Black Ceiling

[Kevin54]

I was going to post this in another thread I thought I had but couldn't find it. Anyways, I'm just about finished with one side of the garage. I need to repaint the white trim, but the walls and ceiling are done. At first, when walking into the garage it looks dark, but once I get the blinds open, or when it's dark out, turn on the lights, it's actually bright in there. I thought I'd try a black ceiling to see how it would turn out. Later on, if I ever get tired of it, I can always repaint it.

Now I have to start on the other half of the garage. I need to paint it, then rearrange the cabinets. Hopefully I'll have it done by next week. Then all that leaves is the floor which will more than likely be next summers project.

So here is the pics of the black ceiling. Let me know what you think. Oh and BTW...I have my early Christmas present mounted which is the 42" TV that momma got for me.

 

[rharman]

Turned out nice. Even a red runner to match the walls. Looking forward to seeing it all done and everything in its place.

 

[Gary S]

Black is nice if you like living in the dark. If you want to get efficient use of your lighting, white is the easiest choice. The only other choice for good lighting is a silver reflective color.

 

[WILD-BILL]

While I agree that it would probably bet brighter in there with a white paint it does look cool as hell.

 

[APEowner]

Hmm. I'm not totally convinced on the practicality but that looks really cool. What's the ceiling material? Where does the texture come from?

 

[Kevin54]

Black is nice if you like living in the dark. If you want to get efficient use of your lighting, white is the easiest choice. The only other choice for good lighting is a silver reflective color.

I know that white is more reflective, but I'm not going for efficient. I just wanted a different look to see how it turns out. It's bright enough for me if I flip on the fluorescents and if I'm doing something inside an engine bay for instance, I'd have to have a spotlight anyways.

Hmm. I'm not totally convinced on the practicality but that looks really cool. What's the ceiling material? Where does the texture come from?

The ceiling material is just textured drywall. The guy that did it used an oblong brush to stomp it. Not one of my favorite choices but it is what it is and I'm stuck with it.

Later on, I'm going to finish the lower half of the other walls with the corrugated metal. I made it this far and I figured I'd just paint the walls complete. When the weather gets to be too cold to do anything else, then I can work on finishing the garage walls. But for the time being they will just be painted.

 

[bad_idea]

I kind of like it. Weld much? I think the loss of light is off set by no smoke stains on a white ceiling. My ceiling is turning beige.

 

[superdutymike27]

Totally with the idea of a black ceiling. I have friend who had done the same exact thing and it actually hides things things more so than if it were a lighter color.

 

[Kevin54]

I kind of like it. Weld much? I think the loss of light is off set by no smoke stains on a white ceiling. My ceiling is turning beige.

Nope, I don't weld much. One reason is I don't know how. I know enough just to get into trouble I've looked at other places with black ceilings on houzz.com and I kind of like it, so I thought I'd give it a try. If I get tired of it, all it takes is some paint to get rid of it.

 

[70Chevy]

Looks good....how low is your ceiling?

 

[wryt01]

Looks great. Thanks for the houzz link. A lot of inspirational spaces!

 

[jchetty]

That looks phenomenal. With all that lighting, I doubt you even notice. Please post pics of the final version- amazing vision.

 

[gayler]

Very nice! At first I thought the ceiling was maybe stamped metal tiles.

 

[ford33]

I like it. It goes with the wall color and trim.

 

[miner]

Looks weird to me. Black ceiling I can understand if it is open with vents and such. They do this at just about every coffee shop. It also creates a cozy feel for what would otherwise be a large open space. But on a standard drywall ceiling in a place meant for work? I would say no. But it is your castle.

I have never understood having tv's in the garage. But having a tv in front of a lathe is pure craziness.

 

[Falcon67]

Has that industrial look to it. a+ for going outside the usual box.

I'm getting a lot of use out of the Dish Network feed I pulled into the shop.

 

[JimVonBaden]

I like the look, even if it is kind of dark.

Jim

 

[don long]

I kind of favor that look and after seeing the barage set up I strongly considered
it for my man cave but chickened out at the last minute

Your set up looks very modern and masculine and I like it but it doesent seem warm enough to just hang out in, you must be working to enjoy that atmosphere.
just MHO Don

 

[Kevin54]

Looks good....how low is your ceiling?

The ceiling is only 8'

Looks weird to me. Black ceiling I can understand if it is open with vents and such. They do this at just about every coffee shop. It also creates a cozy feel for what would otherwise be a large open space. But on a standard drywall ceiling in a place meant for work? I would say no. But it is your castle.

I have never understood having tv's in the garage. But having a tv in front of a lathe is pure craziness.

