How to make the ceiling higher. Techniques for visually increasing the height of ceilings

  • 29.08.2019

Ceilings are not the most important thing that people first of all pay attention to when entering a house, but ceilings have big influence in maintaining a sense of freedom and space. Everyone knows that a room with low ceilings can give the impression that you are living in a small birdcage.

If we talk about the psychological consequences, then low ceilings often provide a low state of mind. Ceilings have always been a challenge for interior designers.

If you have ever faced the problem of low ceilings, then we have several useful advice how to make ceilings higher

Try bottom up

This is one of best solutions if you want the ceiling to appear higher. Don't be afraid to use the walls! will create a warm, cozy atmosphere, so you can enjoy the comfort to the fullest.

Be careful when choosing furniture

Usually, for our home, we tend to make decisions based on appearance, regardless of functionality.

Low profile furniture is ideal for rooms with low ceilings because it increases the space between the ceiling and the floor, making the room feel more spacious.

Use glass walls or floor-to-ceiling windows

Like mirrors, glass has the ability to reflect things around. That's why a glass wall or large window will visually enlarge the space and add natural daylight. Brighter is always better, especially in terms of interior design.

Decorate the walls with vertical stripes

Maybe some people especially like to decorate their walls with stripes, but sometimes it can be necessary. You can choose between using wallpaper, or if you're brave (and talented) you can just paint the striped walls yourself (you can read about how to create the effect of ribbons on the walls).

Surely, you have not even thought about it, thinking about how to make the ceilings higher.

At all, interior doors are almost the same size. Floor-to-ceiling doors can seem odd at first glance. However, we must admit that it is a brilliant idea to create the illusion of a high space.

Use glossy paint

Glossy paint is rarely used on walls and ceilings, but rather to decorate various pieces of furniture, especially tables. The main disadvantage of glossy paint is that it must be applied on a perfectly shaped surface, otherwise all imperfections will stand out.

Hang pictures a little higher to the ceiling

The vertical arrangement of photographs or paintings gives a good result. The walls will appear taller, so the distance between the ceiling and the floor will also appear higher.

Paint the ceiling lighter than the walls

Lighter creates an impressive effect and the illusion of a larger and brighter space. Dark floors will also do the trick!

Hang curtains as close to the ceiling as possible

Long curtains always emphasize the length. Even if the windows are small, floor-to-ceiling curtains will make them look their best.

Graphic diagonals on the walls

Another good way to create the illusion of a high ceiling is to draw diagonals on one of the walls. This will open up the space and change the perspective.

For best results, start at the center of the wall and end at the top left corner of the room (or top right, depending on which wall you decide to use).

Avoid using pendant lights

Pendant lights are designed specifically for high ceilings, mainly because they bring the ceiling closer to the floor.

If you have low ceilings, it is better to use flush lighting, although these fixtures may not have such an attractive design.

Avoid clutter

Visual clutter will lower ceilings. Remove any unnecessary items or pieces of furniture. A simple interior design will create an expansive view, so be prepared to use all the storage space you have!

Use a bright color on the floor

If your ceiling cannot impress, try to attract attention with a bright carpet on the floor. It's not really necessary to use a mat at all, just try to keep the interest at floor level.

It does not matter at all what you decide to place on the shelves, books, interior items, paintings. It is important that when using shelves, the wall looks higher, and thus, the ceiling seems to rise.

Tall accessories are more than welcome

Candles, flowers, accessories, and any other tall items in your home will come in handy. Be mindful of contrasts and use your best to create them.

For example, you can decorate a table with a small round vase with tall thin branches.

I hope that at least one of the options on how to make ceilings higher will come in handy for you, and you will share these recommendations with your friends by clicking on the social buttons. networks.

A very interesting topic is about how to visually increase the height of the ceiling and try to understand how and why you can visually raise the low ceiling in the room. When making repairs in old apartments, it turns out that it is necessary to pour the screed on the floors in order to level the floor surface. And as a result, it turns out that the height of the walls becomes lower. But, nevertheless, you still want the room to seem tall and beautiful. This issue needs to be addressed as a whole. An effective way to solve this problem would be the correct selection finishing materials, elements and accessories of interior solutions.

Introduction

The height of the walls in the room is directly related to the perception of space. If the room itself is small, but it has high ceilings, then it will look much more spacious compared to the same room, but with low ceilings. Of course, the ceiling as an interior wall "cannot be moved", but you can try to apply some methods and decorative techniques to visually "raise" it.

