How Ceiling Height Can Improve the Quality of Your Life
1. Plays tricks on the eye to make tiny rooms feel more spacious – One of the interesting things that tall ceilings do is lead your eye upwards. It can fool your senses by making a space look bigger even though the square footage might not necessarily be. You’ll see (and feel) this effect every time you enter a tiny apartment with very high ceilings. On the other hand, you will also come across apartments that are double the size (or larger than 1,000 sqft) that somehow make you feel claustrophobic even though there’s a ton of room to move around. The problem with a lot of the larger spaces that are being built these days is that ceilings heights are getting lower and lower. The minimum should be 8 feet, but some developers drop their ceilings even further to accommodate pot lights or sprinker systems (rather than drilling them into the concrete as they should) bringing down certain parts of the house – like the kitchen – down to 7 feet. And it doesn’t feel impressive or grand the way a smaller apartment with soaring ceilings does. I made the mistake once of buying an apartment with 8 ft high ceilings (and 7 ft high ceilings in some areas) and when I tried to sell it people didn’t like the low ceilings as much as it made the space feel dark and cramped despite the floor to ceiling windows. Two other places that I lived in that had 9 and 10 feet ceilings only took a day (or a a few weeks at most) to sell. Such is the power of higher ceilings that it can be awe-inspiring to people and makes any space look much more roomy.
2. Allows for taller (or more) windows which lets in more light & more air – When you have higher ceilings, there’s more room to incorporate larger windows (except if your room is located in a basement, which means you can only have narrow or skinny windows at the top half of your living space). And when you have larger windows more sunlight can come through, which means that it will be easier to heat your room during those cold winter months. And once it gets hot, it will be easier to cool your room during warm summer months as a greater volume of air can pass through, making it unnecessary to rely on mechanical aids such as air-conditioning electric fans, or space heaters to regulate room temperature. However, do take note that taller ceilings can sometimes lead to higher electricity or gas bills as there will be a larger volume of space to heat and cool, especially in older homes which are poorly insulated, have improper ducting, and have drafty doors and windows. Newer homes don’t necessarily generate higher energy bills, as the greater volume of space has been taken into account and calculated into the engineering plan. In addition, sunlight exposure has been taken into consideration so that the orientation of the house, window placement and insulation have all been optimized to make the home more energy efficient.
3. Allows you to decorate more simply as the view outside becomes the main attraction – One of the great things about houses with tall ceilings (and windows) is that you don’t have to use a lot of visual trickery to make your space visually attractive. There’s no need to put too many decorative objects on table surfaces, in corners or even from the ceiling. The view becomes the star of the show, which means that whatever people see on the outside from within the house becomes the principal design feature. If you have a hedge or a garden, this means having to look after these carefully so that you have a nice view of well-tended greenery whenever you look out your window. If you have a view of a lake or an ocean then it can actually be uplifting for your mind and spirit. In fact, some people choose (or reject) a space based entirely on what they see past the windows. When you have a top notch view, you can have simple furniture with clean lines to complement that view. Just make sure that you have nice accessories to decorate your empty walls and tabletops. If you don’t know good from bad, you may want to hire a professional designer with a discerning eye to tell you which is which.
4. Provides more room for some interesting design features – If there’s one thing that tall ceilings can give you is the ability to do some really cool and interesting things. While large spaces give you the benefit of room to move around and do things, tall ceilings add drama to any space. You can build custom floor to ceilings shelves like the one pictured below or hang beautiful chandeliers or mobile sculptures when you have the benefit of tall ceilings. Pendant light fixtures can actually be works of art in themselves, especially if they’re one of a kind. In fact, you can check out your favourite hotels or restaurants to see what types of light fixtures they use and ask the outlet manager where they purchased them. If they don’t know simply take pictures and then go to your local lighting store to see if they can bring in the exact same fixture that you like and hang it up for you. Italian companies like Artemide or American ones like RH are a good place to start. Ylighting is another place to find light fixtures from all over the world. People like to be moved by beautiful objects and when you have a tall ceiling make sure to utilize that extra height to incorporate something inspiring or dramatic at the very least. Again if you’re not sure how to choose a light fixture that suits your space, make sure to call a lighting expert or decorator who can give you some options to choose from.
5. Improves functionality by allowing you to do (and have) more space to do things – When you have tall ceilings, you have the power to do what occupants of low ceilings can’t: which is to build upwards. Lacking enough bedrooms to accommodate more human beings (or even pets)? Build upwards. When you have ceilings that go up to 16 feet or more, you can add a loft over the kitchen where you can create a separate bedroom for yourself (or a second person). And then you have the bonus of adding some drama as you can peer over your ‘bedroom’ at the living room space below, which certainly adds an interesting dimension to anyone’s existence. I grew up in a split level house so our “second floor” wasn’t actually real. It was simply elevated 3 feet from the ground. In the case of a apartment with 16 foot high ceilings, you can have a New York style loft apartment and have a bedroom on the second floor. And in the meantime, you can fill the walls with art that goes all the way to the ceiling, making it feel like an art gallery.