It was the only wall where I could see it from the rest of the garage. Where I had a TV before it was on a swivel and I could pull it out from the wall, but it would be in the way of the man door at times, so this was really the only open space I have in that garage. I didn't put it there to watch TV while running the lathe if that's what you are getting at. I have a desk with my computer an books on the other side on the front wall, but that wall sets back 4' farther than the painted side due to a closet.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Looks good!!

 

[NUTTSGT]

The ceiling looks good. I think the reason is does look so well is that your lights hang from the ceiling.
When the light hangs, it creates a darker ceiling above them. Commericial places that paint ceiling black, tend to paint everything black and when the lights hang several feet below everything black, it tends to have a hiding effect.

I think if you used strip lights that were mounted directly to the ceiling, you wouldn't like it as much. You have some good contrast going too, red (burgundy) upper wall, black ceiling, gray corrugated lower wall and white trim, looks nice.

 

[crazytrain]

I really like it, way to think outside the norm.

 

[stingry]

I was going to post this in another thread I thought I had but couldn't find it. Anyways, I'm just about finished with one side of the garage. I need to repaint the white trim, but the walls and ceiling are done. At first, when walking into the garage it looks dark, but once I get the blinds open, or when it's dark out, turn on the lights, it's actually bright in there. I thought I'd try a black ceiling to see how it would turn out. Later on, if I ever get tired of it, I can always repaint it.

Now I have to start on the other half of the garage. I need to paint it, then rearrange the cabinets. Hopefully I'll have it done by next week. Then all that leaves is the floor which will more than likely be next summers project.

So here is the pics of the black ceiling. Let me know what you think. Oh and BTW...I have my early Christmas present mounted which is the 42" TV that momma got for me.

Personally I don't like it (hey, you asked!!) To me it makes it look dark and dreary. I do really like the red walls and the corrugated tin wainscotting! Nice shop, except for the black ceiling, of course.

Cheers
Steve

 

[BoostAddiction]

Nope, I don't weld much. One reason is I don't know how. I know enough just to get into trouble I've looked at other places with black ceilings on houzz.com and I kind of like it, so I thought I'd give it a try. If I get tired of it, all it takes is some paint to get rid of it.

I've never seen houzz.com before. Good way to burn up a morning if you aren't careful!

As to the black ceiling, I'm surprised you haven't felt the lack of reflected light to be a problem. I need all the light I can get, and built my garage with reflective surfaces everywhere. To me, it makes a big difference.

 

[KULIWOBBY]

As I stated about your walls in your other thread, it looks good. I don't like dark walls aor ceilings but you pulled this off no problem with the maroon walls and black ceiling. Good for you doing something non-traditional. Looks good Kevin.

 

[miner]

I didn't put it there to watch TV while running the lathe if that's what you are getting at.

Yes, I am thinking that would not be a good idea.

One thing I really do like is your layout for 3phase power from your converter. My garage is bare studs at the moment and I am going back and forth on whether or not to try to put 3 phase in the wall to hide it. But your set up does look good.

 

[Kevin54]

Why is it that things seem fairly neat until you have to go and do something? I'm trying to get the second half of the garage done, the wife's gone, and the dog and I are trying to get busy and get the other side painted. Maybe it's just the weather, but it sure seems like things are overwhelming today. I did get my rope light up this morning. It didn't ruen out like I wanted because it won't lay flat. Hopefully it will settle down after a while then I can stretch it a little and get it to lay flatter.

I had to send momma out to try and find a couple of shelves for me for the Surround souns system, I need one shelf beside the tv, and two corner shelves so I can separate the speakers our from one side to the other.

I did get get all of my dad's Railroad lanterns hung up last night. I did get the rope light up. Now as soon as I can get some other items moved, I can start painting the ceiling in this side if the garage,

I still need to get my Craftsman lathe, 4'x8' table on casters, and a Waterloo toolbox sold, so I can get some area back. Hopefully I'll have that done by the end of the month. If anyone is looking for a small Craftsman 6" x 18" Craftsman lathe, table, toolbox, and other compoents for the lathe, drop me a PM and lets see if we can work out a deal. Currently I am asking $1,000 for all. I'm also open to trades.

Anyways, hopefully I can post some pics up later tonight that shows the walls completed. But notice that I said "HOPEFULLY". Lately things just don't work out like they should.

 

[bazzateer]

Interesting colour choice, not sure I like it but it certainly makes a statement. Sort of reminds me of a few night-clubs I frequented in the 80s (which is not necessarily a bad thing!)

 

[NUTTSGT]

Nice rainy day, great day to work inside if you can get motivated. Generally I feel like doing nothing on days like this.

 

[BigGMC]

I dig it!
But, geeze trim rosettes in a shop?? Holy fancy pants! Most "higher end" homes in my area dont go to that kind of detail.....

Seriously tho, where are you getting the corrugated metal?

