Paint a Bold Color on Your Ceiling

Getting ready to paint a room? Don't forget the ceiling. Learn how to add wow factor on a budget.

By: Jen Jafarzadeh L'Italien

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Shop This Look

Photo By: Charlotte Jenks-Lewis

Go Green

A painted ceiling feels less expected than an accent wall, which is often based around the location of a fireplace or flat-screen TV. Like an accent wall, a painted ceiling adds personality to the space. This spring green creates a happy mood in the living room.

Materials List

For this project you'll need a roller frame with built-in extension pole for reaching the ceiling; a roller tray; a paint stirrer; a nap roller cover; painter's tape; a pouring spout; canvas and plastic drop cloths; hole filler; an angled sash brush; latex paint; a cellulose sponge; and dishwashing liquid.

Get Started: Clean, Tape and Paint

You need a well-prepped ceiling to get that professional-quality result with painting. Make sure you patch any holes in your ceiling. Then you want to remove the layers of dust residing on your ceiling. Use a cellulose sponge with a solution of mild dishwashing liquid and water.

Trim It Out

Use your painter's tape to tape along the crown molding and protect it from dribbles of color paint. Make sure you remove the tape right after painting, before the ceiling dries, to avoid pulling off any paint with it.

Brush the Edges

Your roller won't be able to reach in all the cracks and corners. Use an angled sash brush to paint around the trim and in the corners of the walls. As you paint along the edges, extend out three inches from moldings.

Use the W Technique

You want to avoid leaving brush marks or roller lines, which you'll get if you paint the ceiling in a straight line. The W technique is an efficient way to paint your ceiling evenly. Start in the corner of the ceiling and roll on a three-by-three-foot W pattern. Use your roller (with the extension pole attached to make it easier) to fill in the pattern without lifting the roller. Repeat this, working in sections on your ceiling.

Paint a Bold Color on Your Ceiling

Related To:

Shop This Look

Go Green

Materials List

Get Started: Clean, Tape and Paint

Trim It Out

Brush the Edges

Use the W Technique

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