See How to Make Your Ceilings Look Higher with These 13 Smart Styling Tricks
High ceilings come with many benefits, like lighter, brighter spaces and cooler rooms in the warm months. While you may not be able to enjoy some of these benefits if you live in a space with 8-foot-ceilings, don’t despair — with a few simple tricks, you can still make your home appear to have higher ceilings.
Although, working with a shorter structure can actually amp up your creativity. “Low ceiling rooms can be fun to style, if you don’t allow the height to restrict your design,” says Ariene Bethea, interior designer and founder of Dressing Rooms Interiors Studio. “I like playing with scale, so I still style with a few large statement pieces to anchor the room 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 some 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 hue to the ceiling to draw the eye up in a space. You’ll forget all about how low the ceilings are if there’s something captivating to see when you look up.”
Saleem also suggests leaning an oversized mirror against a wall in your low-ceiling room to reflect light. In fact, sometimes the more you work your walls, the better. “Utilize vertical space by installing floor-to-ceiling bookcases or a gallery wall of framed art to create a visual display that will make the space feel taller and add interest,” she says. To help you further realize your dreams of a chic home — in spite of your low ceilings — check out 13 key tips below for how to make ceilings look higher, from art placement to paint ideas.
1. Style your TV lower to the ground.
If you have low living room ceilings, avoid hanging your TV too high. You can opt to stand it up on a short console or TV stand, or mount it on the wall a few inches above any furniture or shelving, like in this Brooklyn loft. Just make sure the screen falls around eye level so you’re not straining your neck trying to watch your favorite shows. And if you still have a ton of extra wall space to fill out, you can make your TV a gallery wall focal point and style small pieces of artwork above and around it.
2. Utilize a lavish mirror
Expertly placed mirrors allow light to bounce around your low-ceiling room and make it look like it has gained some square footage. As made evident in this Chicago apartment, a well-placed mirror can lift your ceilings and “visually” expand a room that could benefit from this trick, which is often used in smaller restaurants.
3. Choose a lighter ceiling color.
An easy method if you’re wondering how to make ceilings look higher? Paint your ceiling a color lighter than the walls, preferably white, like in this New York City apartment. Some believe high-gloss paint is best because it reflects light and makes the ceiling look somehow less fixed and static, while others say a matte finish will help the ceiling to blend in more. Another optical 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 taller, higher walls.
4. Use a bold rug
If guests spend all their time looking at your awesome rug, they’ll never even notice you have a low-ceiling room! Get inspired by this look from an artist’s NYC apartment.
5. Lean on minimalism
In a low-ceiling room, clutter will only add to that small, cramped feeling. If you keep your space airy, clean, and bright, as is the case in this photographer’s Toronto, Canada, apartment, the room will feel larger and more spacious.
6. Match crown molding and trim to wall color.
If you choose to add crown molding and trim to the top of the wall, it should be painted in the same color as the walls. This is one method to try if you’re wondering how to make ceilings look higher, and you can get inspired here by Shelby Vanhoy’s former New York City apartment (aka Pretty in the Pines). It prevents drawing attention upward, which would highlight the low ceiling height.
7. Place art high.
Hang artwork slightly higher than you normally would, like in this 700-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment, where the gallery wall extends all the way to the ceiling. Hanging small frames above door openings and windows also tricks the eye into thinking the room has higher ceilings.
8. Apply decorative paneling.
Make the ceiling look higher by covering the lower 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, consider painting both the upper part 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.
Taller is better when it comes to styling plants in a room with low ceilings. Not only will houseplants, branches, or seasonal grasses add more texture and color to your space, but the elongated accents will gently draw your eye upward. Try adding a fiddle leaf fig or tall vase filled with pampas grass to an empty corner.
10. Avoid overhead lights.
Skip fans and ceiling or overhead lights because they draw attention to the ceiling. If you do want a chandelier or pendant, though, hang it slightly higher than you normally would. Or, choose fixtures that are clear or see-through to create less visual disturbance, like in this renovated Brooklyn house.
11. Use vertical stripes and patterns.
Taking a cue from fashion, it’s best to use vertical stripes instead of horizontal stripes, because the vertical orientation creates the illusion of height — as evidenced in this 1600-square-foot historic house in Ottawa, Canada. And this rule doesn’t only apply to paint and wallpaper: A four-poster bed with tall, skinny posts can also draw the eye upward if you’re wondering how to make ceilings look higher.
12. Hang floor-to-ceiling curtains.
Take a cue from this Parisian-inspired Brooklyn studio apartment and hang window treatments as high as possible. Floor-to-ceiling curtains elongate a room and make the ceiling look higher, from your bedroom to your living room.
13. Choose low-profile furniture.
Use lower-profile furniture with fewer horizontal elements (arm rests, for example) to emphasize the distance between the furniture and the ceiling. This beach-house inspired Brooklyn apartment even features two stylish green poufs for extra seating that doesn’t overwhelm the space, as well as a more small-scale shelf against one of the walls.
Further Reading
Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Article’s DTC Furniture
We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Pottery Barn — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need
