Our previous house had a great room that jutted out from the main part of the house, so it had no second floor above. The ceiling was vaulted to around 16 ft. We had the volume and windows/views/light, but not the issues with a 2-story design that opens into the rest of the rooms and causes noise and other problems. The side walls were normal height and the taller ends, one connected to the house and the other had the full wall of windows.

Current great room has 9 ft ceilings and I find that a bit low. My kitchen and dining rooms are vaulted though, so the floor plan has some interest.

I would go with a slight vault or flat 10 - 12 ft ceilings, depending on the location of the room.

I wouldn't follow most trends! Many of them are started by production builders to provide a Wow-factor, most of which do not work that great for everyday living.

we see quite a few dilemmas go by involving issues decorating all that space... windows placed where light control is needed but cannot be accomplished without covering the windows... too much noise to the bedrooms.... heating... (cooling works well, the heat all rises..) as you've discovered

so, they arent universally loved.

i have a 2 story great room in our vacation house with a loft over the dining room and kitchen, giving them a 'normal' ceiling. there are no bedrooms in the loft (just a comfy couch and a game table) so noise isnt an issue. high ceiling is good as we're there mostly in summer.

residence has 9 to 10' ceilings, its all i want especially in winter.

Great rooms with 10-foot ceilings or with vaulted ceilings are both enjoyable and desirable, depending on the individual family preferences. Any ceiling less than 10-feet in a "great room" will probably be too low.

Either approach will allow for important natural light, if you have the proper orientation.

Good luck on your project.

Go with flat 10 ft ceilings for that room, no vault IMO.

Just out of curiosity... will the noise be any less with 5 kids and lower ceilings? It seems like noise is going to be consistent in any space that's open.

We just moved into a house with 2 story great room and I love the space and light.

I’ve lived with both. I absolutely love a two story great room. Our current new build has 10’ ceilings because there was no real way to design a two story along with all the other elements in the design with the constraints we had on our lot. Even though we have just under 7 acres, we have a creek on one side of the building pad, and slope on the other. So we could not stretch out our house the way I would have liked to. But, if there was any possible way, I would have done a two story for sure (or at least 15-16 foot ceilings). Very high ceilings completely change the feel of the room and gives you the opportunity to have HUGE windows (which I love....I’m all about the windows!). And with a two story you can really have some ceiling drama with beams etc. We have not moved in yet, but already the ceiling feels low and makes the room seem much smaller. And even though we have two full walls of floor to ceiling windows, it still feels closed in to me. It’s a completely different feel (not one that I like). I do think though that a 15 - 16 foot ceiling can give you a similar feel and is also enough room for ceiling drama. I would have gone for that as well (if possible).

With rugs, furniture and fabrics, you should be able to control the echo. I never noticed a problem with that. We’re in a rental now and the great room and breakfast area are two story...there is zero echo. I think a good design of the space makes a difference (which is where a talented architect comes in).

10' ceilings are high enough to feel spacious but not so high that the room loses its cozy feel.

The best trend is to design a house that is not trendy. Think of the trendy houses from the 80's with all the angles and half walls. Now no one wants those houses. That's what happens to trends.

The houses that take longer to sell in my area of FL are the ones with 20'+ great room ceilings now. Oh and anything Tuscan. That was a trend too.

I do think it’s a matter of personal preference. To me 10 feet feels low and the two story greatroom we have now feels completely cozy. I think decor plays a huge role in whether or not a room feels cozy. But I guess one persons cozy is another persons cavern.

"...Just out of curiosity... will the noise be any less with 5 kids and lower ceilings? It seems like noise is going to be consistent in any space that's open..."

Well...from a measured acoustical point of view, there may well be differences in perceived sound based on ceiling heights.

Practically...with 5 kids (which I assume may be young)...there's likely to be little noticeable sound difference. The best solution may not be ceiling height, but designated play space and its location...! :-)

You need a really big room to go double height. Builder spec houses feature double height spaces that feel like elevator shafts. Remember the double-height foyers -- and catwalks? DATED wasters of heat and sound-transference chambers.

Over the years and houses we built, I sort of stuck to a size/length based ceiling height that always worked for us. I find 9' works great for a room 30' long, 10' for a room 40' long and 11' for rooms up to 50' long and 12' or higher ceilings for rooms longer than 50', I find the same worked for my basements too.

Being an engineer and although not a building architect, I tend to involve a lot of math in my designs for anything. A person standing at one end of the room 30' or longer, observing the ceiling/wall edge at the opposite end should ideally gaze between 6.5-7.5 degrees +- .1-.2 above the horizon; nothing to stop them and gaze straight up at murals on the ceilings if there. To confuse things even more, below are a few examples of my theory; no you don't have to follow this.

Room 30' long 9 ' ceiling with person's eyes at 5': Tan inverse ((9-5)/30) = 7.6

Room 40' long 10' ceiling with person's eyes at 5': Tan inverse ((10-5)/40) = 7.1

Room 50' long 11' ceiling with person's eyes at 5': Tan inverse ((11-5)/50) = 6.8

Room 60' long 12' ceiling with person's eyes at 5': Tan inverse ((12-5)/60) = 6.7

Gets crazy at 22' ceilings where the angle is 15.8 degrees for a room 60' long

Google Golden Mean and do the math. Worked for a bunch of centuries.

Glad to hear the majority like 10' ceilings!