In order to give low ceilings some height, we advise painting them in light shades. Radiant white, soft cream or delicate pastel hues are best suited for low ceilings, as they open up the room visually, reflect the light better, and make the ceiling appear further away.
Ceiling Color
The lightest and whitest colors work best at making a low ceiling appear taller. A bright white or a slightly gray white color are the optimal ceiling colors. Avoid using a color in a different hue on the ceiling if possible, as it will appear darker on the ceiling and not reflect as much light.
Painting the walls and ceiling the same color could make your room look bigger — or it could visually shrink it. The idea is that a seamless transition from wall to ceiling draws the eye upward when there isn't a harsh line where the two meet.
Use white – and more white. Naturally, white will do the trick very successfully – and there's something serene and beautiful about white walls and ceiling. One continuous shade will blur boundaries and create the illusion of height.
Uplighters are a very effective way of lighting a room with low ceilings and will provide plenty of good quality ambient lighting. Uplighters include a wide range of wall lights and floor lamps. Meanwhile, floor lamps and table lamps are great for practical task lighting, while also adding ambience.
What Is Considered Low Ceiling Height? For residential rooms such as bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, hallways, or offices, anything less than eight feet is low. A seven-foot-high ceiling makes the space feel cramped and crowded.
Paint your ceiling lighter than the walls to give the illusion of more height. To brighten your ceiling's appearance, you could use our Light & Space paint. It has revolutionary light-reflecting technology which opens up smaller spaces that are low on light.
White is a popular ceiling paint color, and it's not just out of an adherence to tradition. Homeowners and designers favor white as a ceiling color because: White Reflects Light: The ceiling reflects light as much, or more than the other four walls.
If you want to paint a ceiling, it doesn't have to be the same exact shade as the walls. The color can be somewhat lighter and will still give the room a consistent look.
Color can create a sophisticated charm, but typically, your best choice for a ceiling color is white. It's the most neutral color that will pair well with any wall color you choose. Choosing white ceilings is especially important for the rooms you use most often, such as the kitchen and living room.
Your ceiling can be painted black to create a dramatic and unique space, helping architectural elements to pop, while adding elegance and charm to any room. Black has a reputation for making rooms feel gloomy and small.
Lots of people think 8 feet is the minimum ceiling height because that's a common height in most homes, but it's actually 7 feet according to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z765). Technically ANSI says it's okay to have a ceiling height at 6'4″ under beams though.
Generally speaking, a low ceiling requires a thin, simple crown molding, while a high ceiling requires a broad and fully entablature crown to make a visual impact in the room.
So, what colors make a room look bigger? For an optimum effect, go with soft tones like off-white, blues, and greens, and always remember that brighter rooms feel bigger and more inviting. And here's another hack: Try painting your wall trim and moldings in a lighter color than your walls.
Low ceilings in your home isn't necessarily a bad thing. Before modern times, 8 feet was typically regarded as the standard height for ceilings. Today, however, not uncommonly, most ceilings are 9 or even 10 feet in height.
The standard ceiling height is around 10 ft for different types of buildings and the average ceiling height for a residential building should be at least 9 ft. 6 inches for any habitable room.
The size of the room should influence your fixture choice. To determine the diameter of your perfect ceiling light, measure the room's width in feet, double it and stick an “inches” at the end of that number. For example, if the width of your room is 10 feet, the diameter of your fixture should be 20 inches.
Homes built before the advent of efficient heating systems and proper insulation often used fireplaces both as a source of heat and a place to cook. Lower ceilings and smaller rooms were much easier to heat with fireplaces, therefore many period farmhouses were built with a seven-foot or so ceiling height.
Recessed lights have a low profile, making them the ideal choice for low ceilings, such as basements or attics, where a protruding light fixture might be unsuitable low. Recessed lights are also ideal for areas where waterproof fixtures are needed.