When painting your home, don't forget to look up!

As a child growing up in New York City I led a very colorful life. I was exposed to so much more than suburban children my age were. My homes were always colorful as well. I've told you about painted doors, painted floors and of course our brightly painted walls. My mother never shied away from color, in fact she lived in full color. When not at home surrounded by our beautifully painted pre-war apartment, my mother was in public relations for some of the city's most famous museums. I suppose you could say her life was immersed in color. We're products of our own childhoods. Naturally, I love color as well. Depending on the shade, color can add harmony, energy or can help to quiet down loud spaces. I love to paint everything. (This too I inherited both from my mother and maternal grandmother, La Jolie Grandmere.)

image via Google

I love the pop of energy this ceiling lends the room,
although I do realize this cousin to chartreuse is more than many can handle!

image via Traditional Home

The grey ceiling in this traditional country kitchen evokes a peace of calm and serenity

image via Serenity Interior Design

They grey ceiling in this master bathroom effectively pulls in the grey walls in the adjoining room

image via Pinterest

A pop of black in this high ceiling adds a stately elegance

image via House Beautiful

Blue is a safe and traditional color for ceilings and often found under porch roofs. If you're a bit trepidatious about painting your ceiling, a light blue color would be a great place to start. The bright blue in this picture energizes the space while the pale blue below evokes a feeling of calm.

My mother painted her tall ceilings black not too long ago. The dining room, once vibrant and bright had a face-lift of sorts. Now the room has become stately in her black and white dress. Excuse the fuzziness of the photograph, my mother is not the family photographer. (Sorry Mom!)

image via The Entertaining House

Sometimes black and white is as powerful and bright color.
Sometimes it's even more dramatic. 

My mother loves to paint everything as much as I do.
An old marble-topped dresser now serves as a buffet. Now charcoal, it was originally white. 

The candelabra (below) has been many colors too. When I was really little it was not properly attached to the ceiling and it came crashing down on to the table below. The indent remains to this day! 

image via The Entertaining House

And I could not write a piece about ceilings if I was not to include a photograph or two on stripes! I love stripes and this striped tented patio is simply divine! Elegance, drama, flair... excitement... it has it all!

image via Tumblr

What a fun way to add some color to a child's bedroom.
This under the big top feel is sweet, whimsical and so much fun!

image via Kiki's List

Lastly, pictures from my home.
I painted the living room ceiling blue as a means of pulling together the adjoining living and dining rooms.
These photographs were taken for the sales brochure. The blue is brighter 

in this photograph than it is in real life. The blues are all Benjamin Moore and all in the same family of color. (Both rooms were disastrous before we redid them ... perhaps I'll write about that one day!)

The blues I chose for the dining room have an energizing feel, while the correlating blue I chose for the living room ceiling is much calmer. (Let our guests fall asleep at the table? Certainly not!)

image via The Entertaining House

image via The Entertaining House

I'll miss these two rooms the most...

Would you ever paint your ceilings?


XOXO,

Jessica