Making Low Ceilings Look Higher

Paint the ceiling in a white or lighter color -- at least a couple of shades lighter than the current wall color, drawing your eye upward, giving the illusion of a higher ceiling. Use a satin or semigloss paint finish, creating a reflective surface for light to bounce off.

Remove ceiling fans, chandeliers or pendant lighting that make the ceiling feel even closer to you than it already is. Replace hanging lights with flush-mounted ceiling fixtures.

Replace large, bulky furniture pieces with low-profile, streamlined pieces, creating more space in the room. Avoid busy fabric patterns and ornate furniture to retain a spacious, uncluttered feel.

Install curtains a few inches from the ceiling, cascading all the way to the floor. This will emphasize the vertical length of the curtains, making the walls appear taller and the ceiling higher.

Hang artwork a bit higher than the normal eye-level, forcing your view upward toward a ceiling that appears higher than it is. Also, hanging a vertical arrangement of pictures can create the feeling of an elongated wall and higher ceiling.

Hang a large mirror on the wall to reflect images in the room, creating a feeling of additional space and ceiling height.

Place a bold-colored area rug on the floor, drawing attention to the floor, increasing the visual space between the floor and ceiling.