Illusions of perception

Usage optical illusions indoors will help to visually change the assessment of reality, because they are based on the patterns of perception of color, light and geometry of the picture from a psychological point of view.

Using the laws of illusion, you can try to visually enlarge the ceiling.

light illusions

A visual change in space can be achieved through optical illusions, achieving a significant effect by the correct use of lighting. The room will look taller if the ceiling is well lit, while it is preferable to take lamps that emit a cold light, reminiscent of daylight. Mirror panels installed on the ceiling will help enhance the effect.

color illusions

Thanks to color and, especially, the combination of colors, as well as using different saturation, it is possible to achieve a visual change in space, not only in length and width, but also in height. Usually, designers for interiors that require visually make the ceiling higher prefer White color and its shades, pastel or cold tones, the main thing is that the colors are exceptionally light. With a light ceiling, the room will become higher. If you imagine the floor in a bright color, for example, in red, it will certainly attract attention, distracting from the ceiling surface, and further increase the optical illusion of increasing the height of the space.

geometric illusions

Properly selected geometry of decorative elements helps to create the necessary optical illusions in the interior. By the way, if the horizontal lines expand the space at the same time, lowering it, then the vertical lines will provide a narrowing, but visually make the ceiling higher. In an interior with low walls, vertically arranged paintings, stripes in the form of drapery on the walls, and long floor lamps will create an optical illusion.

Illusion of space

A simple way to visually expand the boundaries of space is to use surfaces that can reflect something. For example, a stretch ceiling with a glossy finish. Stretch ceilings, for some time now, are no longer a novelty in interiors. As in a mirror, the walls will be reflected in it, creating the illusion of spaciousness and adding visual height. A smooth and lacquered ceiling surface will change the perception of reality, visually lift a low ceiling and give it depth and volume. You can consider other coatings that contribute to a similar effect: plastic, glass, mirrors, the main thing is that it be a glossy surface.


Ways to visually increase the height of the room

If the height of your ceilings is not the most comfortable for living, then you should think about their visual increase.

Visually "raise the ceiling" in the room will help simple and effective ways.

Method one and the easiest way to visually increase the height of the ceilings is to use wallpaper with vertical stripes. Everyone knows that a strip helps to visually lengthen something. Therefore, indoors, you can also try to apply this effect and visually raise the ceiling. To do this, you need to pick up wallpaper with a strip on the walls. Wallpaper must be taken in bright colors, cold shades are well suited, you can use white. If you do not like obvious stripes, then, as an option, take a wallpaper with a texture that has vertical strokes, they perform a similar effect as a stripe. You can combine striped and plain, moreover, make one wall accent striped. A neutral pattern is well suited, for example in silver tones, the main thing is that it must strive upwards.

Wallpapering specialists know how and how to visually enlarge the ceiling in the room. It turns out that for this method to really work, you also need to know some secret pasting methods. Wallpaper should be glued to the very top of the wall, even, if possible, try to do without a ceiling plinth, or try to make it barely noticeable, that is, narrow and merge in color with the wallpaper. It would be ideal if you stick white wallpaper on the ceiling surface. All this helps to "raise" the ceiling. Decorating the walls decorative plaster, you should also apply a pattern in the form of vertical stripes.

Second way how to increase the height of the ceiling visually - this is the correct design of the window with curtains. An increase in the height of the ceiling surface can be visually produced using properly selected textile products, in particular, this will apply to window tulle and curtains. It uses its own secret method. This is a special white narrow cornice fixed directly to the ceiling surface. Thus, it seems that the curtains fall from the very ceiling, which creates the effect of stretching the room.

Do not forget about using only light shades. Therefore, it will be right to choose curtains of light colors for wallpaper. Again, the strip will be relevant. If you have pasted neutral wallpapers on the walls, then it is better to take tulle in the form of a white transparent fabric containing a light stripe. In fact, it will be barely noticeable, but practically able to create the desired effect, that is, visually increase the height of the ceiling. It will look even better and more beautiful if the tulle has a more contrasting stripe, darker, taking into account, of course, that all this will fit your interior. To avoid busting, it is better to combine a tulle containing a strip with a plain curtain. Or vice versa, if the tulle is a solid color, then the curtain can have an unobtrusive stripe, which in itself is ideal option combination. But even if you combine a strip with a pattern, the very presence of the strip contributes to the visual stretching of the room.

