8 vs. 9 ft. ceiling for upstairs/kids bedrooms?

11 years ago

New construction, 5500 sq. ft. (basement, first, and second floors). First floor will have 9 ft. ceilings and a 2 story family room. Would you spend the extra $ to do the 9 ft. ceilings on second floor? It consists of 3 bedrooms for kids, one of which already has a vaulted ceiling. I like cozy bedrooms, not sure if the 9 ft. makes it less so?

Featured Answer

autumn.4

11 years ago

What size are the bedrooms going to be? I think spatially that can make a difference in feeling. Our bedroom is on the main floor - 9' ceilings. It's 14x16 if I recall correctly. It feels good to me. Upstairs we have 2 bedrooms and a bath for the kids - 8' ceilings. The rooms are 12x12 - again they feel fine at 8'. I don't feel crowding at all when I go up there and I do like cozy bedrooms also. Likewise, I don't feel too open on the main floor with 9. The rooms are larger and they feel 'right' to me. We don't have any vaults anywhere and I think for me that keeps the taller ceilings open yet cozy.

I think you could go either way and not be disappointed in feel so IMO it's more about the cost savings.

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Comments (11)

msmith110705
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks so much for the feedback! Bedrooms upstairs are 13x14 and 14x14.
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ontariomom
11 years ago
The other thing to consider is if you go with 9 foot ceilings upstairs, the total height of your home increases by another foot? In our case, we kept the ceilings to 8 foot as increasing the total height of the house would have not fit into the surrounding house heights (the roof was high enough with 8 foot upper floor). If the roof height is no issue, those 9 foot ceilings will certainly allow taller windows and hence better natural light into the bedrooms.

Carol
zorroslw1
11 years ago
8 ft ceilings upstairs. The bedrooms are big enough to have 8 ft ceilings. Our upstairs bedrooms are slightly smaller than yours and we have 8 ft and it doesn't feel cramped. Our downstairs is 9 ft.
D. L
11 years ago
We've always had 8' ceilings in our kids rooms, but in our new build we are doing 9'. Mainly because large bunk beds are difficult to fit in small rooms with 8' ceilings. If you aren't doing bunk beds (or the larger lofty type of bunk beds) - you likely won't need the extra ceiling height. I am looking forward to it though and it allows for the window header to be slightly higher which lets more light in the rooms and I like hanging light fixtures that don't bump peoples heads. :) Just some ideas. Your rooms sizes are large enough it will feel great either way.
saftgeek
11 years ago
In order to save money we stayed with 8' but installed a coffer in the ceiling in our MB. I have to say it turned out great. It makes the room seem larger, we were able to use a down-rod on the ceiling fan and we didn't have to break the bank by adding another 1' of brick, framing, etc...
abick2
11 years ago
We did 10 on the first floor and 9 on the second. I also kept going back and forth, but it feels so much more spacious with the high ceilings. Our roof ended up being not very steep, but we are fine with that.
neonweb US 5b
11 years ago
Do consider higher ceilings where your putting in ceiling fans
zippity1
11 years ago
it depends on how much you're trying to control cost
i spent very little time "upstairs" when my children were teenagers and even less now
would the extra height have been worth the cost - not for me
if the rooms were very small that might have affected my thinking
Lili Xiao
6 years ago
Is that possible to get 8feet on the 1st floor, and 9 feet on the 2nd floor?
millworkman
6 years ago
Lili Xiao, why do you ask? The original post is 6 years old and I am sure long since figured out.