I don't think ceiling beams in a room with 8' ceilings are going to help. You'll get better advice if you post a picture of the room in question. Also, 8' ceilings are normal in at least half of the houses in the US. What bothers you about the room?

Painting the ceiling white or lighter than the wall color.

Hang your drapery rods at the ceiling height to draw your eye upward.

keep your furnishings above eye level in lighter colors so the room doesn't feel too weighty.

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We are begining the remodel process and I am trying to decide how to define the space. This area will be the main living and dining . My thoughts are to try to find a way to make it feel more spacious than it actually is.

No, ceiling beams will not give the illusion of taller ceilings. They will make the ceiling look and feel lower, specially when starting with only 8 ft.

Taller windows with headers placed as high as possible, can give the illusion of taller ceilings and open the space up to more light and views.

No. Beams will make the ceiling feel lower.

Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions. :)

To give a feeling of spaciousness and height:

--Paint all walls the same color. To define living and dining areas, set your living room furniture on an area rug with front legs on the rug.

--Determine layout first. Make sure furniture placement allows for unobstructed pathways into the space and within the space.

--You have a doorway in the middle, so that's a natural way to define the living and dining spaces. Is it a front door? If so, then float your sofa to face the far wall with space on either side to walk into the living room area as shown in this photo. Put a sofa table behind sofa, which you can use to put down keys, etc. and use as buffet for dining area. Note how light curtains go from ceiling to floor and blend into wall color, which lends visual continuity to the cozy area.

Tribeca Family Duplex · More Info

--If you're getting new furniture, pay attention to proportion--no puffy bulky sofa or armchairs. Everything should look streamlined without a lot of drapery. Many furniture companies have "apartment size furniture," that can be very comfortable. Furniture that is up on legs, transparent furniture, white ceilings, and accent colors of small objects, uncluttered surfaces visually make a space feel airy yet connected.

--Hang curtains, if you're using them, as close to the ceiling as possible and down to the floor. --

--A rounded dining table with streamlined lines takes up less space than angled table. Get one with leaves for company. Even though all these pieces are dark, they're airy.

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Paint the ceiling and the walls one color thta sometimes gives the illusion of taller ceilings . I happen to love my 8' ceilings I had 9.5 before and honestly I like these just as well. And many times fake beams look exactly fake too.

You could check whether your current ceiling is dropped -- if so, you might be able to add some height just by putting drywall right up against the joists. But otherwise, as has been said, 8 feet is perfectly standard, and once you have furnishings and decor it will feel perfectly nice (maybe even cozy).

One trick is to place the curtain rod close to the ceiling for extra long drapes.

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No, ceiling beams will add character (to the right room), but they will also make a room feel smaller and more cozy. They're the opposite of light and breezy.

As another poster said, 8' is actually the average ceiling height. Don't feel that you "must" increase your height.

Finally, you've already received some good advice about how to paint, how to hang curtains -- none of those are particularly difficult or expensive, so I hope they work out for you.

Thanks to everyone who has helped with ideas and suggestions!!! I am looking forward to getting started and feeling a bit more confident now that I can add them to my list of considerations.

Coffered ceilings can add the illusion of height. You can use paint to increase that effect significantly.

Even a low coffer that is only a few inches deep will add the illusion of height, if the squares are pretty tight. When you paint the ceiling go darker and use a lower sheen than the moldings. This creates the illusion of more depth. When we had an opening widened we had to route some plumbing pipes below the joists and so added a coffered ceiling, everyone believes the ceilings are taller than the rest of the home.

Having said that… I don’t see coffered ceilings working in your space without significant additional work.

We once added 6" crown molding to our 8' walls. The molding and ceiling were the same white but the walls were a color. Everyone thought we had a high ceiling.

At some point we painted the walls the same white as the trim and ceiling. Even more expansive. All monochrome white except for FP.

In a room like this divide it into 2 zones for different uses and define each with an area rug for a furniture arrangement.

Seating on the rugs -dining, fireplace, watching TV.

Entry tables, sideboards, TV table, bookshelves, etc. against the perimeter walls.