Are higher ceiling houses better?

There’s something compelling about a home with high ceilings. As a society, we tend to connote high-ceilinged homes with wealth and status. But is there any truth to that feeling?

Believe it or not, a high ceiling home is likely more valuable than a similar home with lower ceilings. That value ties into the psychological associations many people have with high ceiling homes.

Let’s talk ceilings.

What is the average ceiling height?

While homes look different around the country, it has long been the standard to have 8-foot high ceilings according to the National Building Code (NBC). The minimum allowable height is seven and a half feet, but nine- and ten-foot ceilings are becoming increasingly common. Anything above nine feet is considered high. Like granite countertops and walk-in closets in bedrooms, slightly higher ceilings are a small luxury that some homebuyers like to see in today’s home market.

Typically, you’ll find higher ceilings in more common spaces like kitchens or living rooms, but many people like them in bedrooms these days, as well.

What is the allure of high ceilings in homes?

It turns out there’s some interesting psychology behind the love of high ceilings.

One study published in a 2007 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research found that high ceilings put test participants in a mindset of freedom, creativity, and abstraction. Conversely, lower ceilings shed evidence of confined or repressed thinking.

Similarly, another neuroscience study about architectural design in the Journal of Environmental Psychology showed test participants 200 images of rooms while in a brain scanner. The subjects overwhelmingly described higher-ceiling rooms as more beautiful. While the study is considered preliminary since it couldn’t control for other quality factors like color scheme, lighting, or curved design, it’s at least an indicator that our brains are at least somewhat predisposed to appreciate higher ceilings.

Do high ceilings add value?

Much of real estate is related to psychology. People assign value to homes in different ways, but high ceilings are something that most people are willing to pay more to attain.

Real estate agents almost universally agree that high ceilings are attractive to buyers. One agent in the Atlanta area did an informal study that found that homes with 9-foot or higher ceilings sold for about 11% more than homes with 8-foot ceilings.

Higher ceilings give the illusion of more space, bring in more light, and tap into psychology in our brains that make higher-ceiling homes more attractive to buyers than similar ones with lower ceilings.

Pros and cons of high ceilings

While we’ve discussed some of the pros of high ceilings at greater lengths above, it’s not all sunshine and daisies. (Don’t worry, people with average ceiling homes.) Let’s lay out some of the pros and cons of high ceilings below.

Pros

• Rooms appear more spacious: Many homeowners use mirrors to make rooms look bigger, but higher ceilings achieve the same effect. Higher ceilings mean taller walls, higher chandeliers and other fixtures, and simply more volume in a room.
• Natural light: In addition to taller walls, rooms with high ceilings also have more space for windows. As such, there’s more opportunity to bring in natural light.
• Aesthetically appealing: As we’ve covered, there’s an aesthetic psychology to high ceilings that makes being in tall rooms feel more liberating.

Cons

• Maintenance: Cleaning or repairing a high ceiling is not the easiest thing. You need to get special tools to reach higher. In some cases, you may have to hire a professional.
• Noise: Rooms with high ceilings tend to have a greater echo. If you have playful kids, it could be very noisy.
• Temperature control: Because there’s more space to heat and heat rises, it can be difficult to get the right temperature in a room with high ceilings. In temperate climates, you’ll need to really pump the heat in the winter and the A/C in the summer, which can get expensive. 
• Price: Finally, as we’ve said, homes with higher ceilings tend to be more expensive. And, as we just touched on, utilities may be more expensive, too, to get the right temperature control. That can be a double whammy on cost that you don’t want to navigate.