OriginalCyn Loc: Connecticut

I am in the middle of planning stage (soon to be building) a home studio in my basement. I thought I was going to go all white...but now I am reconsidering. I need to have a drop ceiling which I think will be white. Walls could be gray or white. Flooring could be light ash laminate or dark....any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

Remember, you need to be in control of the lighting. Unwanted reflections and color casts mean added steps to eliminate them when setting up your shoots. So, depending on what type of photography you do, take that into consideration.

I do more product and food photography without a dedicated studio, so I employ blackout fabrics, black and white foam core boards, tons of small cheap lighting sources, speedlites, monolights, mirrors, foil colored papers, etc. for my work. I start by adding light to a minimally lit (so I can see) subject and build from there.

I would look at videos from working studios of the kind you do and see how they paint scheme their space.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

More important than the color is that you be able to keep it a nice comfortable temperature!!
SS

Leicaflex Loc: Cymru

Ceiling white, two walls grey and two walls white, try to avoid a dark colour for the floor.

CO

I used to go to a studio where the owner painted the walls 18% gray - the same as a photographic gray card. He said that he could more easily change backgrounds in Photoshop. He liked to download different backgrounds from DeviantArt.com and do substitutions in Photoshop. He used to hold classes there and had printed information. This is from the hand out:

Black and white backgrounds are all/nothing in Photoshop (reveal/hidden) when applying layers.
Neutral gray allows for easiest layering.
Mild shadow obtained with gray gives the final photo depth.

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

If I recall there was a big discussion here on this topic a while back ...I just did a search "Studio Color" and there are several posts...I did all my walls 18% Gray. Ceiling white. Floor is Cement gray. (no paint)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

As always, I would rely on Google. There are 11,400,000 articles on this topic, but I bet you can get all the info you need by reading just half of them.

https://www.google.com/search?q=how%20to%20build%20a%20home%20photo%20studio&oq=how%20to%20build%20a%20home%20photo%20studio&ie=UTF-8&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.11711j0j4&sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.&bvm=bv.131783435,d.dmo&biw=1680&bih=925&dpr=1&ech=1&psi=XffPV6S-NcKnesyjkbgG.1473247078669.3&ei=XffPV6S-NcKnesyjkbgG&emsg=NCSR&noj=1

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

Given 4x8 foot foam core and gator foam both come in white and black, duvetyne is a flexible black, and speed rail will make any room into a proper studio, you can get away with doing the room in more appealing shades, like Swiss Coffee, a personal preference for off-white. I would suggest investing in lighting controls like those mentioned above first, before modifying the room, and consider getting a flash meter and some kind of pro level strobe system to get going. All this (except the expendables mentioned above) can be had used on Ebay. Now, you can struggle to make a white background from white background paper and maybe four strobes, or get one of these, which is better and takes just two strobes:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/478589-REG/Lastolite_LL_LB8867_HiLite_Chromakey_Background.html

These units are versatile, also being able to be a huge soft box and NOT a background.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Munsell N8 gray walls. Medium gray tiles on the floor. White drop ceiling is fine.

Colored walls and floors are inappropriate in a studio because your light bounces their color onto the subject, leading to all sorts of white balance issues.

OriginalCyn Loc: Connecticut

I looked up Munsell N8 and I could only see many shades of gray. That is a specific shade? Is it lighter or darker than medium gray?

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

I know this is off topic a little, but where did you find black and white 4x8 foam core/gator board? I have looked everywhere! Home Depot has PINK insulation sheets 1 1/2 inch thick foam in 4x8 sheets. This is perfect, even though I will have to paint them, but I would rather buy white. I've never seen them in black.

To address the OPs question, foam core boards in black and white will turn any space into a studio and can be used as backdrops and for reflecting or blocking light as needed. I like the idea of painting the walls 18% gray! Some photographers say the ideal studio would be all black but that would be depressing! Every surface in a room can and will reflect light.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

How would a speed rail be used?

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

Now, how do you hold UP the foamcores? C-Stands and Arms, or you hang or lean it off your speed rail grid, where you can also use grip arms and so forth. You only buy this stuff ONCE. Except, don't leave your aluminum pipe exposed for the taking outside, even behind your house. The one time I did that, and I lost about $2,000 worth.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?&ci=5799&N=3660843711+4289244626&origSearch=c-stand

https://www.buyrailings.com/showcategory.aspx?CategoryID=39&SEName=hollaender-speed-railings&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=(RC)%20Quick%20Rails&utm_term=speedrail&utm_content=Speed%20Rail

Note: 1 1/2 inch aluminum pipe is more structurally sound, so get the right SIZE fitting. Sometimes, you MIX 1 1/2 and 1 1/4 as the smaller stuff is good for making frames for overheads and the like. Overheads are OUTDOOR solutions.

Now, if you have a drop ceiling:

http://www.filmtools.com/filmtools-drop-ceiling-scissors-clamp-with-baby-spud.html

There are solutions galore for rigging a decent studio space, much of which come from the film (movie) industry.

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

you have some excellent comments here, and i cannot disagree with any of them. the only thing i would add is to be sure you are using "flat" paint, and not satin or glossy.

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

With Speed Rail, you make a GRID from which you hang lights and light modifiers. Why? In a small space, light stands, c-stands and what not can get VERY trip-worthy, toe stubbing cumbersome.

Basically, you get some bases, which I generally screw to 2x6 lumber pieces (as feet,) sometimes longer pieces so a 45 degree connector can then be used as a gusset to the vertical aluminum riser. At the top, you can put in corner Speed Rail pieces and then string your aluminum pipe between the corners. If the span is longer than 20 feet, then additional vertical supports are wise.

A versatile thing to do is to put additional support up around the center of the grid, and then add another cross member, onto which you install rotating Speed Rail pieces where you then put an aluminum pipe through which rests on the corner cross piece with an overhang. Then, you can MOVE that piece anywhere it's needed. Works wonders.

Speed Rail can rightly be thought of as "adult Tinker Toys." Except THESE tinker toys are structural.

I even made additional short span sections with their own risers and feet to create a lift system to enable me to stack multi-hundred pound speakers atop one another, the first speaker being on a rolling base I also made. Harbor Freight helps out with this stuff.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=hand+winch

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?AttribSel=Wheel+Type%3D%27Casters%27&CatPath=All%2BProducts%252F%252F%252F%252FUserSearch%253DWheels&RequestData=CA_AttributeSelected&q=wheels

http://www.filmandvideolighting.com/clamandhar.html

You generally want 5/8 inch "spud" stuff in stills photography. Rarely, the JUNIOR size is used.