Embrace Your Low Ceiling With One of These Clever Design Tricks
Don’t let a low ceiling cramp your interior style. Use these ideas to help fool the eye and make more of your space
When you’re decorating, renovating or even building a room with a low ceiling, you may worry that it will feel a little squashed or wonder where you’ll put the lighting. Don’t fret: These design ideas will help you make even the most vertically challenged room gorgeous.
Go for low furniture. You can create a feeling of space in a squat room by choosing low-slung furniture. By increasing the area between the furniture and the ceiling, you’ll add a sense of height. This low, L-shaped sofa is ideal in this living room, providing a sumptuous space to sit while freeing up the area above it. By matching the upholstery color to the walls, the designers made the sofa appear to melt into the corner, creating the illusion of even more space.
Take doors up to the ceiling. Make the most of all available vertical space by installing ceiling-height doors. These glass ones go right to the top of the room, elongating the walls and borrowing lots of natural light from the adjoining rooms. The hallway door is shorter, but a glass panel above continues the airy vibe. Rather than appearing squashed, the room feels light, bright and spacious.
Design Workshop: How to Borrow Light
Design Workshop: How to Borrow Light
Lengthen the drapes. Long curtains also work wonders in a low-ceilinged room. Instead of installing a rod at the top of the window frame, position it flush with the ceiling. When the curtains hang from the top of the wall to the bottom, their long lines make the ceiling appear higher.
Add lots of glass. If you’re building a low-roofed addition, consider incorporating plenty of glass. Large glass doors create a spacious feeling and draw the eye away from the ceiling.
Choose flush-mount light fixtures. The obvious lighting choice for a room with a low ceiling is a few spotlights, but it’s not the only option. Consider alternatives like flush-mount ceiling lights or models with short attachments. You also could try track lighting, which works well in contemporary spaces.
Find flush-mount ceiling fixtures
Find flush-mount ceiling fixtures
Increase the wall lights. Minimize the need for large ceiling lights that draw attention to your low ceiling by installing a few wall lights. These simple ones were installed by an electrician and give a pleasing symmetry to the room. If you don’t want to call in a pro, look for plug-in wall lights. Hunt around for those with attractive cords that become a design feature when they’re plugged into an outlet.
10 Ways With Wall Lights That Don’t Need to Be Wired In
10 Ways With Wall Lights That Don’t Need to Be Wired In
Hang pendants over furniture. If you do want to add pendant lights to a room with a low ceiling, let them hang over a kitchen table or island or over a bedside table where they can illuminate an important area and create a statement feature without the possibility of anyone walking into them.
How to Get the Pendant Lights Right
How to Get the Pendant Lights Right
Emphasize another element. To draw the eye away from a low ceiling, highlight another area of the room. In this attic space, the patterned wallpaper creates a feature at the rear of the room, letting the sloping white ceiling recede into the background.
Make a feature of it. Whereas painting your low ceiling a light color will help disguise its height, you could decide to bring it to the foreground instead. Think of your low ceiling as a design feature and paint it a bold color, cover it with wallpaper or adorn it with stunning tin tiles, as shown here. The ceiling’s shimmering metallic finish defines the dining area, and turns this otherwise simple white room into a cozier and more enjoyable place for a meal.
Browse metal ceiling tiles
Browse metal ceiling tiles
Don’t be afraid of color. It’s tempting to go for a bright white paint to create a feeling of space in your squat room. However, it’s often a good idea to opt for a dark shade on the walls and the ceiling to make the most of your room’s proportions. The deep blue here highlights the room’s interesting angles and gives it a snug, intimate feel.
11 Reasons to Paint Your Ceiling Black
Tell us: How have you handled a room’s low ceiling? Please share your ideas and photos in the Comments.
More
How to Create the Feel of More Space at Home
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11 Reasons to Paint Your Ceiling Black
Tell us: How have you handled a room’s low ceiling? Please share your ideas and photos in the Comments.
More
How to Create the Feel of More Space at Home
13 Ways to Create the Illusion of Room Height