Painting walls and ceilings with lots of angles
11/02/2008 07:38 PM by Gretchen Schauffler
Deciding where to paint a wall color can be just as difficult as choosing the wall color itself. After you make the decision of what color to paint, you then have to decide where the color goes: on all four walls, maybe just one, or perhaps in another room. A lot of contemporary living spaces with open floor plans have walls that don’t stop. Instead they have different ceiling heights that define the rooms. It is difficult to know where to stop and start colors because the walls and ceilings fold into abstract shapes unlike traditional rooms—with 4 sides to a box and a lid. These are my tips to help you understand how to deal with these open floor plans.
I say GO WITH THE FLOW when you are painting walls and ceilings that are different heights and angles. A wall color cannot stop and change until it hits a 90 degree corner. Any corner higher and softer, I consider it to be the same wall surface. Same goes for bull-nosed corners. If it rounds, it is a curve, and the color has to curve over it.
Here is a home owner ready to update the look of her home but is having a hard time deciding on a color. What complicates the matter even more are the wall and ceiling angles—short ceilings, short walls, long walls, and high triangle shapes all intercept each other like a Picasso. Our Delicate, Powder, and Breathable Finishes will all work with her formal style.
Create focal walls with art, mirrors, and fireplace accents. Adding a rich red color to the fireplace and painting the mantle black will update the look of the formal furniture. It’s a new sophisticated approach to this traditional look.
When you do one overall neutral color, you can afford to go a little richer. With all the blues, greens and dark wood, neutrals like Devine Latte, Devine Sumatra, Devine Filbert, Devine Muslin, devinegreen: Siamese, and devinegreen: Impala bring a nice calm feel to the space. For the fireplace color, try devinegreen: Clover, devinegreen: Walrus, or Devine Bordeaux. For the mantle, devinegreen: Rhino, devinegreen: Gator, or Devine Piping. Use our Powder Finish for a brick, vintage feel.
For another look, try Devine Sand, Devine Shimmer, Devine Cashew, devinegreen: Coyote, or devinegreen: Chicken. For the fireplace color, try brighter reds like devinegreen: Toucan, devinegreen: Cheetah, or Devine Sangria. For a third option, here is another way to look at it!
Try Devine Custard, Devine Shell, or Devine Macadamia, with Devine Roast, Devine Pine, or devinegreen: Mallard for the fireplace in Powder Finish for a brick, vintage feel.
Don’t leave the ceiling white, it creates weird angles that make the space look sharp and severe. Accenting the ceiling in white or painting it a different color will give the ceiling line a jagged-edge look going around the open room. Accenting one wall in a color will draw too much attention to the different heights. What will make this space pull together is a unifying neutral color that can be both a wall and ceiling color.
Rooms are 3-dimensional and sometimes accent walls create one dimensional, flat, cartoon-like shapes. When you have a lot of angles, it is best to let the color flow with the folds. In this case an accent wall would make the dining room look short and stubby.
Try to add height and interest to windows with panels like our Devine Window Dresses (here shown in Devine Cafe). You can see how they finish the room and balance the furniture.
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I’m getting ready to paint my home – using Devine paint for the first time. I love the color selection and choices I have!!! However, I read that if a wall has rounded edges, paint around it.. only change color at a 90 degree angle. My home has archways from the entry to the living room, then to the dining room, then into the kitchen.. all with rounded corners. How do I choose where to stop and start? I was not originally planning to paint these rooms the same colors. I’m looking at Devine Ginger, Devine Peanut… I wanted Mocha, but it didn’t work with the carpet and maple flooring… Gorgoues colors, though!
— Dorene Dundas 11/03/2008 10:34 PM #
Dorene:
For a lot of these rooms you will carry the color in and stop on one wall. The rest of the walls will become a u-shape in another color. I plan to do an article about this soon. In the meantime if you can send digital pictures of these bull-nosed walls and transitions, that would be great! I would love to see them. I can’t wait to see the “after pictures”! The colors sound fabulous!
— gretchen Schauffler 11/04/2008 09:36 AM #
Hi! Thanks for all the great advice you give in your blogs! I have a family room a lot like the one pictured, except that the short wall is all sliding glass doors. The two long walls go in a slant from 9’ to about 20 feet, with one disappearing up the stairwell. The 4th wall (opposite glass wall) is a floating 1/2 wall (it’s a loft with cutout) and forms the beginning of 8’ ceiling in the kitchen – it’s an open plan. It’s a lot of crazy angles. If I do the walls in Hazelnut, should the ceiling be the SAME or is that too dark? The room gets a LOT of light and I want a contemporary feel. 2nd…with kitchen open to all of this going on, can it be different since its ceiling is 90 angle from den? Hope that all made sense! thanks!
