I'm thinking 9'... I currently have 10' and it feels 'large' not cozy! What do you have david?

Tinker - that sounds exactly what I want to do. I am thinking of 8 foot as well. I have had all the razzle dazzle and the only thing that makes me feel at home and cozy is smaller (sq footage) and the lower ceilings. May have to stick to 9 foot though.

I think those that are considering 8 ft haven't been in a house with 8ft in a while....

or are short...

8'6" is much better than 8. 9 is better still.

I did 8'6" due to the height restrictions in my area and the desire to have a decent attic.

Hi Tinker,
I currently have 8' in the "old house" and have 9' in the newly-finished-no C.O. yet new house. I wouldn't go back to 8, it's a little too cozy for me. Plus, I really enjoyed picking out lighting for the 9' ceilings. No more flush mounts!

We built a "cottagey" one level home and it is all 9'. We came from a cabin type home with 8' ceilings and it felt cramped but these 9' ones are wonderful plus we have alot of natural light. This is our "retirement home" and don't plan on moving anytime soon!

Our current home has 10' ceilings and our old home has 8' ceilings. I will *never* go back to 8' ceilings. JMO. Our house still feels cozy and nice. The second floor is 8' which helps keep the bedrooms a little more "cozy".

Being 6'1" 8' ceilings feel low to me.

Tinker- 9' is good, but a little variation of ceiling height from room to room is a feature to a 1 story home that I think is terrific.

Rookie makes a very valid point about flush mount lighting. I would add that 9' is a minimum for current lighting options, but it would be better to go a little taller if you want ceiling fans in your Florida home. My existing home is circa 1950 and I had a miserable time replacing flush mount fans for the Florida Room last year.

BTW- re your plank ceiling. Our current home has a plank ceiling in the Family Room. I love the cottage charm it adds to the room.

I have 9-11 ft and I love it. I'm tall and can't stand 8 ft ceilings. It was always a deal breaker for me about living in an older house. I could live with 9 foot but the ceiling fans do seem quite low (except over a bed).

The incremental cost is not bad. People talk about HVAC also but it really isn't much. There are other things that you can do to minimize HVAC that don't cost much either.

To each his own. But before you go for 8' high ceilings, spend some time in a home with them, though I doubt you will find many new homes with that height. At least, on the first floor.

When considering renoing our current home, the 8 foot ceilings have become the unexpected sticking point. So it's move or demolish.

Eight-foot ceilings will be a resale problem, and you probably wouldn't really enjoy them either -- especially where you want to add a 'heavy feeling' plank ceiling.

We're happy with nine-foot ceilings, 36" doorways, taller windows and doors, hardwood flooring without thresholds. It all adds up to stretch the space.

Our library has a cathedral ceiling because we wanted a tall archtop window over tall casements on one wall. Smaller scale archtops are in the kitchen and master bath; each of those rooms has some vaulting to accomodate the windows -- a barrel vault in the kitchen. They add interest without being cliches.

Traditional older homes in the New England area have 7' ceilings. Out here, it was popular for homes built in the 60's- 70's to have hallways and kitchen areas at 7'. Made 8' lids seem tall!

All the replies really have been a great help! I think I might regret 8'.. but 9 is sounding pretty good! Always have to think about resale, and I can see if a man was over 6', 8 foot ceilings would feel a bit low.

twotogo, I want that "cottagey" feeling, so good to know you feel it still with 9' ceilings.

pamelah, I have never had a home with plank ceilings.. love the look in magazines, but a little scared I won't pull the look off! Still.. plan on trying! LOL I agree that varied ceiling height or treatments.. add interest. I mentioned this to the architect, and hope he comes up with suggestions.. if I end up hiring him.

I have 10' on our main level and 9' on the 2nd floor. I love the 10' for the flexibility in light fixtures and the light from the tall windows is really nice. 9' would be great too. To creat a cozy, cottage look, you can add wood beams in certain spaces. On the 2nd floor we have dormers with sloped ceilings that go from 9' to 5'. That creates a nice cozy space for the kids.

We are building a cape cod/tidewater style house and we are using mainly 9 foot ceilings. I think 8 foot is low for new construction. Nine seems like a nice compromise and keeps the costs down some. We are raising up to 11 feet in the great room and adding a coffered ceiling which should keep it cozy yet still set the room off. I'm putting just one tray in the master bedroom. Seems like the master bedroom should have a little something special, if possible.

worthy, That's interesting because a huge sticking point in deciding to renovate our old house (we still own it), or building a new one, is the 7'6" and 8' ceilings! Seems like you are in a similar position! I can handle the old house and rneovating it, but I can't handle those low ceilings. So we will have to consider the cost of raising those ceilings when thinking about the overall cost of the reno.

krycek1984 -- Just how would you 'raise' these ceilings?

Ah...the ten million dollar question...

Literally ripping the roof off, raise the ceiling, then put an entire new roof on. Expensive, to say the least. Which is why when it's time to decide, we will have to see what the bids are for ripping off the entire roof, raising the ceilings, and all that.

Plus the space above the area I want to raise the roof is actually 1.5 stories, just empty space in the gable.

i like 9'. i'd never go back to 8' though. they just don't work for us. we'd lug our Christmas tree home from the nursery and would always end up lopping a foot or more off the top since it wouldn't stand. also, i have a mini chandy in the "master" bathroom (i use the term very lightly!) and whenever i need to blow dry my hair i end up banging into it with the hair dryer. i'd never expect to see an 8' ceiling in a new build. jmo, though!

Tinker, we have 10 ft ceilings in living, dining and foyer of our house we are trying to sell now. 8 ft with trays in bedrooms and vaulted in study. Kitchen and bathrooms just 8ft.

The house we just built also has 10 ft. in same rooms and 9 ft. everywhere else with trays and a vaulted ceiling in study also. (Coffered in dining room). We love 9 so much more than 8.

If it helps I saw the website for your house and I love your living room so much I have saved the pictures! I'm hoping one day we can changed our white built-ins for something like yours. Warm and cozy rooms despite the size!
I don't think I could live without 10ft. in main rooms after having them so long and 9 would be my limit.
Hope this helps.

In our old house we had 8ft ceilings. I always wanted them higher. This time the ceilings are 11 ft in the bedrooms and 16 in the kitchen/entrance area. We have 8 foot glass sliding doors with transom windows above. It's great because we have a mountain view and now we can really see it from all angles. The house is small (1200 sq. ft) and one story so the high ceilings really help it feel more spacious and I absolutely love them so far!

Literally ripping the roof off, raise the ceiling, then put an entire new roof on

It's sometimes possible to raise the ceilings and put a new roof over the old roof. This was our technologist's suggestion. But then you're still stuck with the low first floor and basement ceilings.

My basement walls are 10'. All the plumbing and ductwork are placed for 8' clearance under them. One of the downsides to taller ceilings in two-story houses is the larger floor area consumed by the taller stairs. Stairs consume both vertical and horizontal space. The lower riser dimensions now dictated by some codes increases the floor space required.

autumn09, that's so nice! I on other hand wish I had white built in's! Just goes to show, different strokes for different folks! (I remove the house link because I realize it gave way too much info about me on the internet!)

This thread has really made my decision super easy - 9' ceilings for sure, and I won't even wonder about the 8' now.

we built our home 2 years ago and it is a country cottage. in our "main" living areas(family, dining, kitchen and master bedroom) we put 9 foot ceilings. bathrooms, utility and the 2 "guest" bedrooms we put 8 foot. the 9 foot ceilings in the main areas provide the sense that the home lives larger than it is but is still cozy and is easy to heat and cool.