What Color White Should You Paint The Ceiling? (Best Color From Every Brand!)

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Last updated on February 28th, 2024 at 11:22 am

What Is The Best Ceiling Paint Color? Find Out Here!

Wondering what color white you should paint your ceiling? Well, look no further because I have your answer!

Ceilings should be painted a bright white with a flat finish. Sherwin Williams, Behr, Valspar, Dutch Boy, & Zinsser all have a pre-mixed bright white ceiling paint that blocks stains, hides imperfections, and gets full coverage in 1-3 coats.

Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, let’s go over why a bright white, flat paint finish is the best paint color for your ceiling and which white ceiling paints are the best by brand.

Let’s dive in!

Quick Navigation: Best White Ceiling Paint Colors By Brand

  1. Why Are Ceilings Painted White?
  2. Best White Ceiling Paint Colors By Brand
  3. My Favorite White Ceiling Paint Color & Brand
  4. Final Thoughts

Why Are Ceilings Painted White?

There are several benefits to painting ceilings white, which is what makes white the most popular ceiling paint color.

These benefits include:

  • Hides imperfections
  • Brightens the room
  • Makes the room appear taller
  • Gives a nice contrast against (or complements) all colors
  • Non-reflective finish reduces glares from artificial light
Cracks and unevenness in ceilings are inevitable as the house settles over time. While walking into the hallway, we have a fairly prominent crack in our ceiling drywall, but it is significantly less noticeable with the flat, white paint.
Here is what that crack looks like up close. If the ceiling paint was another color or shiny, this crack would stick out worse than it already does.

Using other colors to paint the ceiling have the opposite effect on a room. These include:

  • Makes imperfections prominent
  • Darkens the room
  • Makes the room appear smaller
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This room has a taller ceiling, but the dark ceiling color and walls make the room feel much smaller than it actually is. Photo by Volkan Vardar from Pexels.

Of course, there are always exceptions to the above.

Large rooms with ceilings taller than 10 feet that have a color other than white painted on the ceiling can give a moody, dramatic vibe to a room without making it feel too small.

This room has a dark gray ceiling, but since the walls are so tall, it gives the room a masculine, moody vibe instead of making it feel tiny. Photo by Max Vakhtbovych from Pexels.

In general, though, the best paint color for a ceiling is a bright, flat white. The bright white with a flat sheen will give all of the benefits listed above.

So taking that little tidbit into consideration, here are the best white ceiling paints by the brand to make your decision super simple.

Here is another room where the white ceiling fades into the background and lets other parts of the room be the focal point. Your eyes naturally get drawn to the orange in the counter and the table/chair legs, then to the gray tiles, and finally to the green accent wall.

Best White Ceiling Paint Colors By Brand

Paint BrandBest Ceiling Paint Color
Sherwin WilliamsHGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams Flat White Ceiling Paint and Primer
Benjamin MooreWaterborne Ceiling Paint Ultra Flat In Ceiling White
BehrBehr Ultra Ultra Pure White Ceiling Flat Interior Paint & Primer
ClareClare Ceiling Paint
ValsparValspar Ultra Flat Ceiling White Ceiling Paint and Primer
GliddenGlidden Ceiling Flat Interior Ceiling Paint
Dutch BoyDutch Boy Dura Clean Interior Latex Flat Bright White Ceiling Paint + Primer
ZinsserZinsser Interior Flat Bright White Ceiling Paint & Primer
This table shows the best white ceiling paint colors by brand.

You really can’t go wrong with any of these paint brands or their ceiling paint (which are all pre-mixed, so no need to choose a color!).

All of these ceiling paints are designed to:

  • Hide stains in 1-3 coats
  • Minimize splattering while painting
  • Reduce glare and hide imperfections
  • Dries quickly so recoating can happen on the same day

My Favorite White Ceiling Paint Color & Brand

My personal favorite ceiling paints are Dutch Boy’s Dura Clean Bright White Ceiling Paint & Primer and Valspar’s Ultra Flat Ceiling White Ceiling Paint & Primer.

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I’ve used both of these paints on our personal home and our rentals and haven’t had an issue with coverage and love the bright white, clean color.

Plus, having a primer built-in helps the painting process go faster because the coverage is much better than the ceiling paints without it.

Here is Dutch Boy’s Dura Clean Bright White Ceiling Paint in our primary residence. It immediately brightened up the entire place and ties in beautifully with our greige wall paint.
Here is Valspar’s Ultra Flat Ceiling White Ceiling Paint in one of our rentals. We changed the ceiling fan out and the base was smaller so there was a large, dark-colored ring around the new, smaller base that needed to be painted. This paint covered it easily in one coat.

Final Thoughts On The Best White Ceiling Paint Color By Brand

There you have it!

The best color for the ceiling is a flat, bright white paint that will hide imperfections, hide stains or aging on the ceiling, minimize splatter, and dry quickly so you can recoat in a few hours.

Hopefully, this short guide helped take the stressful choice of paint color decisions out of the equation, so now you can move on to the actual painting process!

Catch you in my next post!

The Best Paint Supplies I’ve Used

Wooster Shortcut Angle Sash Paintbrush (2-Inch)

This is my all-time favorite paintbrush because it is so lightweight! The short handle takes the pressure off your wrist and creates an extremely comfortable grip, so you can paint longer without feeling the weight on your wrist. I use this paintbrush on 99% of my paint projects. You can find this paintbrush here on Amazon.

FoamPRO 164 Fine Finish Roller (4-Inch)

If you want the least amount of paint texture left from a roller (such as on metal or furniture), then this is the best roller you can use. The fine finish in the foam leaves the tiniest bit of texture that can easily be sanded between coats to get a finish almost as good as a sprayed finish. You can find this awesome foam roller here on Amazon.

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If you’ve been curious about how we are decorating our 1950s Ranch, you should check out our “Shop Our Home” page. You can find products that we’ve personally bought to decorate our home.

Love this post? Share it with others so they can easily choose a white ceiling paint color!

By Christine

Christine is a blogger and DIYer who tackles home renovation and decorating projects alongside her husband, Adam, for their personal residence and rental properties. Although she successfully tackles large renovation projects to avoid expensive contractor fees and bring her vision to life now, her path to success was not easy.

Go here to read her story,  “From a Clueless First-Time Homebuyer To A Confident DIYer Creating Her Dream Home One Project At A Time“.

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