Want drama? Paint your ceilings!
I went to a friend’s house the other day who was in the middle of having it repainted and I immediately noticed this awful area on the ceiling and said, “Oh my gosh, I never noticed the water damage on your kitchen ceiling!” My friend promptly replied, “No Jenn, that’s not water damage. That’s a spot the painter missed, and he’s coming back tomorrow to fix it.” It wasn’t the fact he missed it that surprised me, it was how awful the ceiling had looked before he painted it that shocked me. I mean shocked!
When I moved into my fifty year old house six months ago, there was a distinct odor to the home. You know how everyone’s houses smell a little different? Well, this one smelled like a combination of really bad incense and “old.” It was odd and it was bad. We repainted every wall in the home which made a tremendous difference, but we also painted every single ceiling. As affirmed by family and friends, there is zero “weird smell” in my house now! Often times ceilings are never painted and the plaster absorbs odors over time, especially in kitchens or even worse, older homes where previous owners long ago may have smoked. Burning lots of candles can also discolor ceilings.
So in short, painting your ceilings makes your home look brighter, your ceilings look taller, and will seal the plaster to prevent the odd smell factor!
Helpful Hints
There are lots of varieties of ceiling paint and it’s typically a thinner paint, so cover everything on the ground and walls before you get started.
My preferred ceiling paint because it’s cheap and covers in one coat is Behr Ceiling Paint (purple can).
Like all things white, there are a hundred shades, so don’t switch after you start so if you ever need to touch up a ceiling in your home again, you can count on it being the same as your “leftover" can.
Carefully trim the edges first and then roll the rest.
Ceilings are much harder to paint than you think because it’s difficult to see where you have been. Work in daylight and be sure to overlap your roller marks.
If your ceiling is heavily textured with something like popcorn, be prepared to roll both directions (perpendicular to each other), keep plenty of paint on your roller and don’t go over an area more than once or the popcorn will pull off. You may need to change your roller after each room depending on how full it gets of texture.
