High ceilings have many benefits, such as lighter, brighter rooms and cooler rooms in the warm months. While you may not be able to enjoy some of these benefits if you live in a room with 8-foot ceilings, don't despair—with a few simple tricks, you can still get your home to have higher ceilings.
Working with a shorter structure can actually improve your creativity. “Rooms with low ceilings can be fun if you don’t let the height limit your design,” says Ariene Bethea, interior designer and founder of Interiors Studio in Dressing Rooms. “I like to play with scale, so I still style with a few big statement pieces to anchor the space and draw attention to the coziness of the space.”
Saudah Saleem, designer and owner of Saudah Saleem Interiors, also offered several helpful tips for adding illusionary height to your ceilings. “Ceilings are the forgotten fifth wall in a room,” says Saleem. “Apply wallpaper or a fresh coat of paint in an interesting shade to the ceiling to draw the eye in a room. You'll forget all about how low the ceilings are when there's something captivating when you look it up. “
Saleem also suggests leaning an oversized mirror against a wall in your room with low ceilings to reflect light. In fact, the more you work on your walls, the better. “Take advantage of vertical space by installing floor-to-ceiling bookshelves or a gallery wall with framed art to create a visual display that will add size and interest to the room,” she says. To help you further achieve your dreams of a chic home—despite your low ceilings—read 13 essential tips for making ceilings look higher, from art placement to painting ideas.
1. Style your TV lower to the ground.
If you have low living room ceilings, avoid having your TV too high. You can opt for a short console or TV stand, or mount it on the wall a few inches above any furniture or shelves on the wall, like in this Brooklyn loft. Just make sure the screen falls around eye level so you don't strain your neck trying to watch your favorite shows. And if you still have a ton of extra wall space to fill, you can turn your TV into a gallery wall and style small pieces of art above and around it.
2. Use a lavish mirror
Expertly placed mirrors allow light to bounce around your low-ceilinged room And Make it look like it has gained some square materials. As seen in this Chicago apartment, a well-placed mirror can raise your ceilings and “visually” expand a space that could benefit from this trick, often used in smaller restaurants.
3. Choose a lighter ceiling color.
An easy method if you're wondering how to make ceilings look taller? Paint your ceiling a color lighter than the walls, preferably white, like in this New York apartment. Some believe that high-gloss paint is best because it reflects light and somehow makes the ceiling look less solid and static, while others say that a matte finish helps the ceiling feel more enclosed. Another visual trick is to paint the first two or three inches of ceiling around the perimeter the same color as the walls to give the illusion of larger, taller walls.
4. Use a strong carpet
If guests spend all their time looking at your amazing rug, they won't even notice that you have a low ceiling room! Get inspired with this look from an artist's NYC apartment.
5. Lean on minimalism
In a room with a low ceiling, clutter only adds to that small, cramped feeling. Keeping your space airy, clean, and bright, as is the case in this photographer's Toronto, Canada apartment, will make the room feel larger and more spacious.
6. Match crown moldings and cut wall color.
If you want to add crown molding and trim to the top of the wall, it should be painted the same color as the walls. This is a method to try if you're wondering how to make ceilings look higher, and you can get inspiration from Shelby Vanhoy's former New York City apartment (aka Pretty in the Pines) here. It prevents attention from reaching upwards, which would highlight the low ceiling height.
7th place high.
Hang artwork a little higher than you normally would, like in this 700-square-foot one-bedroom apartment, where the gallery wall extends to the ceiling. Hanging small frames over the doorways and windows also draws the eye to the fact that the room has higher ceilings.
8. Apply decorative trim.
Make the ceiling look higher by covering the bottom two-thirds of your walls with beadboard or decorative paneling, demonstrated in this Buenos Aires bedroom. Then paint the ceiling the same color as the upper walls. In rooms with a chair rail, paint both the top of the walls and the ceiling the same light color with a darker color below the chair rail.
9. Decorate with tall floral or greenery arrangements.
Bigger is better when it comes to styling plants in a room with low ceilings. Matches, twigs or seasonal grasses not only add more texture and color to your space, but the elongated accents gently draw your eye upward. Try adding a fiddleleaf fig or a tall vase of pampas grass to an empty corner.
10. Avoid overhead lights.
Skip the fans and ceiling or skylights because they draw attention to the ceiling. However, if you want a chandelier or pendant, hang it a little higher than you normally would. Or choose clear or see-through fixtures to create less visual disruption, like in this renovated Brooklyn home.
11. Use vertical stripes and patterns.
If you're taking a cue from fashion, it's best to use vertical stripes instead of horizontal stripes, as the vertical orientation creates the illusion of height—as shown in this 1,600-square-foot historic home in Ottawa, Canada. And this rule doesn't just apply to paint and wallpaper: A four-teen bed with tall, thin posts can also draw the eye upward if you're wondering how ceilings look higher.
12. Hang curtains from floor to site.
Take a cue from this Parisian-inspired studio apartment in Brooklyn and hang the window treatments as high as possible. Floor to fourth curtains extend a room and make the ceiling look higher from your bedroom to your living room.
13. Choose inexpensive furniture.
Use lower furniture with fewer horizontal elements (e.g. arm rest) to emphasize the distance between the furniture and the ceiling. In this beach house-inspired Brooklyn apartment, there are even two stylish green boolfs for additional seating that won't overwhelm the space, as well as a smaller shelf against one of the walls.
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