Paint the ceilings white as far as I know. Keep the wall colors neutral and nothing too "out there." Hang curtains as high as you can to the ceiling. Remember to put tall items in the room to bring the eye up and not have everything at one level, low to the floor. If you do a google search and ask how to make ceilings appear higher, you'll get a ton of advice.

I also have 8' high ceilings and a designer I was working with recently told me to hang my drapes as high as possible to draw the eye up. Since I'm getting ready made panels, that meant getting the 96" ones and any extra will "kiss the floor."

just curious what everyone's real life experience is on this..... on a google search there is some conflicting info out there - white ceilings or a muted color. i had forgotten that it's a good idea to do vertical stripes. uplighting was suggested... just curious about things that have worked for this experienced group! and maybe some before & after photos?

Here's an excellent article that covers the topic.

Here is a link that might be useful: help for low ceilings

I don't know if the previous homeowners did this deliberately or if it was just sloppy painting but in several rooms the wall pain continues an inch or so onto the ceiling.

So in one bedroom painted green the walls are green and then on the ceiling there is an even coat of the same green paint, with a clean edge, that goes an inch or so out into the ceiling. It looks like the wall goes up just a bit higher. (I wouldn't do more then 1.5 inches though)

My Dh built wood cornice boxes over our windows -- and those have worked SO well in our shorter rooms!!! He made them start quite close to the ceiling and low enough to cover the tops of the windows SO our windows do look much much taller -- and so does the ceiling! He added thicker moldings at the top edge of the boxes so your eye is drawn up , up , up ......

Hang curtains high high up near the ceiling .....

Another trick is to add a ceiling medallion to your chandeliers ..... again the eye is drawn up!

Yes -- a paler ceiling works -- and make sure the moldings in the room are light or painted white so that your eye does not "stop" at the top moldings in the room.

Anything vertical -- like a larger mirror hung vertically OR a line of smaller artworks hung vertically helps too.

I disagree with on of the tips on the link hilltop posted. We recently finished installing crown molding in one of our rooms with 8' ceilings and when you approach and enter the room your eye is drawn straight up. The walls in that room are a pretty yellow, the crown is a true white, and the ceiling is a slightly paler white.

I worried that the CM would make the walls look even shorter so it was a happy surprise when the opposite turned out to be true.

read this. Very interesting. Go down to where it says 'The 8' Rule'

Here is a link that might be useful: Ceilings

Whenever I paint my walls I carry the paint up on to the ceiling about 8". I believe that it gives the illusion of higher ceilings but that might just be me.

Hey...I HATE high ceilings! I really don't think everyone loves them if that makes ya feel better. I find them cavernous and cold. I'm currently fighting with my MB redo and have dreams of drywalling down several feet to lower the ceiling lol. It was vaulted in the "flip" and I wish they hadn't....or at least not as high.

Since your house is more historic in feeling than many, 8' is in keeping and not a detriment IMHO. BTW? My ceilings in my NE home are 7'4".....I love the coziness of them and the fact that I can use a regular roller to paint them lol. Most existing homes have 8' ceilings so don't see it as a big drawback. Only homes built in the last 10 or 15 yrs or so have gone with the vaults and that's hardly the majority of existing homes.

White ceilings if contrasted with wall colors bring a ceiling DOWN. It's avoiding strong contrasts at the break that lifts the eye.....drapes to the ceiling are also important....anything vertical such as several prints stacked above one another etc.

When we were redoing my folk's home to ready it for sale, I painted the ceilings in their beige bedroom a l/2 formula. My father fought me on this but could not BELIEVE his eyes when the ceiling suddenly went "up"! (Admitting he's wrong is something my dad doesn't "do" much lol!!)

I'm not a fan of painting certain colors on the ceiling....it works great with some tones but a green ceiling wouldn't do much for me. Red rooms look great with pale gold ceilings if not white.

Another trick mentioned in the article above is to use mirrors.

The site that yiannab posted was interesting, but I don't agree with all of it.

Keep in mind that it is the Behr site -- Behr is the paint sold by Home Depot.

Naturally, they want you to paint EVERYTHING. : )

In one of my previous homes, I had a small home office. I installed picture railing about 1 foot below the ceiling. I painted the ceiling color down to that picture rail. I painted the picture rail the same color as the ceiling, but hand painted the embossed leaves on the railing in a pale green. My wall paint was a light terra cotta. I added one cup of the terra cotta to my white ceiling paint to get a tint.

The most important phrase that you wrote in your post is that you love your neighbors, street and floor plan. Take it from someone who knows! I lived in a house in New Jersey that had ceilings shorter than 8 feet, but I loved the area so much that I didn't mind living in a house built for elves.
High ceilings are overrated. I have them now in Georgia and it's where all my heat stays. I wish to be an elf again!
The above mentioned article "help for low ceilings" is an interesting theory, but all I could imagine is how work intensive it would be to tape off those ceilings. Yikes!
Try painting your ceilings with very light colors. Installing crown molding is expensive and complicated to do yourself, but definately possible. Hang your curtains high as several people have mentioned. It really works and gives a feeling that your ceilings are higher. In the mean time, enjoy your neighbors, you are very lucky.

Here is a link that might be useful: Christy's Thrifty Decorating

"I know high ceilings are all the rage - so I cringe to think how hard it will be to sell this place in a few years."

In a few years, when you are thinking of selling, there's a better-than-even chance that they won't be the rage any more. It's the fashion now, but fashions change. And high fuel costs for heating and cooling will have their effect as well.

lynnski - i was thinking the same thing - that this "trend" would pass, until i read the an article the other day that said they would become even more the norm. i really don't like 10' ceilings, too high, make furniture look awkward sometimes.

as far as our historic neighborhood, we are one of the only homes without 9 or 10' ceilings - which were the norm in the 1920's.

thanks for everyone's tips. i think part of the trouble is the conflicting info out there. i read another site today that recommended the crown be painted the same as the wall color -- that would have the same effect as painting the ceiling up another few inches with wall color... so maybe that does work - but it seems funny to me. i'll post some photos to share with you all as we get some painting done.

Crude oil is up over $99 tonight, I agree high ceilings won't be the rage for long if you need to heat them.

We have a cathedral ceiling in our FR plus skylights. All the other rooms have 8' ceilings. In the winter, the FR is the coldest room in the house since all the heat in the FR goes to the ceiling (despite the ceiling fan). I wanted 9' or 10' ceilings when we built but the builder "didn't do them" back then...now I'm glad we don't have them in most of the house. We heat w/oil and with oil as expensive as it is now I wish I could lower the FR ceiling!