Dark ceiling? Light Ceiling?

[idun]

I am going to paint my kitchen........... with two paints, one light shade and the other a warm but quite dark shade. But what colour on the ceiling........ are there any general rules about this?

I don't like white ceilings.

[KathyF]

I would say it depends on the height of the ceiling and whether you want to make it seem higher or lower. If higher, paint it in the light colour, if lower use the darker.

[Renaud]

Tradition demands the beams should be black, the ceiling a mid brown (think years of nicotin) and walls should be covered by dark floral wallpaper, if you don't have beams you could continue the wallpaper onto the ceiling.

[Cendrillon]

LOL! [:)]

[Patf]

^^^^^[:D]

What kind of lighting have you got in your kitchen Idun?

[powerdesal]

Why would there be rules and who would make them ?

It's your ceiling, you can paint it ( or not ) any shade / colour / texture you wish.

[idun]

The rules are sort of natural ones about the way the eye reacts to a space. Whether it looks closed in and claustrophobic or 'light'. Some people automatically 'see' what is the right way to do it, but I don't have this gift.  I do realise I could just do as I thought, but I don't want to have to do it again if it looks wrong.

The room is long, over 5m by about 2.60m wide and the ceiling about 2.4m. It is north facing, one of the things I didn't compromise on when we bought this house. So it isn't the lightest room in the house. There are two sorts of lighting, a light above the table and there is a fluorescent(sp) further along where I cook. I like it bright these days so as not to chop my fingers off when preparing food.

 

 

[SC]

This might be cheerful if you continue it a little way down the walls: http://www.wallpaperdirect.co.uk/products/anna-french/sky/73488 alhough at only 2.5 metres high you might get Chicken Licken syndrome......

Steve

[Russethouse]

Personally I think the only colour for the ceiling to be is white, but if you really don't like it then I would go for the lighter colour, especially in a north facing room.

[idun]

The only room I will have white paint is in a bathroom. I simply don't like white paint and especially not on a ceiling, I realise that many people do, but not for me.

My ceilings in France were no higher than in this kitchen, is it not a normal height? If it isn't, I didn't know.

 

 

[Théière]

Hi idun,  I had a decorating job to do for an Italian and they asked for the same colour on the ceiling as the walls and what was the peculiar British idea about white ceilings?  We did as we were asked and must admit that you loose that boundary which defines the room height so smaller rooms look bigger (taller)  of course as said before a dark colour will lower the room height regardless.

Florescent lights use 2x the electricity of the tube rating so a 60w tube uses 120w because of the electronics inside unless it is an ultra modern high frequency jobby a bit like a 800w microwave will actually consume 1400watts

[idun]

I often have the same colour on the ceiling as the walls. This time I am using two very different colours though, so am still unsure. Whatever, the ceiling will have the same colour as some of the walls.

The fluorescent lights I have were only installed last year, so I hope that they are state of the art.

[Loiseau]

FWIW, as a general rule, paint on a ceiling appears a shade or two darker than the same shade on the walls.

Angela

[Théière]

As I said above we, at the request of the customer painted walls and ceiling the same colour and could not see a difference in the same paint used on all areas. Paint in the corners can look a shade darker so if a dark floor covering is used then maybe but it isn't a rule as such as the paint often reflects the floor coverings etc.

Another customer had green granite worktops in the kitchen and that made the walls a shade of green compared to the lounge with beige carpet but the wall were painted with the same paint throughout. 

[idun]

In the play room we had for the kids in France, I had the same colour on the walls and ceiling and the doors, the door frames being a different colour. Every single wall and the ceiling and especially the doors all looked like they were different colours. So I do understand that notion.

 

I'm going to get some paint samples and daub some on and see. Not a big area, but may give me a better notion.

 

Thankyou for all the replies.

[Pommier]

Years ago we had a stone cottage in Cornwall with low ceilings and beams. We wanted to emphasises the cottagey look, so in the dining room we had a quite darkish red ceiling and in the living room a green ceiling, then wallpapered the walls in flowerly, chinzy paper. I thought it looked great (and the ceilings never needed re-doing!

[nomoss]

[quote user="Théière"]

........... Florescent lights use 2x the electricity of the tube rating so a 60w tube uses 120w because of the electronics inside unless it is an ultra modern high frequency jobby ................. [/quote]

 

Incorrect, I'm afraid. A 60W tube fixture uses just a little over 60W. Losses are typically around 5% for modern reactive ballasts, marginally less for electronic ballasts.

Edit: You may have been confused by the fact that most compact fluorescent lamps (CFL's) have a low power factor of only about 0.5, so they take 2x as much current, but that does not change the power consumed.

[idun]

Listen Mr Idun knows about these things and I will be wasting my breath even mentioning what uses watt[Www].

 I'll get, what will end up being a lecture about stuff I do not understand..... and he thinks I do understand.

 

I'm happy with the round fluo where I work and am getting another one to go under the cabinet too. Fluo makes for a bright working area, which I appreciate. The light over the table is less powerful and gives a pleasant light when we are à table!

 

[Théière]

[quote user="nomoss"][quote user="Théière"]

........... Florescent lights use 2x the electricity of the tube rating so a 60w tube uses 120w because of the electronics inside unless it is an ultra modern high frequency jobby ................. [/quote]

 

Incorrect, I'm afraid. A 60W tube fixture uses just a little over 60W. Losses are typically around 5% for modern reactive ballasts, marginally less for electronic ballasts.

Edit: You may have been confused by the fact that most compact fluorescent lamps (CFL's) have a low power factor of only about 0.5, so they take 2x as much current, but that does not change the power consumed.

[/quote]

I have a pile of old florescents, circular ones 60w from my Mothers kitchen which use 120watts.  Straight ones from a customers garage/workshop also used 120watts.  Yes I know the modern ones are way better. 

I understand how compact CFL's operate.

Note: September 1st is the last day you can buy conventional lights above 7w

[nomoss]

[quote user="Théière"]

I have a pile of old florescents, circular ones 60w from my Mothers kitchen which use 120watts.  Straight ones from a customers garage/workshop also used 120watts.

[/quote]

Yes, but you previously said "Florescent lights use 2x the electricity of the tube rating"

BTW, it's "fluorescent"[:)]

[Théière]

And if you quote the rest of the paragraph, I counter that with the fact that modern ones use less.

I am mid way through replacing 18 2D 16w bulkhead lights which use 39w which were manufactured in the 70's which is only to illustrate that just because people believe fluorescence's to be efficient doesn't mean they are.  The 14w LED's I am know fitting as replacement put out far more light and save a considerable sum. 

BTW try typing replies on a tiny phone screen with it's auto correction feature [:P]

[Rabbie]

[quote user="Théière"]

. 

BTW try typing replies on a tiny phone screen with it's auto correction feature [:P]

[/quote]Why should we?  At my age life is about doing things the easy way[:D]