How to Decorate Old Houses With High Ceilings

Add color. Nothing impacts the feel of a home more than color. Repainting walls is a quick and relatively inexpensive home improvement project. Decide on the atmosphere you're going for. If you want an open, airy feel, opt for light-colored wall paint. Light paint reflects light, making rooms feel larger. If you want to warm it up a bit, to create the optical illusion that walls are closer than they actually are, go with a dark color paint. Dark shades absorb light and help give you a cozy ambiance. One advantage of having high ceilings is that they automatically make rooms feel more spacious, giving you more options in what you do with the wall space.

Make the ceilings a decorative feature. Another advantage of high ceilings in term of decor is that you have the option of playing up their height or visually pulling them down. Paint them in a light shade if you want them to recede and feel even higher, or with a dark shade if you want them to feel closer than they actually are. The fact that you're decorating an old home gives you license to add a historic finish to your ceilings. Consider wallpapering them, applying tin tiles or paneling. Not only will these finishes visually pull the ceiling down, but they add a dramatic element to the room.

Light it up. A grand chandelier has no better home than suspended from a high ceiling. Huge lamps light up the dark corners of your rooms and ceiling lights give rooms a glow. Stay away from track and recessed lighting as they are too modern a look for the space.

Introduce large furnishings. Your brain makes note of balance in a room. A large room with high ceilings can look out of balance when filled with small furniture and tiny knickknacks. To give each room a well-designed, finished feel, introduce large pieces of furniture that are in keeping with the grand height of the ceiling. Large sofas, arm chairs, armoires, buffets, beds, dressers and dining tables all give your rooms a sense of balance that is easy on the eyes. Anchor spaces with over-sized area rugs that play homage to the scope of the ceiling and hang drapes from at least 1 foot above the windows to help make rooms feel better proportioned.

Bring in the art. Like furniture, art should consist of large, impressive pieces. Take advantage of having an old home by introducing period pieces like clocks, paintings, tapestries and old family portraits. Judiciously choose what you bring in. Modern art in an old, historic home would be decoratively jarring. Instead, cling to the atmosphere of your older home by filling it with pieces that look like they might have been installed when the home was newly built.