Alternatives to Painting a Ceiling

Thanks for all the great feedback on my daughter Madeleine’s painted ceiling–I still love walking up the stairs and seeing the shot of color!

When I did the post, I got this comment from a friend, Kate: “I love this idea. I am thinking about painting (my son’s) big boy room, and may go this route. Here’s my concern though. His room is pretty small. Would a painted ceiling be overwhelming? I am also considering doing a striped wall at the head of his bed. Decisions decisions! His room is pretty “blah” and I want to do something fun, but don’t want it to be “too much” in a small space.”

I generally don’t feel that a painted ceiling would overwhelm a small space–remember you don’t have to go as bold and dark as I did! As long as you keep the rest of the room nice and light and bright, you shouldn’t worry about it being “too much.” That being said, I thought it would be fun to show you some alternatives–still fun and bold and drawing your attention up to the oft-forgotten ceiling and creating interest in a place you normally wouldn’t.

Stripes are so fun–whether in a neutral grey or bold yellow–the mix of color and white create a lot of depth to the ceiling

Not ready to venture all the way to the ceiling? Painting your crown molding a dark color is another great option–who says molding needs to be a shade of white?!?  Love this room with the blue molding and grasscloth wallpaper.

Another option to consider if you don’t want to paint your molding is to put a stripe of paint just below the molding again, bringing eye up.

I love this idea that Chelsea at blog Fluff that Nest captured at a home tour last year–brilliant use of paint instead of crown molding in a room. This would take a lot of precise measuring, but so cool looking!

Looking for something maybe a little less intensive and a little more whimsical? Love the idea of using decals on the ceiling. Birds are always a cute and appropriate choice for nursery ceiling.

Speaking of birds on the ceiling–this wallpapered ceiling is beautiful. Remember there are now a lot of “sticker” wallpapers on the market that are easier to put up and easily removed so you’re not married to days of scraping if you aren’t happy with the results!

Just a few options if you’re choosing to add a little interest when you look up!