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Design Dilemma Home Decorating Apartment Living

How to decorate with such high ceilings in a rental?

5 years ago

Hi! I rent an apartment with the highest ceilings! I want to fully style my place but the space poses a bunch of decorating challenges:

1. There is no overhead lighting (many sites suggest to hang a cool chandelier -but that’s not an option here).
2. No windows, only a normal sized sliding glass door.
3. I rent the apartment so I can’t make major infrastructure changes or additions as I could in a house.

I want to make the place feel like home, without all the walls looking oddly empty.

I would LOVE some innovative and creative ways I could fill out my vertical space that extend beyond a simple gallery wall.

If you have any advice please comment!

Thanks!

Featured Answer

decoenthusiaste

5 years ago

I guess your plants don't need a lot of light, but they would have more impact if all gathered in the corner where you have the chair and against the stark end wall of the stairwell. The bench you have for a coffee table could hold a lot of plants at the end of the stair wall. Your end tables will be fine for holding plants, but they are too short and pushed too far back to be useful for anyone sitting on the the sofa. Try putting your shoe rack against that end of the sofa near the door. I wonder if your bright geometric would look good by the door. It would bring a lighted feeling to that darkest corner, and it is a little too wide for the sofa; stick to 75% of the sofa's width for art above it. I believe in decorating where the people are, below the 9-ft. level. If that is done well, the eyes tend to stay fixed on that and not the high ceiling. Some more lighting in the form of floor lamps and uplights under the plants would add life and interest.

Comments (8)

kudzu9
5 years ago
One thing I've seen to successfully deal with ceilings that high is to hang some colorful objects as a giant mobile. I know someone who had 16 foot high ceilings in her condo and hung about 9 or 10 Chinese paper kites at differing heights in a pretty close grouping in the center area. I thought it looked great and distracted from the height and the bareness. I've also seen this done with a number of pieces of colorful cloth material suspended horizontally and at various angles to each other. You can also get large Chinese lanterns and hang a bunch of them, like this type:

They wouldn't have to have lights in them to look good.
PRO
JAN MOYER
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Draw that space, measure it and add all the dimensions and post. We can't see a thing near the window. You need a better furniture plan
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annied75
5 years ago
You need some climbing men for those walls.
J Williams
5 years ago
maybe you need a rug under your couch to delineate space, maybe curtains beside door, it could be you just need to ground the space at a lower level...
Yayagal
5 years ago
Keep all the plants together and put them on pedestals for some contrast. Could you place a wide shelf over the slider door and merchandise beautiful art. Here is a mobile photo, Amazon has tons of them. This is the copper one and also some sculpture would work as well.
decoenthusiaste
5 years ago
https://www.houzz.com/photos/northaven-contemporary-entry-dallas-phvw-vp~3439876

https://www.houzz.com/photos/strait-lane-estate-contemporary-kids-dallas-phvw-vp~8927674

Houzz is acting up and not letting me post photos; here are the links.
PRO
JAN MOYER
5 years ago
Why is the sofa sitting in a "hall" with a view of a blank wall ? What is beyond?

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