How to Make Tall Walls Seem Shorter

Paint the walls a darker color. It is all right to close a room like this in, even though most of us are used to the mantra of "light colors only." Pick whatever color works with your decor. If you have warm neutral tones, paint the walls a rich chocolate brown. If you have pastels in the room, use dark navy for the walls to contrast with the light colors. For a contemporary room, pick a bold red color.

Paint the ceiling the same color as the walls. If you paint a ceiling white, it immediately draws the eye upward, particularly if you have dark walls. Use the exact same color for the ceiling that you used on the walls. This will help make the space feel much closer and more intimate.

Install a border halfway up the wall. Instead of drawing the eye upward with a wallpaper border at the top of the wall, bring the eye downwards with a decorative wallpaper border or chair rail at around four feet off the floor. This will help keep the focus in the room to the middle and lower level, distracting the eye from the space that is above it.

Install wainscoting. This trick helps not only lower the eye, but it can be used to help break up the bold color on the walls and keep it from making the room feel narrower than it is. For cool color tones, use white wainscoting. For warm color tones, use ivory or beige wainscoting.

Pull the eye downward with decorative rugs. Another trick that can be employed to keep the focus of the room down instead of up is using decorative rugs or darker flooring and carpet. The idea is to have something that grabs the attention at floor level, not above eye level.