Four Ways to Make a Standard Ceiling Feel Taller

The Problem

Standard ceilings run 8 or 9 feet, and the rooms that photograph well mostly don't. Raising one is a structural job that isn't available in most renovations — in an older house it usually isn't available at all.

The Techniques

Every one of these works the same way: it gives the eye an unbroken vertical run to travel, so the room reads as taller than the tape says it is. A designer who renovates older homes uses four.

1. Built-ins that reach the ceiling

Run cabinetry, shelving or a media wall from the floor all the way up, with no gap and no dust shelf on top. A unit that stops a foot short draws a horizontal line across the wall and hands the eye a ceiling height to notice — the whole point is to not give it one.

2. Curtains hung high

Mount the rod just under the crown molding, or just under the ceiling where there's no crown, rather than at the top of the window frame. The fabric then covers the full wall height instead of the window's, and the drop is a single vertical line from ceiling to floor.

3. Large-scale art, floor to ceiling

One oversized piece, a gallery wall, or a stacked column of framed photos — the requirement is vertical extent, not a particular format. A small piece hung at eye level does the opposite: it centers attention halfway up and leaves the wall above it reading as empty.

4. A tree

Real or fake, something tall enough that the foliage reaches the ceiling or just below it. This is the designer's own favourite of the four, and it's the cheapest and most reversible — the organic shape breaks up the wall while still running the full height.