This painting project is one of my FAVORITE design changes to make to a room. OK, the actual painting process is not my favorite (it stinks) but the end result is one I always love. 

Interior designers call ceilings "the fifth wall" -- but it's understandable that this part of the room is usually ignored. Of course you can add architecture and interest with wood beams, or even wallpaper (I haven't attempted that just yet!). 

But there's a much easier way to add character and depth to a space...with just paint. 

Contrary to what you'd think, painting your ceiling doesn't necessarily make it the focal point of the room. In fact, when it's painted the wall color, it can sometimes disappear more than a bright white ceiling.  I'll share examples below!

My favorite color for a ceiling is blue -- think of a blue sky and you'll understand my love for it! I'm currently working on our entryway (check out the huge mural project here) and my latest update was painting a deeper tone on the ceiling. 

I painted it a very light blue years ago, but with the addition of the watercolor mural, I wanted to go with a darker blue that tied into the shades throughout the art. This paint color called Lakeside was my pick from Sherwin-Williams: 

Find our pretty bubble light here!

I've also gone darker moody hues, like in our basement bar/kitchenette: 

Years back I used that color (called Westchester Gray) on our bedroom ceiling, but that will undergo a makeover sometime this year: 

In our first house, I painted our son's bathroom and nursery ceiling and then kept it that color for his airplane themed room (and carried the color down to the backs of the built ins):

The blue ceiling treatment continued in my old office as well: 

A light blue ceiling with white molding is chef's kiss!

Just a very slight color can make a room feel different! When I transformed our old dining room into a library with bookcases, I painted that ceiling a very light gray:

Are you a painted ceiling fan? I have plenty of crisp white ceilings in our home, but a pop of color is a little touch I love to add to a space. It's one of those things that people notice, but can't necessarily put their finger on when they walk into a room. 

You can tour our first home here and current home as well!