How to Paint a Tray Ceiling

Painting a tray ceiling can pose a few issues that a regular flat ceiling doesn't have. A bit of work and patience will give you good results to your do it yourself project.

Step 1 - Prepare the Area

Before beginning to paint your tray ceiling, remove everything from the room. Things that can not be removed should be covered with drop cloths. Painting a ceiling can be a messy job. Cover floors or carpeting with drop cloths and tape down the edges to make an overlap using duct tape. Remove curtains or draperies. Be sure there is enough furniture out of the room that you have space to move the ladder around.

Use your vacuum cleaner with the dusting wand to brush down any dust or cobwebs. If you have stains of any kind on the ceiling, prime those areas with a good oil-based primer that won't allow these stains to bleed through into the new paint and ruin your work. You can use an oil-based primer with a latex top coat, but don't ever reverse this order as proper adherence of the paint can't be obtained.

Step 2 - Painting the Horizontal Parts

Assemble the paint roller and extension handle for it. Pour ceiling paint into the paint tray. Dip the roller into the well end of the tray and use the other end of the tray to work the roller on to work paint into the nap of the roller. Be sure the roller is saturated with paint but not dripping. Start at the far end of the ceiling and work to the opposite end. Some people like to paint in a V or X pattern to avoid roller prints and get good coverage. Allow the paint to dry. If you are using 2 colors on the ceiling, be sure this coat goes all the way to the edges of the ceiling and perhaps a bit onto the vertical surfaces.

Step 3 - Paint Vertical Areas

Painting the vertical areas of a tray ceiling is best done on a ladder and with the use of a brush. You need to cut in the edges to the ceiling with a brush. Put a bit of the paint in a small paint bucket and starting at one side, work your way around the room to get good coverage. Most paints manufactured today only require one coat so lay on a good smooth coat of paint so you won't need to re-coat this area. If your ceiling has more than one tray or other decorations, the brush method will work best for those decorations and vertical areas also.

This part is easier to do if you are painting the entire ceiling the same colors. If you are using a different shade or a totally different color of paint on these parts, then you need to be careful to create a straight line between the flat ceiling and the vertical edges just as you would between a regular ceiling and walls.