Loft Ceilings vs. Dropped Ceilings

Loft Style

• The loft ceiling style refers to an architectural design where the interior ceiling is applied or built directly to the room's interior material. A wide variety of styles are available to those who choose to go this route, from rustic wooden panels to carved stucco designs. Generally, whatever you can imagine can be done with a raised ceiling. The main drawback to this type of interior is it results in the necessity of heating and cooling the entire room, including the space up near the ceiling you don't use.

Suspended

• A suspended ceiling lowers the overhead barrier by installing a network of lightweight insulated tiles by wires from the actual ceiling. The look tends to be more industrial but does come with a noticeable savings in utility costs, operating on the basic principle that it cuts down on the size of the room. Another advantage to a suspended ceiling is it offers easy access to electrical wiring and duct work by simply raising a tile and moving it aside.

Noise

• With loft ceilings, there is nothing to deaden voices and ambient noise, which can cause the room to resemble a miniature canyon, with sounds echoing back and forth between the walls, floor and expanse created by the high ceiling. Dropped ceilings, on the other hand, offer better acoustic properties from tiles designed to better absorb room noise, rather than reflecting it.

Futureproof

• One thing to keep in mind regarding ceiling choice is that a dropped ceiling allows you to “futureproof” your house. Consider that, at some point, you need to add duct work for an HVAC system, additional electrical or plumbing, or computer/telephone lines. With a loft ceiling you're left with few options if you want to keep that stuff out of sight. With a dropped ceiling, it's as simple as removing a tile to gain access to all that hidden space.