The owners of apartments with high ceilings have an ambiguous attitude towards their home. On the one hand, they welcome a space that allows them to be creative and apply their desired interior design. On the other hand, high ceilings are a problem, since it is important not to make a mistake with the choice of furniture and material for final finishing. In this case, it is necessary to choose the right lighting fixtures, colors, accessories, and decor. All this needs to be taken into account and put into practice in order to visually maintain pleasant proportions in the rooms and provide yourself with comfort.
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In the photo: Bedroom interior in a loft-style apartment
Strengths of high ceilings
High ceilings are an advantage in themselves, as they create the impression of a room being doubled in size. This is partly true if the advantages and capabilities of such a room are taken into account.
The advantages of tall apartments include:
- Penetration of light. Due to high ceilings, window and door openings are of considerable length. This means that during the day more light will penetrate into the house and you can save on electricity. Therefore, additional lighting will not be needed.
- Airspace effect. Regardless of the size of the rooms, high ceilings create the effect of free space. Even a small room will look more spacious.
- Free layout. High rooms allow you to apply any layout to them due to the open space. For example, a table in the kitchen does not have to be installed near the window. It can be placed anywhere in the room, since the level of daylight is quite high due to the large windows.
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In the photo: Living room interior in a modern style apartment
Floor structure in a frame house
To equip an attic or attic floor, you will need the following building materials:
- a wooden beam made of coniferous species, the cross-section of which is determined depending on the width of the span (from 3 to 6 m) and the distance between adjacent floor beams (0.6 m and 1 m, respectively), for example: for a span of 3 meters wide it will be 14x9 and 16x11 cm;
- for 4 – 16x12 and 20x12;
- for 5 – 18x14 and 22x16;
- for 6 – 22x14 and 25x18.
The aspect ratio of the beam may be different, the main thing is that the cross-sectional area corresponds to the given data, since the load-bearing capacity of the floor depends on this.
- slab or edged tongue and groove board (coniferous) up to 30 mm thick;
- insulation (expanded clay, stone or mineral wool, sawdust, etc.);
- construction staples or nails 3x70 mm;
- steam and waterproofing;
- internal ceiling lining (fibreboard, plastic, plasterboard, lining, etc.);
- When installing an attic floor, a 150x150 mm beam and an additional edged board for flooring will be needed to equip the passage to the top.
It is recommended to dry the wooden materials before installing them. 2-3 months in well-ventilated stacks under a canopy, excluding rain and direct sunlight.
Independent installation of a warm ceiling in a frame house is not so difficult if you follow the order of work. We present step-by-step instructions for installing the ceiling:
Step 1 . In advance, before installation on the racks, the strapping beams are marked. It is much easier to do this on the ground than at a 3-meter height.
The top strapping solves not only the main task - strengthening the entire structure of a frame house, but also serves as the basis for the construction of walls and attic (interfloor) floors.
Step 2 . Ceiling beams are installed using the lighthouse method. First, they are mounted at the side walls. A building level is used for this.
ATTENTION! The length of the floor beam depends on the installation method:
- if it is laid groove into groove using the cutting method, the width of the strapping beam on both sides is added to the dimensions of the span;
- if fastened with steel brackets, its length is equal to the span.
The intermediate beams are adjusted to the outer ones so that the upper edges of all elements form a flat plane. With a groove connection, it is not allowed to adjust the height of the beam using wood chips. To evenly support the timber on the frame, pieces of tarred wood of different thicknesses, made strictly according to the sample size, are used. It is better to check the plane using the 3-meter rule, placing a level on it to be sure.
Step 3 . After adjustment, the beams are finally secured with construction staples or nails through the groove joint, driven at least 10 cm into the frame, or fixed to a metal corner.
Step 4 . Further actions may vary depending on the method of internal cladding:
- If you plan to finish with tongue and groove boards, finishing the cladding is carried out from below, directly along the beams.
- In other cases, a rough ceiling is installed. To do this, the tongue and groove cut into appropriate parts is placed between the beams on bars previously nailed to them along the entire length, or sewn across with a regular board or OSB.
Careful adjustment in this case is not necessary, the main thing is that when laying the insulating layer (or sound insulation), the rough ceiling can withstand the appropriate load.
Some owners, in order to save money, leave gaps between the boards, put a film on top and cover it with slag, believing that such ceiling insulation is quite appropriate in a frame house. But this is not the best solution, since the slag weighs a lot and can break through the film with sharp fragments.
