Go to a thrift shop and look for an attractive long, skinny leaning mirror, which will reflect light from your window and visually expand the room that way. Going by suggestions made in your other post, you hopefully will have gotten new bedding, moved the art lower, so that a mirror will reflect those updates. Also consider a swag lamp with white cord hanging over the bed--something cloudlike from Ikea like this to take advantage of your tall ceiling but bring it down a bit. This is the small Krusnig lampshade $13. Oops, sorry it won't link. You can find it here: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00259914/ Consider a skyscape poster for over the bed to bring the outside inside and draw attention to the height of the room. If you're allowed to paint, paint the ceiling blue:

You might be able to prune a lemon tree into that shape, such as Lisbon or Eureka on standard rootstock. I think "evergreen" is the main stickler in your scenario (or edible, but I want my entire garden to be edible--or fragrant--so I would never drop that requirement :) ). Carla in Sac

26ft is a very low number. Are you sure about that? Are you building on slab? What is your plan between floors - typical is 18 or 24 inches. With a slab, it really should be 24 inches - for HVAC ductwork primarily. So 12 ft 1st floor, 2 ft between floors, 9 ft second floor is 23ft. That would make for a pretty flat roof. I am used to somewhere around 38ft as a limit - and bumping up against it if memory serves - on a 2 story house. But where you call the "top" varies as is where you call the base. Are there houses in your county with 12 ft ceilings on 1st floor? As far as "shame" you out of something, I don't think being deliberate about a decision is a bad idea. I do think you don't see many 2 story houses with 12 ft ceilings - I have never seen one that I can recall - for a reason. And mind you, I had 11 in 1/2 my first floor. It was designed so the master suite had a few steps to get there separate from the main staircase. And the master suite was above the 11 ft area. We have 9 ft upstairs. You mentioned 8 ft doors. We have 7 ft. Try to imagine your door casing and crown molding. They would have to fit in that 12 inches and not looked crammed. In my area, most grand houses have a decent size crown. Not sure that would look right. I agree that the big transition to 6'8" doors is a bit much also. Curious where you are building because I like to learn about regional trends and I also have my guess and want to see if I am right.

Gen V - I think you’ll be very happy with 9’. As others have said, it’ll accommodate larger doors for the view, too. The size of your room is great in my opinion. I also don’t feel the need for a huge bedroom anymore and like a cozy feel. I went from 8’ ceilings to 12’ to 9’ in the past 30+ years. Turns out, 9’ is perfect. It did feel a little low at first, but I got used to it. I know that is not your issue, but I’m saying that you’ll get used to it very quickly. You’ll be doing walk throughs well before your home is finished and it’ll become the norm. Once you paint and decorate, you’ll feel at home. Congratulations on the new home!