The height of a ceiling greatly affects the overall feel of any room, and by painting ceilings creatively, you can visually change their perceived height without the need for a major remodeling project.

Here are some great ideas to make a low ceiling appear higher:

The goal here is to create an illusion of uninterrupted flow, without sharp horizontal lines or contrasts, and eliminate anything that draws attention to the low ceiling.

* Remove popcorn ceiling texture.Painting ceilings with the wall color

* If you have crown moldings, paint them the same color as the walls.

* Avoid big contrast between walls and ceiling. If your walls have color, a pure white ceiling will seem even lower. So instead, paint your ceiling the same color as the walls, but a couple of shades lighter, to create a vertically elongated, flowing look.

* In rooms with a chair-rail, paint both the upper part of the walls and the ceiling the same color - a shade of white or any other very light color.Painting ceilings to resemble the skies

* Painting ceilings with a light cool color like pale sky blue will make them seem more distant and will create a feeling of space and outdoors.

* By painting stripes on walls you can visually raise a low ceiling - narrow, tone-on-tone vertical stripes work best for this purpose.


If your problem is dis-proportionally high ceilings, you can create a cozier, more intimate environment and improve the shape of the room with these painting tricks:

* Painting ceilings a darker color will bring them downPaint your ceiling a considerately darker color than the walls - the deeper the color, the closer it will appear.

* For an even greater effect, you can "drop down" the ceiling line by dragging the ceiling color up to 1 foot down the walls. For the best results, use highly contrasting colors between the ceiling and the walls. You can also accentuate this new, lower ceiling line with a contrasting color wallpaper border or crown molding.

* Painting ceilings creatively can change their heightPainting wide bands in a contrasting color on the top and bottom of the walls will produce a similar effect.

* Finally, decorative painting techniques are another great way to draw attention to the ceiling and make it seem closer to you.