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| | | | |  | |  | | | | | | Addressing Acoustic Challenges
While changes in lighting and décor are relatively simple fixes in any room, dealing with the acoustic challenges in a room with a very high ceiling can be a little trickier fix.
Many homes with high or two-story ceilings also have hard surface floors like wood and tile, which exacerbates the feeling of being in an empty auditorium, says acoustics expert Leonard Hospidor.
"The sound in a large room bounces just like it would in a small room, but the problem is that it’s coming from so far away, it's so delayed that it starts interfering with the intelligibility of things," says Hospidor. "The problem is there’s sometimes a big tradeoff between aesthetics and functionality."
Here are a few ways to manage the sound issues without sacrificing design:
- Rugs: Wood floors, tile floors and walls are all hard surfaces, and sound bounces off them without really being absorbed at all. While you don’t have to carpet the walls to have a conversation, throwing down some softer flooring is one way to blunt the echoing from a large room.
- Plush furnishings: When you choose your furnishings, adding plush pieces will make your guests feel comfortable in more ways than one. Opting for a cloth sofa instead of leather, or covered arm chairs instead of wood, will help absorb some of the tones that cause conversation or television dialogue to be garbled.
- Large drapes: Thick, heavy draperies will not only fit the scale and drama of a high-ceilinged room, they will also help buffer some of the acoustic problems that can occur. Skip the sheers and the silks and opt for what Hospidor calls “theater curtains:” plush, weighty fabrics like velvet or a thick cotton weave that absorb the desired frequencies.
- Stealth soundproofing: One trick that Hospidor recommends that will fool the eye and the ear is hiding acoustic panels behind canvas art. By wrapping a printed canvas around sound-absorbing materials, you can have art on your wall you enjoy while still reducing a wall’s sound reflecting qualities.
| | | | | | | | | | | | Plants are also a great way to create a sense of life while adding a beautiful element of height and color into a space. Blanda-Wengard recommends adding tall trees like Kentia palms in beautiful decorative pots. "It will highlight the corners of the room, which will enhance your furniture," she says.
Plants can also do double duty by becoming a decorative light sources, says Brooke Ziccardi, principal of Ziccardi Designs in Costa Mesa, Calif. Ziccardi says that adding uplights into plants emphasizes their effect. "It creates a more intimate space by bringing the eye level down," she says. "Plants can create interesting shadow and light patterns that bring attention to the walls and minimize the height of the ceiling."
Lighting It Right
Lighting a room with a high ceiling can be one of the most challenging aspects of designing the room. If you can be involved in lighting design when your home is being built, it's never too early to consider your illumination plan, says Blanda-Wengard. She recommends homeowners involved in the construction phase visualize where their furniture and other items will be so they can work with an electrician to rough out the best wiring setup for lighting the room.
"Ask the electrician to make sure you have enough light in the room—general lighting, task and accent lighting—and while you're at it, remind him to put them all on dimmers," she says.
When you're working on your lighting plan, however, remember that the aesthetics of the fixtures themselves should be a consideration. "When you're in these tall rooms, you certainly don't want to use an 8-inch wall sconce or regular small table lamp," says Jeff Dross, senior product manager and trends analyst for Kichler Lighting. He says taller table lamps fill more vertical space and give more interest to the room and that 24 to26- inch wall sconces can make a dramatic effect on the feel of a space. "Those taller wall sconces will give more interest on the wall, break it up a bit and, if you hang a series of them together, it can almost create the illusion of a ceiling at the top of the light line," he says. "It makes the space feel a little cozier and more inviting."
Keeping It Cool (Or Warm)
Everyone knows hot air rises and cool air sinks, but that doesn't mean the only way to manage temperature in these rooms is by hanging a ceiling fan on a long conduit and keeping it running.
"Proper ventilation is vital in every room, but there are more ways to get there than ceiling fans," says Atlanta-based interior designer Melissa Galt. "Sometimes they're just not an appropriate design choice at all."
Galt says choosing draperies with a high insulation value makes it easier to manage the cooling for the whole house by keeping the high-ceilinged room from drawing heat in. "Lined and interlined drapery in a heavy fabric will do much more than mere shutters or blinds," she says.
Other options for high windows that are tough to manage thermally include window films that are available in a variety of styles and purposes, including eliminating glare and reducing solar heat gain.
Besides window coverings, Galt says adding plush fabrics to any surface will help homeowners manage the temperature in their high-ceilinged rooms. "All manner of soft goods, including thick-pile Persian rugs or hand-knotted Tibetans, dense upholstery and warmer colors will all act to reduce heat loss and maintain warmth," Galt says. "In the summer months, shifting to lighter pieces including slipcovers in a lightweight linen, silk or cotton can make the space feel and look cooler."
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Text by Alyson McNutt English
© 2008 BobVila.com
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