For years, the fifth wall has been ignored. Forgotten. Overlooked. 😢
Not only are they largely unadorned with decoration, but at some point, someone said ceilings have to be white… and everyone just ran with it!
The thinking here is that white makes spaces feel bigger, and painting a ceiling any other colour would make it feel claustrophobic and bring the ceiling down.
But this is not the case at all! Personally, I’ve become kind of obsessed with a bold painted ceiling, especially when paired with white walls. We’ve done this in our guest bedroom and master bedroom… and they both feel anything but claustrophobic. In fact, they feel bigger, cosier and better. I’d love to do another bedroom or maybe a bathroom… if my other half will let me!
Here are 3 reasons you should try this trend too 👇
Painted ceilings are unexpected (and therefore interesting)
When we bought the yellow paint for our guest room and told the girl at the hardware shop it was for our ceiling, she gave us a rather judgy look! 🤨
That’s because then (in 2023) it wasn’t really done at all!
But in 2025, ceilings are finally getting the love and attention they deserve, with beautiful ceiling roses, sculptural lighting fixtures and daring paint colours.
Painting your ceiling a bold colour will give your chosen room a surprising focal point, making it all the more interesting.
🎬 WATCH: This is your sign to paint the fifth wall
Painted ceilings blanket the room in colour from above
If you keep the walls white and paint only the ceiling in a bold colour, you’ve still effectively covered the room in colour.
This means you can get away with a more pared back colour scheme on ground level, since the ceiling does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to colour.
In our guest bedroom, we’ve repeated the yellow from the ceiling in the bright yellow lamp cords, yellow stripe on the rug and mustard throw blanket. There’s a lot of colour in the artwork and knot cushion, but apart from that, it’s a pretty simple colour palette.
A bold painted ceiling is perfect if you’re more of a minimalist but you still want a big dose of colour. It’s also perfect if you’re a maximalist and you want colour everywhere!
Painted ceilings can add visual interest to an otherwise simple space
It’s safe to say that painted ceilings are a daring design feature.
If you have a room that lacks interesting architectural features or is more or less a simple space, painting the ceiling is a surefire way to make a big design statement and really elevate the room.
Think of the painted ceiling as 2025’s answer to the once-popular accent wall. After all, the ceiling really is the fifth wall in a space and it deserves some attention too!
👉 Want more tips on creating a home that feels like you? In my eBook I share practical ways to blend styles and design a space you’ll love coming home to.
Tips for painting your ceiling
Painting a ceiling is not for the fainthearted!
Here are my 4 tips if you’re preparing to paint your ceiling 👇
Tip 1: If you’re going dark, spray it
Despite the back ache, our yellow ceiling wasn’t too difficult to achieve ourselves; we used a roller and didn’t experience too many issues with roller lines or the like.
The black ceiling on the other hand…. 🫥 We attempted it, but the streaks from the roller were no joke! So we hired a professional painter, who sprayed both the ceiling and cornice. If you’re handy, you could rent or buy your own spray gun too.
The finished ceiling was definitely worth the extra expense. So hot tip: if you’re going dark, spray it. If you’re going light, you should be alright with a roller.
Tip 2: Paint the cornice
No matter what colour you’re painting your ceiling, I definitely recommend painting the cornice (if you have them) too. The cornice will act as a frame for the colour and just looks more complete👍
Tip 3: Get a flat or matte paint
You’ll need to buy paint in a flat or matte finish to help hide any imperfections on the ceiling. Bold colours often don’t come in a flat finish specifically for ceilings, so you can just use the wall paint as long as it’s matte and not satin or gloss.
Tip 4: Consider your fixtures
If there’s anything else on your ceiling, consider how they’re going to look against the new bold colour.
An off-white aircon vent is going to stand like a sore thumb, so I’d recommend colour matching it with a paint suitable for the vent material. Specialist paint suppliers can help you match your ceiling paint colour.
Again, if you’ve got a ceiling fan or light fixture, consider their colours. Something large like a ceiling fan is really gonna stand out, so we installed a black fan on our black ceiling so it would just blend in. For a light fixture, some contrast will likely look great so no need for this to be the same colour… but if you can match it, that’ll look cool too!
Happy painting!
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