Third way how to increase the height of the ceiling - place low furniture. The use of large and voluminous furniture creates the appearance of a cluttered space and tightness. Therefore, in order to visually raise the ceilings, furniture must be chosen squat, thus freeing up the upper space of the room. It is very effective to abandon furniture in the form of walls and massive structures, and give preference to chests of drawers, cabinets, shelves.

Some ideas on how to visually make the ceiling higher

If you correctly and competently apply some design ideas in terms of decor elements in the interior of the room, you can expand the possibilities visual magnification wall heights. For instance:


These ideas can be used individually or in combination.

Conclusion

Knowing how to visually make the ceiling higher, create the effect of a high ceiling, you can stop experiencing discomfort and enjoy a harmonious and spacious interior.

The main essence of the article

1. The height of the walls in the room can be influenced using the methods of visual perception of space, thus it is possible to increase the visual height of the ceiling surface.

2. K effective methods Some types of optical illusions can be attributed:

  • light - to provide good lighting of ceilings with cold light lamps;
  • color - use only light color scheme, can be used as a distraction bright color for the floor;
  • geometric - arrange everything in a vertical line, use long interior accessories;
  • the illusion of space - to provide reflective coatings.

3. You can visually increase the height of the room in some ways:

  • Wallpaper with a vertical stripe "pulls out" the walls. Another pattern is also possible, the main thing is that it “aspires” upwards. You need to have the wallpaper up to the very top without a plinth or with a very narrow one, merging in color.
  • Window decoration with curtains - a cornice is fixed on the ceiling, a combination of striped and plain textures of light colors.
  • Use of low furniture - squat furniture will free up the upper space.

4. You can raise the ceiling in combination with other ideas, such as wall decoration vertical details, the use of columns, the use of identical coatings, the location of the cornice in a transitional way to the upper plane of the room, increasing the height of openings and doors.

Dear reader, you have probably heard more than once about the crucial role of high ceilings in creating a favorable atmosphere in an apartment. Well, despite the fact that in the vast majority of cases it is preferable to have a high vault, there are exceptions to this rule. Sometimes craftsmen have to not only not increase, but also artificially reduce the height of the ceiling, so as not to turn the room into a narrow well. In this article we will talk about how to reduce the height of the ceiling and what tricks you can use.

Suspended ceiling

If you need a low ceiling, the easiest way is to make it so without any visual effects. To do this, you do not need to invent anything. The same drywall can be screwed, if desired, even a meter from the floor. But, despite its simplicity, such an idea has its own underwater reefs. And the main one is the contrast of heights. If the difference in ceiling height between your room and the rest is conspicuous, it can create unpleasant feeling that you go, for example, not into a bedroom, but into some kind of hole. To avoid such a nuisance, you can use several tricks at once.

A room with a low ceiling simply must be bright. With a sufficient abundance of light colors, no one will even notice the difference in heights.

  • Lack of landmarks

One of the most important guidelines for ceiling height is the distance between the window lintel and the ceiling. If this place is hidden, then it will be much more difficult to catch the difference in heights.

  • Focusing on other objects

If there is any eye-catching piece of furniture in the room, no one will remember the ceilings. After all, if the geometry is chosen correctly, then the main thing is to survive the first moments of being in the room, when the binding to higher vaults is still alive in the memory.

Colors

Heavy tones and matte textures can steal the height well. And if such a technique is difficult to imagine as the main one, then as an auxiliary one - easily. It is important not to overdo it and not turn the room into a grotto.

Decor elements

Also, elements of the ceiling decor will help to lower the ceilings. The same massive false beam will visually bring the arch closer by 20–30 centimeters.

Understated baguette

Pretty effective trick. All wall decoration reaches the desired height and is cut off with a wall baguette. Further, the planes are arranged in the same style as the ceiling. It seems that the space outlined by the plinth strip is the real height of the ceiling. And everything above is a dome.

If you do not want to lower the vault completely, then you can at least let down its perimeter, and multi-level plasterboard or stretch ceiling. And even if you yourself lack the experience and imagination to develop such a design for yourself, you can always borrow a suitable idea on the Internet, since they are here like mushrooms after rain.

