I like having an interesting ceiling in our master. We don't currently have one in our new plans but it's on my 'talk to ARG' about list.

There is a poster here...Nini. She built a gorgeous home. I think I remember her saying the only thing she regrets is her vaulted master bedroom.

personally, I would not vault a bedroom.

Um, uh, I would think it might amplify noise a bit too much?

A canopy bed makes it all cozy again. (I've always slept with the sheets and blankets over my head, and sometimes a pussycat.)

I guess we're going to find out. With the open space in our master, we're looking at very high ceilings. However, we're also "wrapping" our bed in some walls to inset the headboard and nightstands, making it possible lot pit a partial lower "ceiling" over our heads. We can hang lights from it, and use it to create the sense of intimacy of a lower ceiling.

I guess it depends on whether or not spatial variety and the play of natural light is important or not...! :-)

We have a vaulted ceiling in the master. Most ceilings in our house are 9' and I think the vault is at about 12'. I can't imagine our room without and would do it again. If noise is an issue, try closing the bedroom door??

I don't think vaulting really makes a room louder, or colder/hotter. Everyone screams about it on this forum, but I'm fine with my cathedral 22x24 living room.

For a bedroom though, in my opinion I wouldn't want it vaulted. To me if would feel less cozy. Harder to clean cobwebs and change lights as someone mentioned above.

I'm a huge fan of simple tray ceilings. That way your ceiling fan is elevated higher, and if you do crown with rope lighting it makes for great ambiance. After having our first child (bassinet in our bedroom) the soft glow of the rope light worked very well as a night light. Kiddo is out of our room and now we still leave it on every night because we are used to it haha

We have a vaulted ceiling in our master bedroom suite and it's a fairly large space at 1100 sq. ft. (bedroom, bath, two large WIC's, an office and sitting room). I actually find it cozy and my sanctuary.

Cleaning cobwebs, changing lightbulbs, and Intimacy.

These are very good reasons, in my opinion. I want to feel cozy in my bedroom, and a vaulted ceiling works in the opposite direction.

A master bedroom needs a little 'something' to make it special.

You can do all sorts of things to give a room a little "something".

"A master bedroom needs a little something to make it special "...

For me, a really nice bed, some good artwork, sufficient closet space, connection to a pleasurable bath, and a great view. Ceilings are incidental. Well, as long as there is one...

The way I'm creating a little "something" to make my master bedroom special is by building out the wall on either side of the bed 9" and creating a "niche" for the bed to go in. That one area will be wallpapered in a subtle pattern and will have my custom designed headboard. Oh and above the headboard will be three stained glass windows. No vaulted ceiling.

For me, a really nice bed, some good artwork, sufficient closet space,
connection to a pleasurable bath, and a great view. Ceilings are
incidental. Well, as long as there is one...

That's it: A really nice bed. I love, love, love my bed ... we bought ourselves a top-quality mattress about three years ago -- let's not talk about what it cost -- but every night when I lie down and snuggle in, I think "Ahhhhhh." I also enjoy really good sheets (flannels for the winter because neither of us likes cold).

The way I'm creating a little "something" to make my master bedroom
special is by building out the wall on either side of the bed 9" and
creating a "niche" for the bed to go in. That one area will be
wallpapered in a subtle pattern and will have my custom designed
headboard. Oh and above the headboard will be three stained glass
windows. No vaulted ceiling.

That all sounds lovely!

My husband and I love stained glass, even though it's a bit "out" right now. We look forward to stained glass light fixtures in the kitchen and above the table.

I love the idea of using stained glass above the bed, and I'd consider copying your idea ... except that I already have a wonderful wide-short antique mirror that I plan to use over my bed in our new house.

We have a vaulted ceiling in our Master. When we bought the house 20 years ago I remember it being a nice touch. Now I (and we) say, who cares. Sure wasn't a feature we were looking for in our new home.

We vaulted our entire master suite- bed, bath, closet. The HUGE impact is in the closet, despite it being a totally frivolous touch. I went with oversized double doors between the bed/bath, it's just beautiful! I plan to paint the bedroom a bit of a darker shade for a more intimate feel.

Kirby, that's what we did in our old house -- painted the vaulted master a dark color, to make the room more intimate. We ended up really liking how the dark paint (and I am talking totally *dark*, like deep forest green) made the room darker at night for better quality sleep for us. It was nice.

I'm with the I want my bedroom to be cozy and more intimate feeling and not echo'y and just I don't know open and vast? Not the feeling I want in there. We had a cathedral ceiling in our old home great room and it most definitely was louder and harder to heat.

