It’s stupid and outdated in a big room. You don’t have any room to do it in a 3’ wide room. Thankfully.

"I am going for classic/traditional look a combination of rustic and gothic European."

Repeat after me, "None of that tray ceilings stuff in here. Hellll no lol"

There is a builder here that puts trays everywhere. After looking at several houses by that builder I would say no to a tray in an area that narrow. The tray you end up with in a 36" wide hall will be a narrow slot like you are in a toaster looking out. Save the trays for larger rooms that are not relatively skinny.

Definitely not worth the effort and expense for a hallway.

What about vaulted like a cathedral?? Or maybe I should just leave well enough alone? Lol

Do you have a picture of the area?

”in a toaster looking out.” LOL! Yes, if you mess with raising the ceiling AT ALL.

There is no way to answer without pictures and tray ceilings are in no way Gothic . I have no clue what the knee walls could possibly accomplish and touching any of this without some pro help will end up a disaster. PICS PLEASE

If this is an existing built hallway, there is a danger in cutting structural members, especially if they are trusses.

I am not sure whether my ceilings are relevant to your issue because I don't understand why you need to build knee holes in the attic and what the final look of stone and copper is since I am not sure how copper and stone would ultimately be perceived as gothic and copper.

I remodeled and prior to my remodel my kitchen had the classic somewhat dropped ceiings with three fluorescent tubes and sheets of opaque plastic materials serving as the ceiling. This portion of my kitchen ceiling was surrounded by soffits which are structural as they house steel beams on one side.

When remodeling most people just sheet rock this portion of the ceiling and have a few cans. My designer designed a coved ceiling that has copper tiles and there are uplights to illuminate them - at night it is quite lovely and dramatic when lit. There is plenty of other lighting as well as there are canned lights elsewhere as well as under cabinet task lights.

My entry hall is also a bit peculiar since a portion of it houses my HVAC unit in the ceiling and so the ceiling must be somewhat "removable" in order for the HVAC unit to be accessible for servicing and replacement - I actually needed to install a new HVAC unit last June after my remodel. The only solution is to have some form of "tiles" which are on a grid so that they are removed. Prior to my removal I had the basic ugly utilitarian plan acoustic type ceiling tiles. Now I have decorative tiles that are a bit "fancy" but not obtrusive. These types of ceiing tiles also come in copper and other finishes. So that is an option as well.

It is a hallway. A conduit to get you from Point A to Point B. Not a place that you linger in and admire architecture.

It’s roughly 3x6 with stone walls on each side.

Are these real stone walls that rest on a foundation or a glued on wall treatment? What happens to the stone in the attic? Does it stop at the current ceiling height or continue into the attic? What happens when you raise the ceiling & how do you grow the stone to the height of the new raised ceiling?

And given that the walls are stone, do you really think that this tiny 3 x 6 space needs more interesting stuff to look at during the 18 seconds it takes to pass thru there? With you neck craned up to admire the ceiling?

I can take some pictures tonight. I get what y’all are saying.

I’m probably over thinking this whole project. This is a small house so I guess I’m trying to squeeze every last bit of space I can put of it before i add on.

The style I’m going for kinda just happened. I love old European art and architecture. My great, great grandpa (home builder) taste were more rustic (luckily this was before the modern barnwood/mason jar/shiplap craze lol. I’m combining 2 (really 3 since I’m combining Victorian, medieval gothic and rustic) very different forms of architecture and it’s looking amazing!

The sun tunnel thing will be moved over to a nearby bathroom and the builder grade cover replaced with custom stained glass.

Nope, no stained glass, and we're looking for pictures of the hallway with the stone.

You cannot combine every trendy item in a small space and expect a good outcome.

What kind of stone do you have installed? Seems like the stone should keep your attention.

You could build down and create a tray on the ceiling.

Here’s some of the stone work. For some reason, they put that ugly drywall over it in the 70s. Will be removed. The stained glass will not be In the hallway, but a nearby bathroom

What in the wide world of fire hazards is a plywood ceilng doing in a house that you care about it burning down?

Not everything old is valuable. They should have breaker hammered that rock off of the walls rather than just covering it up. 🤢

The brick floor seems ti be workable to keep. About it.

I put up plywood to secure the ceiling tiles. And don’t worry, the stone walls will be fully revealed again

Drywall won’t hold these bad boys

The problem i see is you are addressing a “ can of worms” situation…the only way to know what to do is to remove all the “cover ups” to get to the bones of this space…not to just add more

You don't want a pressed tin copper ceiling in anything but a Victorian home where it's appropriate.