We had 10' in the last build and didn't lower any ceilings. The coming one is 12' and the decision is the same. Though I have my doubts about the powder room, mrs. worthy is adamant.

I would leave it at 10' and not worry about the cubby cabinets going all the way to the ceiling.  Once you get used to the higher ceiling,  I don't think you notice it,  even in a small toilet room.

Mark, I would … but the builder messed up and frames the house at 10ft already! Hence I’m now in a pickle.

Also, for 10ft ceiling, do you recommend 5” or 7” baseboards and crowns? We have 5” currently.

You can go lower but then do you modify the trim? And the door sizes? We have 8 ft doors with 10 ft ceilings and 7 foot with 9 foot ceilings. So it adds to the complexity. Would a 8ft door into a 9ft powder look tight with a 4-5 inch casing and a 7 inch crown? - yes I think. Would a 7 ft door into the powder look small next to an 8 foot door - a little.

We have 12 inch baseboard. Crown is probably like 8 inch (not really sure) - it is multipart so that is why I am not what the measurement is.

So it isn't just the ceiling height. I think it makes more sense to vary heights in a lightly trimmed house - something modern.

I never look up when I am sitting on the toilet and go ... darn, I wish this ceiling wasn't so high. I don't need it that high but I don't need it lower either.

keep the high ceilings, and make it look purposeful in the smaller rooms by hanging a longer, interesting looking chandelier or light fixture to visually fill the space, so it doesn't feel so high and narrow. Or if you decide to lower the ceilings, use drywall, not a "drop ceiling", not sure if that's what you meant, .

With ceilings that high, I would plan for a indoor ladders closet on both floors. Ideally towards the center of the living space. Toting ladders in from the garage and getting them through doorways gets old. Taller the ceilings, the taller the ladder needs to be which makes moving them around all the worse.

I typically lower ceilings to 9’ for bathrooms, mud rooms, pantries and walk-in closets

I lowered mine to 9' so that when walking into the main room, it feels like the space is "expanded". There is no issue with the trim or 8' doors in the hallway/,mudroom, etc. I would also lower the ceiling in the foyer too.

Below you can see the lower ceiling in the foyer.

I would keep the same and then have additional high storage in mudroom.

You can go lower but then do you modify the trim? And the door sizes?

No.

BTW: Lowering the ceilings in foyers, etc was a trick Frank Lloyd Wright used all the time.

We just dropped our 10’ powder room ceiling about 8-10” to accommodate venting for an exhaust fan, and i like the lower ceiling much better. It felt odd before with that cavernous space up above.

We have a ten-foot ceiling in the powder room and it feels like an elevator shaft. I'm a decent self-taught decorator and good at internet research and that room still has me stumped.

Add a picture rail about 12" below the ceiling and/or crown. Paint the rail, the wall above the rail, the crown and the ceiling the same color. A dark color can help to bring the ceiling visually down.

You are going to get split answers with those that love tall ceilings and those that hate tall ceilings!

I have mostly 12 ft ceilings with some areas being 11 ft and 10 ft, due to the architect lowering the mass of the house towards the front and sides. My formal powder room has an 11 ft ceiling and I like the look. Gives more room for a bigger pendant that will clear an 8 ft door.

You aren't going to "avoid dust in open cabinets" by having a lower ceiling ... that is a function of how much dirt you family creates, your hvac system, your cleaning habits, how often you open windows/doors, surrounding activity (dust from nearby construction projects, pollen levels), etc.

I would never go higher than 9' I have 8' in my house now and I love them they do not feel too low and when the time comes to paint again it is so much easier plus the fact my heating and cooling bill is lower than my smaller house with 9' ceilings

The taller the ceilings the longer the spiders live and less mosquitos.

The home office I'm in has a 7' 3" ceiling. I feel like a rat in a shoebox. Let me out!

