Decorating Ideas for a Two-story Great Room

Two-story great rooms are common in new construction. Decorating a room with 18 to 20 foot tall ceilings can be quite a challenge. If your previous home had regular one-story ceilings, you will discover that your belongings from the old home doesn't quite fit your new home. There are however, tricks you can use such as a bit of paint, carefully chosen artwork, and accessories that will make that all room look great.

You can paint your two story room using techniques that make the room seem more cozy. If you paint your ceiling darker than your walls, this will make the ceiling seem lower. You can go a step further and paint the top two feet of the room the same dark color to make the walls appear even shorter. When you have wall space that seems to go on for miles, adding a textural effect with paint to make the room more interesting.

If you've every walked into a home with high ceilings, you know that people entering the room automatically look up at the ceiling to appreciate the drama of the room. It's ok to stare at the ceiling from time to time, but you will want to refocus the gaze to a much lower place by creating lower focal points. Some decorating tips that will lower the focal point are to install a wallpaper border or chair rail at eye level or lower. You can also use darker paint in the lower third of the room than in the upper two thirds.

Accessories are very important in decorating a two-story great room. Accessories that you used in your typical height room will no longer work in your two story great room. The higher ceilings will dwarf your old accessories and may them look like miniatures. To compensate for the tall ceilings, use over sized decor and accessories in the room. Instead of hanging a typical sized mirror on the wall, hang two mirrors side by side or re-purpose a floor mirror as a wall mirror. Hang sets of artwork and over sized canvases instead of typical sized artwork. Use the tallest candle sticks and lamps you can find.