreCraft as a ceiling paint because it was dead flat. Then they "improved" it and added some sheen, so I stopped using it for that purpose.

David,

But are you recommending Behr Ultra ceiling paint, even though it has some luster and is not completely flat? Or just for bathroom ceilings?

corimike,

I put the Behr Ultra Ceiling Paint in both my master bedroom and master bath. I was just too lazy to switch products. I don't mind a slight sheen on the ceiling. As I said, it is very moisture resistive and also stain resistive, which makes it also good in kitchens where you might have to wipe a little spritzed catsup or coke off the ceiling. Most ceiling paints are not very washable.

I just painted my ceiling with Dulux white ceiling paint today. It went on pink (which I could hardly see, darn it) and dried white. It is flat white.