Image #1 via: Forbes -The Mark Penthouse; Image #2 via: 30a Wedding Co. -Wedding Venue
When you have very high ceilings, you want to call attention to them...
You want to appreciate all that glorious space that is encapsulated within. You want to celebrate and accentuate their height, and all that added cubic space that makes your room feel grand, luxurious, and lofty.
But what do you do with all that space? Above the doors? Above the furniture? Above eye level?
How do you draw your eye upwards so everyone can appreciate those high ceilings?
Designer: Thomas O'Brien, Aero Studios
This is a big decision.
Because if you don’t involve that space with what’s happening below, at human level, the room will feel divided. All that glorious volume will be floating above, unnoticed and unloved. It will feel vacant and unused. Wasted.
And “wasted” is just a bad word.
One way to blend the upper area with the lower one, is to decorate a wall all the way up with art or decorative objects.
Take advantage of your large blank canvas and put some color, definition and contrast up there! It will create balance in the space, and draw your eye upwards, so you can finally appreciate those grand, high ceilings.
Make Your Space Soar w/Long, Simple Drapery
Image source: House Beautiful, Jamie Drake
Usually, if you have a room with high ceilings, or a two story space, you also have high windows.
Oftentimes, because those windows are so high up, people don’t feel the need to treat them with window coverings. They probably figure they don’t need the privacy up there, or don't want to face the expense of treating all those windows.
Believe me, nothing chops a tall room in half more dramatically than a drapery rod, with draperies hanging down, that's running across the top of a room's lower windows.
Long, simple drapery panels can bring so much height and drama to a two story room. It just causes that space to soar!
Yes, it will require more fabric, but if you go with a very inexpensive solid color linen, you can get a big bang for your buck and begin celebrating all the volume of that space!
Create Balance w/a Statement Light Fixture, Wood Beams, Wood-Clad Ceiling, etc.
Lighting or architectural features are a great way to put some interest up in that tall, two story space.
A statement light fixture, some wood beams, a wood clad ceiling - any or all of these would work to create balance in a room with a high ceiling.
You see, you should fill that void with the same kind of visual interest that the lower part of the room has. The most successful rooms with high ceilings involve all of the space with contrast, pattern, texture, color. (Yes, the elements of design! :-)
So, in conclusion:
You know you should not let your space with high ceilings go blank. Instead, you can:
Hang art all the way up the wall.
Hang long, dramatic drapery panels on the high windows.
Use a statement light fixture or architectural elements.
All of the above will enhance your tall space, create balance, and involve that grand height with the more human scale below.
BTW: If you liked this group of articles, you'll probably enjoy this one: 5 Tips for Choosing Flooring for an Open Plan House