During the establishment of custom homes, one key factor that often gets overlooked is the ceiling elevation.
Serious contractors understand this fact but a good number of homeowners do not pay the necessary attention to this aspect. Why and how does it affect the quality of the final product?
Ceiling height is critical to the usefulness and aesthetic appeal of the house in many ways. From natural light and ventilation to the general environment and ambiance, and resale value, ceiling height can affect the quality of the house.
This article discusses the many ways in which ceiling height matters in custom homes.
Natural Light and Ventilation
Do you like high ceilings?
Ceiling elevation determines the size and level of windows of custom homes. Elevated ceilings call for larger windows that are responsible for a maximum amount of natural light. With optimum natural light, the room appears classy and elegant, something that increases its resale value. It also makes the room spacious, instead of cramped, thereby also enhancing visual appeal. There is also an aspect of energy efficiency since you do not have to switch on the lights in low-light weather like winter. Due to the optimum aeration provided by the increased ceiling height, you do not need to run your AC at higher speeds to clean the indoor air. This also contributes to energy efficiency, which in turn leads to some financial savings.
Sense of Space and Ambience
Besides the reduced functionality of not having ample space for everything, smaller rooms can erode people’s mental health since the room is cramped. Even in larger rooms with lower ceiling heights, the space can feel cramped and smaller. Conversely with higher ceilings, the room, especially the living rooms, feels more open and spacious, something that contributes to enhanced mental clarity. The openness has the magic of attracting an expensive ambiance that commands increased resale value.
Visual Appeal
Ideally, higher ceiling levels are designed to enhance the aesthetics of rooms in most homes. In addition to making the room feel more open, spacious, and elegant, high ceilings pave the way for more visual features. It allows for cosmetic items such as wall-hanging art, portraits, and lighting fixtures like chandeliers. They also give you an opportunity to display your great taste in fashion with taller curtains. All these contribute to the enhanced visual appeal of the house thereby helping you make an impression. Enhanced visual appeal also has the benefit of increasing the resale value.
Functionality
Bolstered visual appeal, premium building materials, and improved functionality are the main characteristics that define custom homes. However, amongst these, functionality is the main idea behind the concept of custom homes. In kitchens, taller ceilings can accommodate taller cabinets that come with extra storage space and a seamless floor outline. The space above taller cabinets can be used for displaying expensive items like pottery and silverware. In living rooms, taller ceiling heights allow for the display of high-value items like trophies. In addition, in family rooms and entertainment rooms, elevated ceilings allow for large entertainment systems and acoustic treatments.
Resale Value
There comes a time when you have to put the property up on the sale market due to various reasons. These include the need to upgrade to a better house, and relocation, amongst other personal reasons. Due to personal preferences and differences in taste and style, prospective homebuyers have different priorities. One thing that really reduces the resale value is cramped rooms or larger rooms with very low ceiling heights. If you were the one on a house haunt, you would never settle for such a house. This goes on to show just how much ceiling height matters in custom homes. From providing room for visual appeal features, improved functionality, and increased natural light and ventilation, higher ceiling height goes a long way in raising the resale value of custom homes.
Even with all the benefits that come with taller ceilings, you should note that the height is capped at a certain level, beyond which limitations start kicking in. The average height for taller ceilings is between 8 and 10 feet. Beyond 10 feet, the room will lose its visual appeal and functionality. For instance, very tall ceilings reduce the acoustic benefits of the room by allowing echo. They also make it harder to heat during winter, thereby overworking your AC, and in turn, increasing your power bills. In conclusion, you have to find a way of striking a balance between very low and very high ceiling elevations for you to achieve the benefits of custom homes.