Thank you all! We walked through the house today and think we have landed on not lowering any ceiling except possibly the powder room. We may end up keeping that one 10ft in the end, since we have two Bola sphere pendants that think will look nice with more height hanging down. However, how do you solve for the mirror? How big of a mirror would you need for a 5’4” x 10’ wall , with a floating vanity up to 36” height? 4ft tall mirror?

My mirror is 50" tall. I might have gone with a higher mirror if I was buying new, but I already had a great mirror from Arteriors that I wanted to use.

In my next house, I won’t have a mirror higher than I can clean without a stepladder or without climbing on the counter.

Personally I have high ceilings in all my house rooms and love them. In my condo someone lowered the bathroom and hallway ceilings which immediately makes those feel like closed in spaces. I would love to re- raise them

CPartist - it looks like you don't have crown which takes away one of the trim issues. And, to be fair, we have no idea of design aesthetic of OP. So trim doesn't always matter for sure.

In my area, what is typically (but not always) done is that trim is fairly heavy with 10 ft ceilings. Which is generally fitting. Then it can be too heavy in a lower ceiling area. Not a big deal really but an additional complexity/decision to make.

I would argue that the average person building a house already gets overwhelmed with decisions so this can increase this.

Certainly FLW didn't mind and you either.

In your pic, you maintain a consistency visually with a high trim line that is not typical. And there are no doors. And I am absolutely sure that doors can be made to work but again is a decision/complexity that isn't there with consistent height ceilings.

Now if an architect is specing the ceiling height change and dealing with trim/doors/windows/chandeliers design choices - that is a different story.

CPartist - it looks like you don't have crown which takes away one of the trim issues. And, to be fair, we have no idea of design aesthetic of OP. So trim doesn't always matter for sure.

True on both counts.

In my area, what is typically (but not always) done is that trim is fairly heavy with 10 ft ceilings. Which is generally fitting. Then it can be too heavy in a lower ceiling area. Not a big deal really but an additional complexity/decision to make.

I have found that whether 9' or 10', the same trim can usually be used. I had heavy trim in my 1898 Farmhouse Victorian which had 9' ceilings.

I would argue that the average person building a house already gets overwhelmed with decisions so this can increase this.

Certainly FLW didn't mind and you either.

That can be true but that's not what the OP asked.

In your pic, you maintain a consistency visually with a high trim line that is not typical. And there are no doors. And I am absolutely sure that doors can be made to work but again is a decision/complexity that isn't there with consistent height ceilings.

Look closely and you can see the red front door in the foyer. :)

This is the mudroom entry door and the door to my pantry and the powder room. All are 8'

Now if an architect is specing the ceiling height change and dealing with trim/doors/windows/chandeliers design choices - that is a different story.

So what you're assuming is that the typical person building a house, can't decide on their own whether to lower a ceiling?

I am saying that it adds more complexity than just ceiling height - at least potentially. If you had crown, your casing would be quite tight. And then it wouldn't be tight in 10 ft areas.

You certainly can have trim size that works in 9 and 10 ft areas but heavy trim in a 10 ft area won't have an issue with 8 foot doors but it will in a 9 ft area with a 8 ft door.

I am saying that the typical person building a house doesn't have the experience to modify trim sizes to account for the lower ceiling in addition to door/window size issue if they exist. And without the experience, it adds more decisions than they are already dealing with. They can decide to lower the ceiling but may not realize all the potential issues that it brings up.

It sounds like I am arguing for simple houses and I am not. But this is a change after design since the house is framed. I am saying people should be cautious in this setting.

The ceiling under the "bridge" hallway is already listed at 9'-1 1/8", so don't know how that affects deciding on 10' throughout now. That hallway leads to the Mudroom, Master vestibule, etc but those ceilings do not have heights listed. All I think have 8' doors and headers over openings.

The Great Room has a 12'-1 1/8" tray ceiling and assume the outer perimeter is 10' to match Kitchen, with Master being similar trayed. Would not make a jump from 9' to 12' for a tray.