Help with my 10 ft. ceiling'd dining room? The walls are so bare, and the furniture looks mini--also,?

Question

it's a small room, maybe 12 x 12, with a French door (to a little sunroom), the stairs to the second floor, and 2 entrances. Ten feet may seem like no big deal, but they're a challenge. How can I decorate the top 2/3 of this room? It's bright yellow with a crystal chandelier......at the entranceway, there are 2 round columns also 10 feet high, any suggestions to warm things up? I have hardwood floors...thanks!

Answer 1

I've seen high ceilings taken care of in two ways.

1) A wide wallpaper border that is not too intrusive, or

2) Buy some nice moulding to place around the perimeter of the entire room near the ceiling. Drop it 1 1/2 - 2 ft. and paint the moulding and the portion above it the same color as the ceiling.

The second would be my choice for you since the room, with columns and chandelier sounds rather formal for a sun room.
Good luck...it sounds like a pretty room!

Answer 2

Does the room have any windows? Red or dark colours might make the room look very closed in and smaller. I like the terracotta Idea. A friend of mine did her dining and kitchen in that color. If you think that terracotta is to dark try painting just the bottom of the wall that color and the top half in a lighter shade. Use chair rail or wall paper border in the middle. Green is a great accent color. Oh, and if you want to make your ceiling look higher, try painting a band about 3 or 4 inches, all the way around the top of the wall into the white ceiling, with white. It gives the illusion have having a higher ceiling. I hope I typed this so you can understand. I'm not great on giving written instructions. I you want feel free to email me. Good Luck!

Answer 3

You have a French door and a chandelier. go for a French theme, and find prints of a lot of the impressionist artists, that are colourful. Like Van Gogh, Monet and others, have them framed in the same or similar colour frames.

Don't be afraid to put 6 o 7 up on the wall, with spaces. And don't worry about putting some of them up high.

Choose colours that draw your furniture colours into your pictures, or cover or put cushions on the chairs, that match the colour of the paintings.

Put a colourful rug, that blends with your picture colors in the middle of the floor. This will bring the room together.

Answer 4

Put in a chair rail or waincoting to bring the room down. Paint the upper and lower areas two coordinating similar colors. Buy a good oriental rug to pull the furniture together and focus it. If you have room for a small sideboard or demi lune put it in and focus your art work around it. Unless you are attached to the crystal chandelier, a chandelier with candlesticks and shades in a coordinating color will add more warmth and draw the ceiling down to a more cozy atmosphere.

Answer 5

I had your same situation and I solved it by making the room seem cozier when sitting and dining. I did it by putting a traditional floral wallpaper on the ceiling and wrapping it down the walls about 1 ft. Then we added molding below that and followed it with a border of matching wallpaper. I finished the walls in faux marble and the room is absolutely beautiful!

Answer 6

Paint the top two feet of the walls, AND THE CEILING, a dark brown or dark green.....I've seen it done, and it looks fabulous! It visually brings the ceiling lower, warms up the room because of the dark color, but the room will still be plenty light and bright because of your yellow walls. I wouldn't paint the columns, though.....leave them as they are, and they will seem to just rise and look really cool. Be bold! Try it!

Answer 7

If you do something with the ceiling like the old stamped tin ceilings(they make them in paint-able plastic now),or even use moulding to create designs on the ceiling,this will make the ceiling seem lower.

Answer 8

I would use a five piece crown molding to create the illusion of a lower ceiling.