— Kelsey Taylor 11/04/2008 12:16 PM #
I have a similar scenario as Kelsey but I was thinking of using Sumatra. I wanted a warm kitchen and kitchen nook though and was thinking Toile but are they compatible? Would I be better off with Filbert and Toile? The ceiling is low in the Kitchen, should I carry on the Neutral anyway or switch to a lighter shade? Thank You!
— Aimee Anderson 11/04/2008 05:00 PM #
Kelsey, Thank you for your vote of confidence in our brand. Yes, if you have a lot of light and high ceilings, you can go richer by painting Devine Hazelnut on both walls and ceilings. I am going to post a blog article later today that will be about bull-nosed corners. In the meantime, read the article HOW TO CHOOSE A NEUTRAL…. When you choose a neutral that looks great with your wood, granite, and fabric colors, you can paint the kitchen a different color—for example Devine Ginger—and the ceiling stays the neutral you chose, in this case Devine Hazelnut, to keep the unity and continuity throughout the home. If you want a lighter version of Hazelnut, do Devine Pecan or Devine Madacamia. You will see that for every neutral we have, there are lighter and richer shades you can weave together as a palette. Read ADDING WHITE TO LIGHTEN A COLOR
Thanks for visiting our blog and please let everyone know that if they have any question, we are here to help!
— gretchen Schauffler 11/05/2008 08:48 AM #
Aimee:
All Devine Colors are meant to create color combinations that are not only do-it-yourself but are do-it-for-YOU! When working with them, you will see the difference between what is good and what is even better! Your instincts are correct. Devine Sumatra and Devine Toile are not as perfect as Devine Filbert and Devine Toile. Toile is a little brighter and Filbert is a brighter neutral than Sumatra. Read what I wrote Kelsey since you are in familiar territory…and check back later on today. I am publishing an article with pictures that I think will help a ton!
Looking forward to “after pictures”
— gretchen Schauffler 11/05/2008 08:58 AM #
Thanks, Gretchen! One more question – do you think Toucan is a good red for Hazelnut and Roast? I’d like to accent with Toucan and Dusk throughout my home. Thanks again!
— Kelsey Taylor 11/05/2008 11:48 AM #
Kelsey:
Stunning I say….pleazzze send pictures, do you know what finish you are doing?
— gretchen Schauffler 11/05/2008 11:54 AM #
Gretchen: I was thinking delicate finish…sound right? I’ve really struggled with this decision – between Glass and Hazelnut. Both look great in my space!
— Kelsey Taylor 11/05/2008 03:30 PM #
Kelsey:
Yes, Delicate is fantastic. The paint is LOW VOC, no drips, one coat in most cases…read tips on Rolling Paint! Glad the colors look great!
— gretchen Schauffler 11/06/2008 11:09 AM #
Gretchen –
Your ideas are so inspiring and great confidence builders for those of us who tend to be shy and unsure about choosing colors! With your guidance and sample pictures I am much better at seeing in my mind’s eye how my rooms—with lots of angles and vaulted ceilings – would look when painted all one color. My rooms have limited windows and an East-West exposure and they tend to be quite dark with lots of shadows. Although there is one large skylight that brings in light in the early afternoon, the shadows give the rooms a somber feel, especially during the gray Northwest winters. Will darker neutrals – such as Devine Shade, Latte, or Pebble be too dark in this setting? I am leaning towards Devine Shimmer and doing the fireplace in one of the bold contrast colors as you illustrated, but I also like the dramatic look of darker colors. I also have a family room that shares a wall with the kitchen and a hallway wall that flows into the living room. The family room has a flat 93” tall ceiling. I was thinking of painting the family room in Devine Sand or continuing the Devine Shimmer into the family room/kitchen as well. If I paint the low, flat family room ceiling in a darker color such as Devine Pebble, Devine Muslin, or Devine Sumatra, would the darker color make the ceiling feel higher? Thanks again for all your fabulous, creative suggestions. I have learned so much from your blog and web site.
— Beverly Wilson 11/07/2008 10:13 PM #
Oat is my skin tone, and I am painting our bonus room with the Devine ceiling paint in Oat and the walls hazelnut, and the Oat ceiling color looks different than my oat hallwall walls in delicate wall finish. Is this just the light difference? The ceilings in the bonus room are angled – should we paint them the delicate wall finish then? Thanks.
— Becky Foxx 11/16/2008 12:52 AM #
Becky:
You guessed right! The difference in sheens is making the color look different so I do suggest painting the walls and ceilings in the same finish, in your case that would be Delicate. When the walls fold into soft ceiling shapes (less than 90 degree angle) it’s even more important to “wrap” the sheen around the room. Read How Light Affects Color
Send us pictures!
— gretchen Schauffler 11/17/2008 08:52 AM #