 

[BC1]

That looks bad *** and I may copy you! Maybe with the corrugated steel and an HD orange wall, I think a bike would look just right against that.

 

[KCarGuy]

I like it...The Dark Red with the Black and Bright white Trim...Nice!

 

[Kevin54]

I dig it!
But, geeze trim rosettes in a shop?? Holy fancy pants! Most "higher end" homes in my area dont go to that kind of detail.....

Seriously tho, where are you getting the corrugated metal?

I like to make straight cuts as much as I can, hence the Rosettes. All in all, it's not a lot of oney to do that as they are only a couple of bucks each. All of the trim is preprimed MDF, so it's not real expensive. The beadboard around the windows and doors is about the same price as the average trim you put in a house. Just taking a wild guess, I think I have less than $300 in the trim. That is including the 5 1/4" Colonial Baseboard.

Now, when it comes to the metal, one needs to really shop around. Lowes and Home Depot carry it, as would Menards, etc. The bad thing is that there are two different kinds of corrugated metal. I'll just call it slim and fat, ir fine and course. I lucked out when I purchased mine as it has a closer hump pattern than the other. From centerline of hump to hump is 1 1/4". Personally I like the smaller patterned corrugated material than I do the wider pattern, When I was in Lowes and looked at theirs, they carry the wider humped material.

In cutting the material, at first tried a jigsaw. It worked and that was about it. The next piece I tried my 5" cordless circular saw. It was noisy but it went through it like nothing. I never turned the blade around and had it cutting, just like I'd cut wood. But as I said, it was noisy and I didn't have a set of earphones. So then I pulled out my large hand shears and tried cutting it by hand. Breezed right through it, no problems, and was probably the easiest to do.

As far as the black ceiling, the guy that did the work on it basically half-assed it. I have a few cracks showing up. I couldn't strip the compound off because I painted one half of it, sop the next best thing was to paint it. I was looking on www.houzz.com and found a few pics with a black ceiling and it looked good so I thought I'd try it. It hides the cracks very well. As far as sucking up all the light, it doesn't **** it up at all. I thought the maroon would **** it up too, but it's not bad at all. I did the one wall behind the machines,and painted the rest of the walls, but I'll eventually cover the rest of the walls with the corrugated metal.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Black ceilings is a trick to make a low ceiling look far taller by hiding the actual height. It's a common trick for coffee shops and small stores that try to look hip. It's a 'look.'

If you are fine with the loss of reflected light, then it's a neat look and you'll be happy with it. White ceilings reflect a lot of light, but also can remind you how low they are if you don't have a lot of height. That's a different effect.

Both ways are fine and totally subjective.

For me, I prefer light colored and tend to have more lights than I need as well.

 

[countryroad82]

Neat! Not my cup of tea but in my business (and the fact I'm blind as a bat) I need all the light I can get. But it does give me ideas for my man cave garage if I ever get around to building it!!

 

[NUTTSGT]

Black ceilings is a trick to make a low ceiling look far taller by hiding the actual height. It's a common trick for coffee shops and small stores that try to look hip. It's a 'look.'

Like I said above, I believe that trick only works when the lights are suspended from the ceiling and not mounted right on the ceiling itself.

 

[Old Moparz]

Like a few others have said, it looks cool.

Although it's just not something I'd do in my garage, I'm trying to make mine as bright as I can get it.

 

[glider]

I like the bold colors and the metal looks great. I am a tv garage guy also, very nice Kevin!

 

[purpurite]

I feel like you're working in a Chipotle.


I have done black ceilings in the last 3 design studios I have set up at various design firms I have managed—both finished and unfinished ceilings—and I prefer the darker ceiling in an office environment with middle to dark color walls. I like the cozy feeling it brings, and with the right floor color, it makes for a very comfortable atmosphere.

Reflective light is great, but almost impossible to control in a shop. When I am working, I would much rather have control of my work lights by being able to move them to get the light where I want them. It's impossible to get rid of shadows on your work area EVERYWHERE in a room, so to be able to move the worklights in those areas helps a ton. For me, it also allows me to control the total color of all of my light in my workspace, which is important for a designer.

In a shop environment, I'd love to have a completely white room with all white tools and benches, 100w 6000K lights on every flat surface projecting upwards, downwards and sideways and white floors so that I could see every nut and screw I dropped, but not only is that completely impractical, but it isn't very warm and friendly as an environment.

I dig the black ceiling, no doubt. Would I do it in my garage? Probably not, but I still like the way it looks. Nice job!




doug

 

[rickyboy]

I would have thought the black ceiling would make it appear lower. Not so? I leaning towards a white ceiling myself. To each their own I say, and good for you for doing "your thing".
I guess it's pretty common to have the corrugated metal wainscoting. I wasn't aware of the different thickness's. Has anyone run into any negative issues with the corrugated metal wainscoting?