Ceiling Heights, 9' or 10' part II

10 years ago

I found a great discussion on 9' vs. 10' ceilings in the thread pasted below. I'm pretty comfortable with 9' ceilings in the lakeside vacation cottage we are building, but DH wants to at least think about 10'.

In the tread below virgilcarter discusses proportions. The house we are building is small and modern, so a little different from most custom homes we see here on GW. Have a look at a few drawings of our space, considering proportions - what do you think?

The ground floor will be 900-960 sq feet, with a walk-out basement with another 500 or so sq feet. 8' ceilings in the basement for certain.

This house will be in a heavily wooded area, cold winter climate, heated in large part by a wood stove in winter, so heating costs/effort are something to consider.

The open area you see will be the LR & DR (and kitchen) - essentially each room (LR & DR) is just a little larger than 12' x 14'6. The stairwell you see on one side of the DR (the bump out) adds another 3+' to the width of that room.

Here is a link that might be useful: 9' vs 10' ceilings

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Comments (4)

bridget helm
10 years ago
cool design!

because of the style, i think it would feel "right" being 9 feet. we have a modern kitchen with 9 foot ceilings and it just "works".

BUT, something my brother in law noticed is that a 9 foot ceiling that feels "right" to me, at 5'3", may not feel so right to him at 6'2"

is your husband tall?
sochi
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi BMW,

I am 5'9, DH is about 5'11". Not especially tall.
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palimpsest
10 years ago
Mine were ten, in a 25 x 17 or 18 room. Those lamps are 4 feet tall, for scale, so close to six for top of shade from floor.

The pocket door area is about 8+' wide, including the vertical part of the box structure its 11-1/2 wide:

Here's what happens to 10' ceilings at 6' wide:

My feeling is that 10' is going to make your room feel narrow. Here is what happens in the same width as the first photo, but with a 14' ceiling, which is off the top of the photo.:
sochi
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you Pal, your photos are very helpful. I think you're right about 10' potentially making the room(s) seem narrower than it already will be. I wasn't sure how the windows would play with the ceiling height though. Other than possibly needing bigger windows which is a definite con to 10' ceilings.