Are White Ceilings Going Out Of Style?

Scroll through Instagram reels or look up photos of recent interior design makeovers, and you'll likely see anything but white ceilings. Instead, wallpapered and painted ceilings have become the norm. But does that mean that white is out of style? According to our research, it doesn't look likely. Instead, it's more plausible that trends such as color-drenching, which involves painting everything in a room (walls, ceilings, doors, and trim) the same color, will lose favor before a classic white ever will.

When home builders paint a ceiling, the standard is typically a flat white. That's because flat paint is key for covering imperfections, and white matches all other room colors and styles. White ceilings also reflect light better than dark colors, making small spaces feel larger. Whether your room is traditional, farmhouse, or even boho, a white ceiling acts as a neutral backdrop, allowing the rest of the room to take center stage.

White ceilings might be timeless, but that doesn't mean you can't switch up the look. There are a couple of instances when you might want to create a bold, statement ceiling. One example is with color drenching. There are common mistakes to avoid with the popular color drench trend, but in a nutshell, everything from the ceiling to baseboards needs to be one saturated color. The result is a bold, dramatic room that wouldn't have the same effect if the ceiling were left white. 

Another reason you might want to skip the white is if you're after an unexpected design element. There are a few things to know before adding wallpaper to a ceiling, but this design detail can draw your eye upward and tie all of the colors of the room together. Unlike paint, wallpaper can also hide ceiling imperfections like cracks, stains, and other major flaws.

White ceilings aren't going anywhere, but good design is open for interpretation. (These European ceiling trends that are coming over prove just that.) Play around with your home design until you find what you like, and if you try a ceiling trend and it goes out of style, you can always paint it back to timeless white.