Our guest bedroom has a cathedral ceiling. Our MBR and closets are 9', and the MBA is vaulted. I regret the guest BR's ceiling. although it has casements in a 'U' on the E-S-W, the room reads as 'cold'. I love the vault in the MBA; although it faces north, it's a smaller space. I love the cathedral in the Library -- also facing north, the walls are "Hershey Wrapper" glossy brown (my name).

Lots to think about here. It's funny, I hadn't even thought about vaulting the MBR but our architect pointed out we could if we wanted to... he doesn't feel strongly one way or the other. So I was interested in real world experience. Thanks!!

Both our master and master bath will be vaulted, but a rather shallow vault at 3/12 starting at 9' and maxing around 12'. It's just framed in right now, but I like the feel. Originally the bath was not going to be vaulted, but a mistake with the trusses worked out serendipitously. And again, at the framing stage, I love it. The greatroom has a grander vault 10/12 from 10' to almost 19'. I was concerned with it on paper and I just had to trust our architect that it wouldn't feel to big. Seeing it framed now, I realize he was right.

Just be careful with sunlight. High ceilings are great for pulling light into large rooms. If you put windows up high, you may need to cover them depending on habits or orientation (that sounds a little funny). I personally think bedroom isn't the right place for a vault but if it is modest, it makes sense.

All vaults increase insulation costs and may impact limits of insulation. Nothing is free.

I think one last thing to consider is size. Smaller rooms I think don't 'feel' right with tall looming ceilings. It's about proportion and scale. Our bedroom at 14 x 16 is large by my standards but I don't think it could support a vaulted ceiling.

^ I agree with the above 3 posts. But when I click on this thread, I envision a "vaulted ceiling" as bringing a 9' ceiling up to 15'+. I don't think there's any risk in only faulting 2-3' as it is so minimal.

I was just thinking I wouldn't want my MBR to feel like a Living Room with a 16' ceiling!

I disagree with the poster above who said there isn't an issue with heating/cooling. I guess that depends on where you live. My previous house had a cathedral ceiling in the MBR, and I swore I would never do that again. I live outside Buffalo, NY and it can get VERY cold. Heating that room was expensive!

Pam makes a great point... I lived in Phoenix when I had my cathedral ceiling. It cost the same to cool my almost-2000 sqft house (high ceilings throughout) as it did to cool our 1000 sqft apartment when we moved to Texas. And utility rates weren't that different.

We're going to have a coved ceiling in our master bedroom. Lights in the cove should give us some nice ambiance.

This is such an interesting conversation. Everyone has a different (and valid) perspective to share.

Some folks are concerned that a vaulted ceiling may create additional heating and cooling loads. Other folks don't want to be in a bedroom with a large spatial sense.

The OP asked about "...I suppose it just would change heated/cooled volume, but really not much else..."

Responses included, "... Concerns for cleaning cobwebs, changing lightbulbs, and Intimacy...."

Looks like everyone is different in the bedroom.

Mebbe we just shouldn't discuss bedrooms...

But, I go back to Mr. Wright, who believed that changing and different spatial experiences throughout a house were what helped to make the house inspiring, insightful and enjoyable to live in for many, many years.

Every space in the house the same height, width, depth and treated the same? Boooooorrrrrrringgggg! Change 'em up! :-)

Looks like everyone is different in the bedroom.

Mebbe we just shouldn't discuss bedrooms...

I think we pretty much want our living rooms to work the same way ... but bedrooms, we have different ideas of how we want them to function: Some people just want sleeping space, others want space for a desk or a workout space or a reading nook. Lots of possibilities.

After having considered everything, I'm not really sure it is for us. But I think that's d/t the function of the room. I think almost all of my time is spent in there when it is dark out. I leave in the morning when it is dark and I don't go into the bedroom until bed typically. Its one of the reasons we've specified a smaller master. I do enjoy the discussion about it. I love hearing all the different thoughts everyone has!

We had a valued ceiling in our home and loved it. My wife said it was her favorite room in the house due to the light. We will miss it in our new home. We live in Vermont and have in floor radiant heat and no AC so the cooling issue never came up.

In our previous home in NJ we had a cathedral ceiling in our bedroom, we both hated it, especially when changing bulbs or smoke alarm batteries. Our new home, build just started, I designed with flat 9/10/12' ceilings that will have deep crown moldings. I tried to talk my wife into a tray ceiling in our bedroom but she'd have nothing to do with it; we'd rather look at amazing Mt Baker views or the fireplace while in bed. With perhaps one exception of a large fan in the high family room ceiling, absolutely no ceiling fans in the entire home; I remember we took them all down in our previous home.