OK so there is stuff hanging from the ceiling, but do the soffits have to be that large? Can you come up with a more interesting solution? See below.

In any case, do all four sides because if three sides have soffits and the fourth doesn't it will look like someone forgot to do it instead of a deliberate design choice.

I am not following what you are proposing.

You have a room with 7.5 foot ceilings that feels "cavernous". So you are going to raise the ceiling and add soffits to make it less cavernous?

LIke I said, I am not following your proposal at all...

I think they meant cave like, small vs. cavernous - huge.

Yes exactly - cave-like in an uncomfortable way, like the ceiling is too close to your head.

Beverly those are lovely examples! Our space is pretty small so I was thinking something along the lines of this, except our raised ceiling area would be larger and more of a square than a rectangle.

If it's on three sides, I would make it four and maybe you could bevel the sides of the soffits similar to Beverly's third example.

And for a better idea of the space, here’s our bathroom. The soffit over the vanity would be about 18” wide and end close to the edge of that vent cover.

Thanks! My main concerns about doing all 4 sides are the fact that the recessed lights would have to be in the “lower” section over the shower and also the drywall in that part being closer to the steam from the shower - we have serious humidity issues even with a Panasonic fan in there. But looks like the vast majority thinks it would be more balanced that way, which is exactly what I was worried about!

I have lower ceilings in my bath and have recessed fluorescent fixtures recessed over the vanity. Although I like the downlights for the general walkway & shower lights, there is nothing better than the bounce of the fluorescent bulbs especially in rooms with no natural light.

Those are lovely! The current lighting is probably tied with ceiling height for most problematic issue for me. Okay, might be a three way tie with the uninsulated exterior shower wall - placed a thermometer in there before the demo out of curiosity and it was a whopping 52 degrees! We chose large LED bar sconces on the sides of the vanity, installed through a custom mirror. Hopefully the mirror reflection helps bounce some much needed light around.