When using these neutral colors, the ceilings should have only about 10% of the tint of the walls, not a different color and certainly not off of a different color swatch if you want color besides white on the ceiling,,, so everything doesn't feel heavy.....the wall color could work especially with the white trim.....but keep the furnishings ( upholstery ) light....you could have darker floors, darker woods on the furniture,,,,,but keep the upholstery on the light and airy side along with gauzy white window treatments...nothing heavy..and you will be fine.....the walls with the darker color will kind of recede as long at they are all the same color...and the furnishings and artwork will stand out ( white mats on artwork if needed )
Do be careful with the color on the ceiling...I think just a tint,,,not a true hue/color would be best considering the lofty height that you should keep playing up.....keep the ceilings and trim light, bright.......

Thanks!! What about in the two tray ceiling areas. There is a foyer with a single tray and a dining area with a double tray. All the areas are open to living, kitchen, breakfast area. There will be square columns at three corners of dining area that will be same color as trim. The floors are hardwood throughout in a medium stain (minwax provencial).
Thanks!!!

I think Mega Greige is indeed too dark for such a big area and would switch to Agreeable Gray for both the walls and the ceiling. I usually paint the walls and ceiling the same color. I'd do the same in the dining area. As we get older we need more light and painting your walls a darker color will be counterproductive.
Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID

So all the different levels of tray ceiling areas should be the same as the valult?

Every beam and vertical or angled area of the tray should be white like the trim....at most the flat horizontal center ceiling could be the very lightly tinted color.

An example of greige tone on the walls and white ceilings.


I love it with the white rug.

And here is the same house with the tray ceiling.


What I like about this dining room is the contrast of the three paint colors.

In the living area you could use the agreeable and the white. In the dining area you could continue the agreeable on the walls, the white in the tray and the mega greige on the tray surround.

Wow, I am so confused:) I had planned on mega greige walls (which now seem may be too dark?), then a different color on areas of the tray. Perhaps a darker tone along the foyer single tray and darker color and wall color repeated on double tray. I could use ceiling color in the top flat ceiling surface. Is that wrong?

Another note -- I will probably not use many window treatments at all. The entire house is in the middle of the woods and few windows ever receive more than a few minutes of direct sunlight. At most, I was thinking of plantation shutters in windows across the front of the house just for privacy if someone approached the house from the drive. We are 250' off the road and can't been seen in any direction unless you hike in:)

If you do not have to put up anything on the windows,,,that is actually really great ! Just keep the ceiling white/light. Try a test patch with the darker color on the walls....buy a quart for starters....

Thanks SO much for the help. I have just been lost. The exterior has been pretty easy compared to the inside.

What was your final decision in the end? Did you go with the mega greige? I'm having a hard time finding the right color for my walls too.

Haha! It was painful! I ended up with Wordly Gray walls in my great room/kitchen/dining which are all open to each other. For the ceiling, I used Wordly Gray at 25%. In the dining room area which has a tray ceiling, I used Anonymous on the tray area and Amazing Gray for the ceiling. It turned out fantastic!

Anew Gray for the walls, and Incredible White for the Ceilings.

I bought this color after seeing it in my dentist office I was in love with that very calm and relaxing it absolutely looks Brown in my dentist office. Every sample on the internet shows it was brown undertones. I get it home I paint it on I'd have Battleship Gray, awful. I have absolutely no use for gray everything is brown that I am trying to match. The Swatch at Sherwin-Williams shows Gray but the walls and the dentist and all the pictures online do not show it to be so dark dark grey. I am on my way to Sherwin-Williams this morning to find out what we could do about this problem. What a pain in the butt I don't feel like painting anyway forget painting the wrong color!