In addition, there are installation features related to the insulation method used. The use of some materials requires the installation of a ventilated space to prevent rotting of wooden structures. Next, we will consider these features in detail.
Large interior items
The design of apartments with high ceilings involves placing huge pieces of furniture, mirrors, paintings, and sconces. They will not change the overall appearance of the space due to their dimensions. A high-rise kitchen is suitable not only for floor furniture, but also for hanging cabinets that reach the ceiling level. This way you can wisely use the empty wall area, combined with free space in other areas.
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In the photo: Kitchen interior in a minimalist apartment
Economical layouts
The layout of a frame house 7 by 7 or 6 by 6 meters is the most economical. This is due to the following factors:
- Fewer materials required to construct a building. Significant savings on the arrangement of certain premises. Possibility of combining several functional areas in one room. Easy implementation of heating and drainage. Ease of developing a project in accordance with the needs and wishes of the family.
The free layout of a small frame house is currently enjoying considerable popularity, since it is quite accessible to a large number of people.
Choosing catchy accents
Textiles in window decoration will help give a tall room more effect. Here it is worth using long tulle with ruffles in several layers. A good solution would be to choose a forged cornice. To prevent the living room from seeming too elevated, emphasis should be placed on lighting fixtures. Here you need to choose a large chandelier in combination with less massive pendants on long cords. Moreover, different levels of room lighting are important. This means that the chandelier and other lighting fixtures should hang in different lengths. This way the room will be more evenly and efficiently illuminated in complete darkness outside the window. In addition, this solution is quite interesting and thoughtful in terms of design.
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In the photo: Dining room interior in a neoclassical style apartment
Norms and rules for different rooms
If we talk about the standards provided for in individual premises, we can divide them into several categories.
For living rooms and kitchens
The length of the vertical walls should be no less than the height of the tallest family member plus one meter. The upper layers of air always contain a lot of bacteria and dust, so such parameters will provide not only convenience, but also good well-being.
In the hall and hallway
If there are mezzanines, the optimal distance from the floor to the structure is more than 210 centimeters.
Private house with attic
The minimum distance to the ceiling in a private residential building with an attic can be at least 140 centimeters. It is worth noting that this only applies to the room under the roof, where the walls are connected to the floors.
In non-residential premises
For example, such as a bathhouse or a garage, a large distance from the floor simply does not make sense.
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Variety of ceiling design options
High rooms allow the use of many original options for ceiling cladding and its decorative design. In this case, you should visually lower the ceiling to get a sense of proportionality in the room. You can visually lower the ceiling if you use contrasting paint on it. However, it is necessary to take into account the color scheme of the flooring that matches the ceiling. In addition, you can use decorative beams that create the effect of an attic space. A good solution would be to choose stucco as an elegant addition to the ceiling.
When you're not happy with the height
Sometimes it is necessary to change the height of the ceilings in an already finished house, and for this they use different techniques. In order to make the room a little more squat, the following methods are suitable:
- Suspended and tensile structures are still relevant. The design can be anything: multi-tiered, illuminated, with the interior trimmed with wood or other contrasting material.
- The ceiling can be turned into an accent surface, made bright, or vice versa, dark, contrasting with the rest of the interior. The easiest way is to use paint or wallpaper.
Beams make a room more comfortable Source initial.com.ua
Free choice of colors
Any range of shades is suitable for apartments with high ceilings. Here it is important to focus on the style direction of the interior and select the appropriate tones. When choosing colors in high rooms, you should not use many light shades. This will create the feeling of an assembly hall, a cold and not very comfortable room. It is better to give preference to natural, muted colors that are in harmony with multi-level lighting, the general color palette of curtains, curtains, walls, and furniture.
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In the photo: Bedroom interior in an Art Deco style apartment
Style combined with simplicity creates beauty
When decorating a high space, designers advise adhering to the rule of a triangle, the vertices of which are the terms “style,” “beauty,” and “simplicity.” The most successful design projects necessarily combine all three concepts. Try to remove one of them - the interior of the house will be seriously damaged:
- Having accurately maintained the style, filling the room with aesthetically attractive decorative elements, but failing to cope with the requirement of simplicity, you will end up with a house overloaded with little things, clearly carrying a feeling of disorder;
- Preoccupied with the beauty of furniture and the ease of design work, but missing the sense of style, you can end up with style chaos, which will ruin the whole impression of the new renovation;
- Limiting yourself only to simplicity and compliance with style, but forgetting about the need to fill your home with beautiful things, you will not feel harmony, and will impoverish the very idea of the interior.
