Melanie, you are right in that 8 ft ceilings are considered low these days, and often when posting, those with them sound apologetic or upset. I could only wish to have 8 ft ceilings, as mine are 7.5. Why do people consider low ceilings a bad thing? Disadvantages include the problems with cabinetry as you mentioned, if occupants are tall, selecting ceiling fans, and if one removes a wall, like I did, the longer room length can create a disproportionate look. I solved that to my liking by adding double skylights. I am comfortable now with my ceilings and can enjoy the advantages such as quicker and cheaper to heat and cool rooms.

You might be able to get specific helpful advice and ideas If you would post a floor plan of your kitchen and another of your overall floor plan to give people an idea of how it all relates along with dimensions and what cannot be moved, budget, etc. and also to cross post in Kitchens.

I had under 7 foot ceilings in a kitchen and I used a shorter apartment sized refrigerator to gain room for a larger cabinet over it. I ran the cabinets straight across over the sink because there was no window and I had an OTR microwave with no room for a cabinet over it.

Browse through these Houzz photos. Some may be of help. Good luck!

I was just talking to my sister about the house we grew up in, which had 7 foot ceilings. One advantage was how cheap and easy it was to heat (Dad also had put in a ton of ceiling insulation, and abundant shade trees to keep it cool in summer).

Our kitchen was as Pal described--cabinets to the ceiling and the refrigerator was from the 1950s and probably not more than 15 cu ft, and short enough to allow cabinets above.

The folks on the kitchen board (http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitchbath) are really great with layouts. With a floorplan of the existing kitchen and connecting spaces, they can come up with the most helpful ideas. When faced with umpteen doors and wacky traffic patterns, sometimes you need somebody to think outside the box (Like "If you moved the dining room door from here to there..."

My granddaughter just purchased a small 150 year old house with 7 foot ceilings. She has decorated it with excellent taste and a nod to the age of the house. Every time I go over it feels so cozy and warm and inviting. That's one of the benefits of low ceiling plus the heating factor mentioned above.

Please post a detailed floor plan here too. I have 8’ ceilings and I am tall and don’t find them low at all. I agree that sometimes suprises come from awkward situations that need solutions. Post some pics along with the floor plan and also an idea of your style and budget.

I love historic homes with low ceilings but I am claustrophobic and I couldn't live in one. My husband is 6'4" so the potential of cracking his head on a door casing is a real issue.

I think part of the backlash against lower ceilings is because everything is just bigger these days. People are taller and wider and most available furniture is larger and things and bodies just take up more space.

Just adding to the 'I have low ceilings' group. My house is a sweet 1937 Cape that I have added to, and replaced the original windows, but the 7.5 ceilings have never bothered me at all.

I have higher ceilings but grew up in a home with 7.5 ceilings. It is a comfortable house where the ceilings offer a since of warmth, security and grounding that higher ceilings do not offer. My parents used slightly larger boxes but still a standard option, maybe 43 inches, and hung them at proper level and built up crown molding to look like they extended to the ceiling. Without the eye going to a void the ceilings did seem higher after their redo.

I guess it depends on what one's used to

Standard 8' ceilings here were a challenge to me in our new house, because it was the lowest ceiling heigh I ever had. I'm not from the US and other countries I lived in had a different standard that was higher ceiling(maybe due to metric system lol). Growing up in the older part of a very old big city-ceilings were even higher.

But I loved the house a lot and was willing to work with whatever it had. And it had 8' ceiling everywhere but the entry(which by the way was altered by the previous owners to become higher) and the living room. 7 in the dining but during remodel we were able to raise them up a foot.

My way of handling the thing was:

a) a thought of crown moulding-previous owners put it in their master bath(tiny supermodest space really)-but I swear to you it looked at least a foor higher than the adjusting bedroom. this thought never became reality though because expenses grew and had to give up on some things. crown moldings were the first to go. lol

b) skylights. previous owners had installed several and they drastically change perception of height and space..for the better. so we installed another one when we had our addition built. It also helped to break rectangularity of the room..we also didn't put a door between it and a master bath but left arch opening between them (the toilet got its own small room of course). Otherwise we'd be left with extremely boring room that's too long, too dark, and doesn't inspire any desire to stay there. Giving it more depth and light helped tremendously

c) and very important as I agonized over it. Painting the celings the same color-or the color that would look like the same color(which was, in our case either 50% or 66% percent of the initial formula), as the walls. The lines blend, you don't have this feeling the ceiling is about to fall on you. I'm 5.4 so not tall at all..but I can be sensitive to spaces, and sometimes weirdly sensitive. Part of my physique. Lol.

d) ditching some common rules. I did install central fixtures where it made sense, and pendants, and sconces..and it took attention away from the lower ceiling, because now you had something interesting to look at instead of calculating ceiling height

I have table lamps and floor lamps too, so layers of lighting.

I read so much about it all and was in that state of don't do this and don't do that..until I became very tired of it and just took from all this reading whatever I deemed helpful and disregarded everything else. Freedom!

now your ceilings are lower, and your kitchen sounds challenging.

Regarding kitchen-Kitchen forum is (justly so) considered the best in the matters of planning and advice on everything kitchen, so post your plan there and I believe you'll get many helpful thoughtful answers, regarding layout, workability, etcetera

They are very sensitive to specific needs of specific person/family in a specific kitchen, and your plan with dimensions and if possible photos of the space will be very helpful to them to suggest things specific to your kitchen tailored to your needs/wants/budget etc.

If you ask very general question it's great when you just want to have an interesting discussion. But if you're willing to get specific advice, and often very good one, I highly advise Kitchens forum.

Just copy-paste your question there, and add even a basic rough plan with dimensions. And several pics to show different walls and how kitchen connects to other rooms in the house.

I remember myself daring to ask on some site that had this option "Ask a designer" a general question "What do I do with low ceiling" and I got a very kind but very standard answer to paint everything white. It's okay, one can paint everything white of course; especially works well with high ceilings, architectural moldings, and in Paris lol), but didn't provide me with any insight.

Sorry for the long post!

wow thank you everyone! ! Fantastic responses and advice! my kitchen does already have many of the elements you suggest.. white upper cabinets to the ceiling (these were originally knotty pine. I painted them and added crown moulding and they look amazing. I decided to clean and keep the original 1950s chrome hardware); also a flat latex bright white ceiling, with a white light fixture so you don't really even notice it. I like the cozy charm of my low ceiling house as you describe. I will post pics once I'm done with my project. Its2a bit in disarray at the moment. :-)

"Why do people consider low ceilings a bad thing? "

It isn’t a" bad thing"…it’s that each generation gets bigger and taller.

We have a friend who is 6’9. Yes, he is (was) a great basketball player. Cutting it close…but, no judgement about your home. He would have to duck, but would love to visit with you.

My kitchen ceiling is 7’ 3”. I’d like to put up 12X12” Tin ceiling tiles. Probably in an off white. Will this work, or make the ceiling feel lower? I can’t find any pictures. Thanks!

@aprilneverends What kitchen forum are you referring to? Is it on Houzz or another site? I have a dilemma with low ceiling in kitchen/dining but higher in living room. Can't raise them unless we dig down in the ground and drop the kitchen/entryway floors. Torn on what to do.

A Gignac, yes, I'm referring to forum here, that is called "Kitchens". I suggest to post your question with pictures there, and maybe on "Bulding a Home" or "Remodeling" forum too-one can choose up to three forums when opening a thread, so it will appear simultaneously on all of them.

here is te link to "kitchens" one:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/kitchens

and just in case, to another two:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/building-a-home

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/remodeling