“Oh what a feeeeeeling, painting on the ceeeeeiling.” Yes, that was a Lionel Richie reference. You’re welcome.

It was time to get some paint up in this house—specifically in the sunroom—hence all the furniture piled in the center of the room. Before we started painting, we wanted to revisit the half-brick wall, since you all offered lots of thoughtful suggestions in the previous sunroom post. Some people recommended covering the drywall portion above the brick with brick veneer or reclaimed wood.

Unfortunately, the drywall sits in front of the brick, which would create an awkward lip if we tried to add more material above it. We don’t want an above-the-window overbite, so we decided to consider alternatives. The leading options now are to either distress or fade the brick to blend it with the room, or to paint it entirely—similar to the painted brick in our living room, which already has a few paint splatters from a previous job.

Because the living room’s painted brick is in the same sightline as the sunroom doors, painting the small U-shaped area in the sunroom might provide the most cohesive look and help the spaces feel connected. Still, we didn’t want to make a hasty decision, so we waited to address the brick until after painting the rest of the room to see how the overall palette influenced our choice.

We prepared the space by moving almost everything out, which briefly turned the living room into a temporary disaster zone—a familiar reality for DIY lovers. Burger didn’t mind the extra pillows; he happily claimed the best nap spot, giving us a look that said, “Excuse me, I’m trying to sleep here.” Fortunately, Clara was on a playdate, so we could work without worrying about little feet getting into paint or tripping over the messy pile in the living room.

Painting is something we can do almost in our sleep by now—except when it involves 12-foot ceilings. That added a new challenge. We couldn’t live with mismatched white ceilings and yellowed cream walls any longer, so we dove in.

To reach the high areas we set up our ladder and got to work. We chose our current favorite color, Rockport Gray by Benjamin Moore. It’s more of a warm brownish-gray than a cool cement tone, and we picked it for several reasons I’ll cover in a moment. At first, the room looked like a bunch of edged corners, but that all changed as the paint went on.

Edging took a long time—even with both of us working—because the room has so many corners and windows. Sherry handled most of the detailed edging around doors and windows, while I tackled the high windows near the ceiling from the ladder. After the initial cut-in, Sherry applied a second coat around the doors and windows while I worked with a roller attached to an extension pole. I’d never used a pole roller for a ceiling before and was surprised at how manageable it was, although holding your arms up for that long does get tiring.

There was one tricky spot where the ceiling fan connects; the pole and roller couldn’t provide the precision that area needed, and my ladder wasn’t high enough to reach for hand edging. Our professional solution: a brush taped to a pole. It’s low-tech and completely effective. That improvised tool let us cut in around the fan precisely and finish the ceiling cleanly.

The whole job took two coats and about seven hours across two days—far from our fastest project, but we’re very happy with the results. Despite the darker warm-gray color, the room feels anything but gloomy. Natural light floods the space, which is part of why we felt comfortable choosing a deeper tone. The blue-ish tile floor looks less yellow against the new walls, and the white trim now feels crisp and clean instead of yellowed.

Why Rockport Gray? A few reasons:

• It makes the white trim pop, giving the room a crisper, fresher look than the old yellowed walls did.
• The room’s dramatic sloped ceiling can read awkwardly; a moodier color helps downplay the strange angles and visually blend the plane transitions.
• The tile floor now reads less monochromatic and beige, so the space feels less like a beige box with a white top.
• The color coordinates with nearby rooms—the living room’s Moonshine walls and the kitchen’s grellow—so the views between spaces feel more cohesive.
• When the seasons bring greenery outside, we want the view to be the star. The moody, neutral wall color won’t compete with the plants and will let outside greens stand out.
• The brownish-gray hue helps camouflage the similarly toned heating/cooling unit in the corner.

We also noticed the new color relates nicely to the mortar tone of the existing brick, which could be useful if we keep the brick as-is. That said, now that the room is painted, we’re still leaning toward painting the brick to match the living room. The current configuration feels awkward because the top of the drywall sits oddly on the window, creating a squished appearance. With a painted brick wall in the living room next to the slider, leaving raw red brick in the sunroom seems disjointed.

We considered a gray-wash approach—using watered-down paint, stain, or even rubbing on some cement to tone down the red—but that felt like a compromise that might not achieve the seamless look painting would provide. So painting the brick remains the most likely outcome.

We’ll keep thinking about it and will share updates as we make decisions. We’re also exploring the idea of building a window seat under one of the windows, which could be a great addition if we go for it.

Even with work left to do, repainting the sunroom has already made a meaningful change. It no longer feels like a forgotten project room; it’s beginning to feel like a place to hang out on a lazy Sunday—just like the sunroom in our first house. What did you get up to this weekend? Any painting, planning, or pole-related projects of your own?