Whether they are 12’ tall ceilings or full two-story volume rooms, they both make for impressive entrances and spacious interiors for Tampa custom homes. We are asked to design them all the time, but are they really worth it?
In certain style homes, these high volume ceilings really make sense. Mediterranean homes tend to gravitate towards this design element in family rooms, living rooms and dining areas. Many homes, regardless of style, use two-story foyers, since the stairs lend themselves to this design.
For all it’s beauty and drama, we often get negative feedback from customers after they have lived with the tall ceilings. The typical comments focus around high energy costs, sound issues and challenges decorating. On the energy efficiency, I think it makes sense that if you go from 10’ to 12’ ceilings, you have 20% more space to cool and heat. Given that AC systems are a significant portion of each home’s electric bill, this can be a real eye opener.
When it comes to sound, noise in a two-story volume room is just...different. There are a lot of walls for noise to bounce around. Often this problem is compounded by using tile or stone flooring, which lends to the echoing bathroom effect. Another sound challenge is that two-story family rooms are frequently designed so that the second story looks down on it. This means that the upstairs wrestling matches and screaming kids can be heard a bit too clearly downstairs.
Lastly, when you have tall ceilings, guess what, you get tall walls. It can be tricky to decorate those large wall areas. Leaving them bare isn’t helpful from a design standpoint or if you want to dampen the noise.
In spite of all these issues, I have to admit that I love the look of tall ceilings, but it’s good to set some expectations when you are considering tall ceilings for your Tampa home design.
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