When it comes to decorating I push boundaries, not crazy boundaries but ones that I have found over the years are pretty transformative. One of the single most important things you can do to a space any space – big, small, old and wonky, new and modern, poky or palatial is to paint the ceiling out the same hue as the walls. I’ve done it in every single room of my pad, without fail – whether the room is painted inky Hudson black, bruised Mulberry red or a punchy Wooster olive.
It’s a simple trick but one that always seems to scare people the most. I kind of don’t get why? Whenever I recommend this – in interviews, to friends, clients, customers in the store, guests at the design school, strangers on the street (OK not quite, but I can be pretty evangelical when it comes to interiors), all these people scrunch up their faces in bewildered fear, and I always get the same flat “NO”.
In my interior designer days I was constantly on the battlefield, trying to convince and coerce people into trusting me, to make them think outside the box and be a bit bolder. Sometimes it took a trip to my pad so they could see in real life just how transformative it is, sometimes I shoved a zillion inspirational images under people’s noses until they finally caved in and go with it just to stop me! Today I’m going the image route (although if you do want to see my pad in person, I’m running my next monthly Design Masterclass at my home on 13th August).
So without further ado, above are just some of my heap of convincing images. That’s all the reason you could possibly want for painting your ceiling the same shade as your walls, right there. When you paint the ceiling out, lines blur, the space becomes more sophisticated somehow, and the room feels grander. I should say this is even more true for a small room or a room with dark walls, where all too often there’s a massive contrast between the walls and ceiling. It even works in rooms that have are patterned or wallpapered – check out Nikki Tibbles‘ pad above. It’s such a simple trick, but it’s weirdly the biggest obstacle I’ve faced time and time again. So now I’m trying it on you guys. Paint your ceiling out the same colour as your walls (no matter what colour your walls happen to be) and then stand back. The difference is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Don’t let your ceiling stay white and unloved and forgotten, it should join in the colour party with the walls! So tell me – have you painted your ceiling yet? If not, why not?