How to Decorate a Room with a Tall Ceiling

Many newer homes have rooms that are "open to below" that are essentially two stories high, especially foyers and living rooms. 

If you have a room with a very tall ceiling, you might wonder how to decorate a room with high ceilings to maximize its potential.

Here are some ideas for how to make a room with high ceilings feel cozy and well designed.

Paint
You can use paint to make your tall ceilings feel more intimate and custom.

This is especially true if you live in a new construction community where everyone's homes look nearly identical.

Add some personality to your space to make it one-of-a-kind!

You might want to select a color that is slightly darker than you would normally select if you want the room to feel more intimate and cozy. 

Make sure to select your paint color after you have decided on your color scheme for your room - there are an infinite number of paint colors to choose from but you will be limited in color when selecting furniture, rugs, art, and decor.

Keep in mind that two story rooms often have walls that connect to other rooms or an upstairs hallway, so the paint color needs to be appropriate for all spaces. 

You can even paint the ceiling.

Here are some tips & tricks for selecting paint colors in the article How to Pick Paint Colors Like a Pro.

Architectural Interest
You can add architectural interest to your tall ceiling by adding crown molding, decorative beams, coffering, a tray, or wood paneling (either stained or painted) to draw your eye up to the ceiling. 

If you have a fireplace in the room, consider running the millwork or stone above the fireplace all the way to the ceiling to make your fireplace feel more grand and the ceiling feel a bit closer to the floor. 

You can even add wall paneling to emphasize the wall height of the room and to create a focal point in the room.  Some examples of wall paneling include shiplap, beadboard, board & batten, and picture molding.

Tall Furniture
In order to make your tall ceilings appear a little less tall, decorate using upholstered furniture with tall backs. 

Also use extra tall bookcases and armoires to take advantage of the tall ceiling height. 

You can even have a custom bookcase built all the way (or most of the way) to the ceiling.

In a bedroom with tall ceilings, decorate with a bed that has a tall headboard and/or posts.

You can even add drama with a tester bed to add a cozy feel.

In addition to tall furniture, also use tall accessories, including tall plants/trees, tall vases filled with branches, and other items that have a tall vertical element.

Lighting

Make sure to select over sized ceiling lighting to fill the empty void of space above your head, to make the room's high ceiling not feel so high, and to illuminate the ceiling so it doesn't have dark shadows. 

You can select one large chandelier or use multiple pendant lights or chandeliers to fill the space.  Multiple chandeliers or pendant lights have become very popular over the last few years, especially over a rectangular surface like a dining table or kitchen island.

Complement your large ceiling fixture with lamps and/or wall sconces to provide lighting lower in the room at eye level.  This lower level lighting will direct the light closer to where you need it and make your room feel more cozy.

Artwork

An over sized room requires over sized artwork, so decorate your tall room with artwork that is larger than a standard large size to reflect the size of the room. 

Average sized art will look very out-of-scale and look dinky.

Tall oversized rectangular art will mimic the tall space and look proportional.

If you want to create a gallery wall collection of many pieces of art instead of using one oversized piece of art, make sure to include some pieces of your gallery wall very high to take advantage of the wall space and not leave a big empty wall above your art.  Make sure to hang the art pieces close together so they feel like one group instead of mismatched art pieces hung in random places on your wall.

Also consider using a wall mural to get a custom unique look that perfectly complements your architecture.

You can use colorful oversized art or mural to help create a cohesive color scheme for your room.

For more information on creating a color scheme for your room, see the article - How to Decorate Your Home Using Color.

Emphasize the Windows
Make sure to emphasize the windows in a tall room with curtains and moldings to draw your eye outside during the daytime and towards the beautiful soft curtains at night.

Properly hung curtains not only look beautiful, but they also add softness in the room as well as some sound dampening for better acoustics.

For the best look, the total width of your curtains should be at least double the width of your window.  For example, if your window is 50 inches wide, then you need at least 2 - 50 inch wide curtain panels.  If your window is 70 inches wide, you might opt for 2 - 100 inch wide curtain panels.

Hang your curtains wider than the edge of the window so that, when opened, your curtains should mostly cover your wall and barely cover any of your window.  This allows the maximum amount of light to enter your room and to make your windows appear larger. 

Also hang your curtains near the ceiling to emphasize the height of your room.  If your ceilings are really high with windows stacked on top of windows, you might choose to only cover the bottom set of windows.

For more information on hanging curtains, see the article The Correct Way to Hang Curtains and Drapes.

Add Texture
Texture in a room makes it feel more cozy and less sterile, which is especially important in a room with tall ceilings.