The walls of this open concept living space went through a subtle, but impactive change from light gray to white. The owners wanted the walls to become a gallery backdrop for their collection of vibrant artwork. The paint colour chosen was Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace, it’s crisp and clean looking and about as close to pure white as you can get.
When changing the walls to a colour this white you need to be prepared to paint more than the walls. Your ceilings may appear white, but there’s a good chance that they have a distinct undertone. When paired with crisp white walls the ceilings can end up looking dingy or have a yellow, blue or pink tone. In this case we painted the ceilings in the same Chantilly White, but in flat ceiling paint.
The trim work was also done in Chantilly Lace, but to create a bit of contrast between the trim work a different sheen was used. In this case it was matte for the walls and satin for the trim work. When painting your walls white you need to follow a general rule of thumb. The trim work and walls should either be the same white colour or different enough that it looks intentional, keeping in mind that mismatched whites can look very off putting.
Preparing to paint the ceilings is quite a task, everything needs to be protected from any over spatter of ceiling paint. In this particular case the home owners arranged to have the painting done while they were away on holidays. In a smaller rancher house like this one, it’s an excellent choice. It would be somewhat challenging for the homeowners to stay at the house during the painting work, at least the initial part of it.