The average ceiling height in a typical residential building is 2.7 m. However, it can be 2.5 m or even less. It all depends on the type of floor and ceiling covering that you used to decorate the room. For example, a parquet floor combined with false ceiling"steals" up to 20 cm of wall height. Low ceilings produce a particularly depressing effect in combination with dimming, improper lighting or a large volume of the room. Oddly enough, a small room with a low ceiling will seem cozy and comfortable, while a spacious room with low ceilings will seem cramped and uncomfortable.

Visually increase the height of the ceilings will help some design techniques.

1. White color. Make the ceiling white, perhaps the most effective solution: even a very low ceiling will appear higher due to the radiance of white.

2. "Cold" tones. Paint the ceiling green, blue or purple or use any other types of ceiling coverings in these colors.

3. Painting the ceiling with a shade of the same color like the walls, but a few shades lighter. Thanks to this combination of colors, the room will seem like a single whole.

4. Gypsum plasterboard with grooves. Use drywall to finish the ceiling, make several recesses in it and paint them in more dark color than the rest of the ceiling.

5. Masking cornices. Ideally, for decorating a room with low ceilings, it is better not to use cornices at all at the junction of the ceiling and walls. However, if for some reason you cannot do this, choose the thinnest cornices and paint them to match the color of the walls.

6. Mirrors and gloss. The use of mirrors is one of the most effective ways visually enlarge the space. but mirror ceiling will make the room not too cozy. Therefore, it is necessary to finish the ceiling with a shiny material with less reflective properties than a mirror. good decision there will be a stretch ceiling made of glossy film.

7. The use of shiny floor coverings . If it is not possible to visually move the ceiling away from the floor, do the opposite: move the floor away. For example, lay it out with glossy tiles or light-colored lacquered wood. Such surfaces reflect light and thereby visually increase the volume of the room.

8. Nothing horizontal in the design of the walls. Any horizontal bar visually cuts the room into pieces and "shortens" it. Therefore, on the walls of a room with a low ceiling, there should be no borders or wallpaper with horizontal stripes.

9. Maximum vertical lines in the interior. Vertical lines visually increase the height of the room. Hang a tall mirror on the wall. By doing this, you, firstly, increase the height of the room, and secondly, make it more spacious. Buy a narrow but tall bookcase. Decorate the room with flowers with long stems, tall and thin vases, put long vertical branches in them. All elements of the interior should, as it were, stretch upwards.

10. Small vertical wallpaper pattern. The size of the picture on the wallpaper also matters: the smaller it is, the greater the distance to the ceiling seems. Large drawing, on the contrary, visually cuts the space, making the room lower.

11. Monochromatic walls. This may be the most correct solution in the design of a room with low ceilings. Of course, the walls, painted in one color, look rather monotonous, monotonous. But diversity in the design can be made in some other way.

12. Take your attention away from the ceiling. For example, you can focus on the floor by using a material for its decoration that contrasts in texture and color with the ceiling.

13. Small chandeliers "tightly adjacent to the ceiling. Massive, low-hanging chandeliers are not suitable for low spaces, as they exacerbate the feeling of a “pressing” ceiling. Give preference to small compact chandeliers.

14. Direction of lighting to the ceiling. Use to illuminate the room sconces, floor lamps, desk lamp and other devices, the light from which will be directed to the ceiling. This will make the room appear taller. With a sufficient number of lighting fixtures and their successful placement, it will be possible to completely abandon the chandelier.

15. Compensation. To visually increase the height of a spacious room with a low ceiling, slightly lower the ceiling in small rooms. Then the height difference when moving from one room to another will not be felt so clearly.

Those lucky ones who live in spacious apartments with high ceilings can not read this article. It's for the owners standard apartments with low ceilings who want to add headroom to themselves, if only with the help of visual effects.

Low ceiling, of course, a problem, but with proper design and the use of some optical illusions, you can not only get around this minus, but also beat it. In this article, I tried to collect as much as possible more ways, which allow you to visually increase the height of low ceilings in the apartment. So, let's begin:

The easiest and most affordable solution is to use wallpaper with a vertical pattern. The main thing here is to remember about the measure. Wide and bright stripes throughout the room will not help, they will rather give the room some "squatness". It is better to use a low-key and soft pattern. And if you want bright stripes, then you need to include them in the design with accents, in appropriate places (for example, to highlight some zone).

