One of the questions I get asked more than almost any other is: “Wait… your ceiling is only 8 feet?”
Especially after recently Our living room chandelier went viral.
The number one comment I see is, “Will it work with my 8-foot ceiling?”
The funny thing is… it already does.
Our house was built in the 1960’s, and the ceilings in each of our houses are standard 8 feet high. Yet many people assume they are 9 or even 10 feet because of a handful of decorating tricks we’ve used during our renovations over the years.
So the good news is that you don’t need to raise your ceiling line or knock down walls to make a room feel taller. With a few deliberate design choices, you can completely change how your eye perceives a space.
These are the exact tricks we’ve used throughout our home to make our ceilings seem much higher than they actually are.
1. Paint the whole room
One of my favorite design trends lately Soak up the color: Paint the walls, trim, doors and ceiling in the same color.
Instead of your eye stopping at the line where the wall meets the ceiling, the color continues uninterrupted, creating the illusion of height.
We have used this technique in ours Primary bedroom, dining roomAnd ours Girls bathroomAnd every room instantly felt more expansive and elevated.
It’s cozy, dramatic and somehow makes the room feel more intimate and spacious at the same time.
2. Wallpaper ceiling
This one completely surprised me.
When we wallpapered the ceiling in ours Media roomI expected the room to feel comfortable.
Instead, it felt really high.
Wallpaper has transformed the ceiling into an intentional design feature instead of one your brain automatically ignores. When your eye is naturally drawn upwards, the room suddenly feels more spacious.
Don’t be afraid to think of your roof as the “fifth wall.” Sometimes it’s the perfect place to add personality.
3. Paint the ceiling a soft accent color
A white roof isn’t your only option.
In our little one Girl’s bedroomWe painted the ceiling a soft dusty pink.
Instead of making the room feel shorter, an unexpected color actually draws your eye upwards. It turns the ceiling into a beautiful focal point instead of letting it disappear into the background.
It’s subtle, whimsical and makes the room feel more custom.
4. Add a tongue and groove to the sealing
It was one of the biggest changes we’ve ever made Adding tongue and groove planks Up to the ceiling of our upstairs hallway.
The ceiling immediately seemed higher and more architecturally interesting. (And bonus points… it makes our attic door disappear from view.)
We liked it so much that we finally installed the tongue and groove on ours Living room Even the roof.
Long boards naturally guide your eye across the ceiling, creating a sense of movement that makes the room feel larger overall.
5. Cover the ugly ceiling with beadboard
The ceiling in our laundry room was… let’s just say it wasn’t exactly attractive.
Instead of spending days patching and sanding, we covered it with beadboard.
Not only was it a faster solution, but the linear structure helped create the illusion of greater height.
Sometimes fixing an eyesore becomes one of your favorite design features. (Not to mention, it was faster and less work than patching drywall.)
6. Hang tall and wide curtains
If you’ve been here for a while, you’ve probably heard me say this before.
Always hang your curtain rods close to the ceiling and extend them several inches from each side of the window.
This simple trick makes both your windows and your ceiling appear much larger.
I honestly can’t think of an easier way to make a room feel taller.
And yes… we do this in every room of our house.
Related: The ultimate luxury for less Amazon Curtains
7. Choose large wall art
The small artwork emphasizes how empty the wall is around it.
Large artworks do the exact opposite.
Instead of filling your walls with lots of small frames, choose one or two oversized pieces whenever possible (like this old tapestry I have hanging above my office sofa).
The large scale creates a strong vertical presence and makes the proportions of the room seem grander.
8. Choose lower-profile furniture
This trick has nothing to do with your ceiling.
It’s all about perspective.
Lower sofas, couches and chairs leave more visible wall above them, making your ceiling appear higher in comparison. However, it may be difficult to do if you or other members of your household are taller than 6′.
Robert and I are both about 5’7″, so over the years we’ve naturally gravitated towards lower-profile furniture. It’s one of those subtle design choices that makes a big difference.
9. Hang tall mirrors
When we did our renovation Primary bathroomWe intentionally chose tall vanity mirrors that almost reached the crown molding.
Instead of breaking up the wall, they emphasized the full height of the room.
Mirrors already help reflect light and make the space feel larger. Choosing tall mirrors further enhances that effect.
10. Add vertical lines
Vertical stripes not only make people look taller, they also work on a room.
When we helped our neighbors remodel two girls’ bedrooms, we used vertical striped wallpaper in them. Bunk room And a faux vertical shiplap in the second bedroom.
Both bedrooms immediately felt lofty.
Any design element that naturally encourages your eye to move upwards helps create the illusion of height.
11. Take cabinets and bookcases all the way to the ceiling
One of my biggest decorating pet peeves is cabinets or bookcases that hang a foot below the ceiling.
That awkward void almost always makes the ceiling seem lower. (And that could be more storage!)
When we built our IKEA media room built-in, we extended all flush to the ceiling.
Not only does the room feel taller, but we’ve gained a ton of extra storage.
That’s what I call a win-win.
12. Add crown molding
Many people believe that crown molding makes the ceiling look shorter.
I have actually found the opposite to be true.
Adding crown molding gives the room a polished, finished look while emphasizing the transition between the walls and ceiling. It adds architectural interest that naturally draws your eye upwards.
Whenever we’ve renovated a room that didn’t have crown molding, adding it has always been worth the effort.
13. Hang your shower curtain up to the ceiling
Hanging is one of the easiest ways to make a small bathroom feel taller Extra long shower curtain Much higher than the fountain.
In our girls’ bathroom, we installed a curtain rod just below the crown molding and used an extra long shower curtain that stretched nearly floor to ceiling.
Just like hanging curtains over windows, this trick draws your eye upwards and instantly makes the room feel taller. As a bonus, it makes an inexpensive shower curtain more customizable and luxurious.
It’s a small change that makes a surprisingly big impact in a bathroom with a standard 8-foot ceiling.
Absolutely. Our living room is proof.
The trick is not necessarily to have a high ceiling. It creates the illusion of height with everything around the light fixture.
When you combine many of these ideas, such as tall curtain rods, oversized artwork, tongue and groove ceilings, crown molding, and lower-profile furniture, your eye makes the room look taller than it actually is.
That’s why many people are surprised to learn that our ceilings are only 8 feet.
Final thoughts
If your home has standard 8-foot ceilings, don’t let that stop you from creating spacious and beautifully designed rooms.
Our entire house has 8-foot ceilings, and after more than a decade of renovating one room at a time, I know it’s surprisingly easy to fool your eye.
You certainly don’t need to use every idea on this list.
Incorporating even two or three of these tricks can completely change how your room feels.
Sometimes great design isn’t about changing the architecture of your home. It’s about changing the way people experience things.
More ways to trick the eye in decorating
