How to Decorate in Spaces With High Walls

High ceilings give rooms spaciousness and elegance, but they can also create a challenge for decorators unaccustomed to the larger scale needed for good balance. Room shape, window size and ceiling height are just a few issues that need special consideration to make these spaces into comfortable and pleasing living spaces. If you have high walls and tall ceilings, use the techniques that professional decorators use to bring them down to size.

Darker color paint
Horizontal window treatments
Tape to create horizontal lines
Larger furnishings
Paintings and mirrors of correct size
Hammer and nails
Crown molding
Paintbrushes
Drop cloths
Rollers

Instructions

- 1
  Add a horizontal line element to break up the line the eye travels from mid-range to ceiling. This can be an interesting, horizontal window treatment.
- 2
  Hang paintings, mirrors and other wall decor higher than would be expected for a room with a normal height ceiling. This brings the room more into scale.
- 3
  Hang up molding below the ceiling level to bring the eye to a more accustomed level. The rule of thumb is to apply it at about the 9-foot level, according to the website DevineDecoratingResults.com.
- 4
  Paint the ceiling a darker color than the walls to cause it to look lower. A fundamental decorating principle is that light colors make areas appear to recede, and dark colors make them appear to advance.
- 5
  Paint a decorative, horizontal line in a contrasting color along the walls to break up the wall area.
- 6
  Paint an accent wall in a contrasting color to make it appear smaller. Fill the area with interesting design elements, such as a colorful window treatment or a collection of artwork. Use larger-sized canvases to provide the right scale for the wall.
- 7
  Apply crown molding to the margins between tops of walls and ceilings to break up the space. The molding should be a larger, chunkier size to create a good break in the visual field at the ceiling level.
- 8
  Use crown molding on cabinets in kitchens with high walls to make it appear the ceiling stops where the top of the moldings stops.
- 9
  Purchase larger-sized furniture like breakfronts, shelving and entertainment centers to keep the room in scale.

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