To visually increase the height of the low ceiling, you need to stick wallpaper or paint the walls close to the ceiling. Wide borders in the color of the ceiling “steal” the height from the room, so it is better to either not use them, or paint them in the color of the walls, or use very thin borders.

Also, to visually increase the height of the ceiling, you can add height to the walls - let them "go" to the ceiling. To do this, you need to paint the low ceiling near the wall in the color of the walls, or glue the wallpaper, starting from the ceiling. The size of the strip on the ceiling that you "give" to the wall depends on the size of the room. The larger it is, the more you can use the ceiling. But in any case, you should not “steal” from the ceiling more than 30 centimeters. IN small spaces 5 centimeters is enough. But in small rooms (up to 12 sq.m.), this technique should not be used.

Choose the color of the ceiling from light tones and cold shades - they visually distance the low ceiling.

The following recommendation also applies to "games with color". You can paint the low ceiling the same color as the walls, but a few shades lighter.

Stylists have a rule: "we do not hide flaws, we emphasize dignity." The same rule applies to apartment design. To divert attention from a low ceiling, you can draw it to something else, such as the floor. Cover the floor with a glossy or shiny varnish. This will give it depth, which means it will add volume throughout the room. You can use glossy tiles, or other materials that have reflective properties.

The mirror is the best tool to enlarge the space. If you are not afraid of a bold design, use a mirror ceiling in the room, or mirror inserts in the ceiling. Alternatively, you can use a mirror strip instead of a border. A mirror close to the ceiling will create a very interesting visual effect and add volume to the room. At the same time, a mirror at such a height will not bother you annoyingly with your own reflections.

If the design style of the room allows, the low ceiling can be visually raised with the help of beams on the ceiling. In this case, the beams must be painted white, and the ceiling itself in smoky darkened tones. Then it will visually "float" up.

To visually increase the height of a low ceiling, you need to pick up low furniture in the room. The lower cabinets, bedside tables, sofas and other furnishings, the ceiling seems visually higher.

Use vertical elements in the setting. For example, a tall flower, a narrow rack, a vertical picture or other accessories.

Light tulle and light curtains will add height to the room, which fall to the very floor and a little fabric lies on the floor.

A door can also help visually increase the height of the ceiling. If you make the doors high almost to the ceiling, low ceilings will be invisible. Unusually long vertical door handles will also help to “knock down” the scale.

In a room with low ceilings, two-level and stretch ceilings can come to the rescue. Even though they technically “eat” a certain number of centimeters, the visual effect of the increase in height from them can outweigh the minus from the “eaten” centimeters. To visually raise the ceiling near the walls around the perimeter, the ceiling is made slightly lower, while the shape of the lowered ceiling can be any. And the surface of the main ceiling should have a glossy texture with reflective properties.

original way visually "raise" the low ceiling will be the use of decorative painting of walls and ceilings in the interior using a technique called "trick". This technique allows you to turn the surface into a landscape that goes into perspective, into exotic flowers, or something else that allows you to visually change the scale of the room.

Wall murals with a perspective pattern also visually lift a low ceiling.

Games with light

Another good helper in creating optical illusions is light. It is also indispensable for increasing the height of the room. All of the following methods of visually increasing the height of a low ceiling are related to the lighting design of the interior.

Provide as much light as possible. The brighter the lighting, the higher the low ceiling appears.

Use fixtures that direct light up, not down.

Include more local light sources in the design of the room. Light accents create a cozy atmosphere and distract attention from the low ceiling. In addition, the bright light around you visually expands the rest of the unlit or less lit part of the space.

Raise the walls and, as a result, a low ceiling can be illuminated at floor level.

A good solution when designing a room with low ceilings may be to abandon the chandelier in the center of the room. It is better to distribute lighting along the walls of the room.

If you still can’t refuse the chandelier, then let it be flat, for example, in the shape of a plate, or in the Japanese style.

You can also increase the height of the ceilings by lighting the false ceiling.

What not to do in rooms with low ceilings

Divide the wall with borders and wallpaper. Any horizontal lines are contraindicated in a room with low ceilings.

Use wallpaper with a large bright pattern around the entire perimeter of the room.

Hang massive chandeliers.

Remember what less room, the less noticeable the low ceiling. With what more room, the more noticeable the low ceiling, since the ratio of the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room to its height can visually underestimate the ceiling.

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