If your ceiling heights are on the lower side, making the ceilings feel higher will make your home feel a lot more high end. Unfortunately raising your ceiling height can be a very expensive or sometimes impossible exercise. But there are a few ways to trick the eye into believing that you have beautiful high ceilings in your home:
1 | Paint everything in the one colour
More often than not, I will recommend to clients to paint their walls, woodwork and ceilings all in the same light or white colour (but in different finishes!). Not only does this look very contemporary, but it also makes the room feel bigger and the ceilings feel higher! Another tip here is to remove all cornices and go for a square set finish instead. This works really well for contemporary homes and helps to create the illusion of higher ceilings.
2 | Raise the height of doors and windows
Where possible, I always recommend to raise the height of doors to 2340mm instead of the standard 2040mm. This is only possible to do with ceiling heights of 2500mm and above, but it makes a huge difference to the space. Similarly, if you are installing new windows, I always try to make them as close to floor to ceiling as possible. Not only does the height of the window makes the ceilings feel higher, but the additional natural light helps to make the space feel larger as well!
3 | Use floor to ceiling curtains
Even if you are not able to raise the height of your windows, I still always recommend to have floor to ceiling curtains. This visually elongates the height of your walls, therefore creating the illusion of higher ceilings. Selecting really lovely flowing curtains like sheers will also help to create that really luxurious high end look.
4 | Put decorative lights on the walls instead of the ceiling
Hanging pendant lights on low ceilings can often give the appearance of an even lower ceiling. That is why I recommend to keep the lights flush to the ceiling, such as using LED downlights, and then add your decorative lights onto the walls instead! Installing the wall lights a bit higher on the wall (about 3/4 of the way up) can also draw your eye up and help to make the ceiling look higher.
5 | Use vertical paneling or artwork
Adding vertical lines or shapes to your walls can also elongate them and make the ceiling feel much higher. Examples of this include using VJ cladding or creating more traditional tall but narrow rectangle molding panels. You can also do this through vertical striped wallpaper, or by adding tall but narrow mirrors and artwork to the walls.
I hope this has been helpful! If you are looking to build or renovate and would like some help, you can get in contact with us using the link below:
Have a wonderful week,
Nina xx