15 tricks of kitchen design with a low ceiling

Low ceiling kitchen

Low ceilings with a height of 2.4-2.5 m are a characteristic feature of typical panel houses, which must be reckoned with when planning renovations and kitchen design. In this material you will find 15 simple techniques that will help you visually increase the height of the kitchen, a few tips on what you should not do, as well as a selection of 30 photos of real low kitchens.

15 design tricks

  1. White walls + white ceiling

In general, the ceiling and walls should not be white, the main thing is that they should be of the same tone. This technique will erase the boundary between the surfaces, and as a result the kitchen will appear higher.

  1. High kitchen with white facades in the upper cabinets

Headsets up to the ceiling itself can be completely white or only partially, namely in its upper part. So the facades of wall cabinets will merge with the ceiling and will not “cut” the walls horizontally. If the set is low, then the facades for the upper cabinets should be chosen to match the walls.

Set with white top cabinets

  1. Rack or panel facades of the kitchen

Our goal is to bring as many vertical lines as possible into the interior. If you are creating a kitchen design from scratch, then we recommend choosing headsets with paneled, and better rack-like facades like in this photo.

Set with rack facades

Set with rack facades

  1. Wallpaper / Vertical Striped Curtains

Vertical striped wallpaper creates the desired optical illusion, visually stretching the walls upwards. You can glue striped wallpapers on one accent wall or on all four at once. By the way, the canvas with such a print is much easier to dock, and the seams between them are almost not noticeable.

  • The truth is that striped wallpapers have drawbacks - they visually narrow the space, which means they are contraindicated for narrow and elongated kitchens.
  • Striped wallpapers look especially good. in the interior of a classic kitchen, such as in the photo below (scroll).
  • Kitchen with striped wallpaper
  1. Wallpaper with vertical pattern

Not only striped wallpaper, but any wallpaper with vertical lines will work to increase the height of the kitchen. Images of trees, stretching up plants or, say, vertically built repeating elements, if they do not increase, then they definitely will not lower the already low ceilings.

  • Wallpaper with vertical pattern
  1. Rhombus Wallpaper

Rhombic wallpapers can also fool our eyesight so that the kitchen will appear higher. At the same time to narrow the space, in contrast to the striped wallpaper, they will not.

Rhombus Wallpaper

  1. White wooden lining

Wall cladding white clapboard is popular in the Scandinavian countries, where ceilings in typical homes are often low. Adopt this technique, and you, because White color and vertical lining lines will work doubly efficiently.

Sample kitchen trim clapboard

  • By the way, lining or wooden slats will be good in facing the kitchen apron, especially if it is not as tall as this. kitchen-dining room pictured below.

Apron from lining

  1. Two-level ceiling with illuminated central niche

Suspended ceiling structures for a low kitchen is contraindicated, but a two-level ceiling with illuminated niche can create the illusion of a high ceiling.

For example, in this classic kitchen, a niche in the ceiling mimics a stained glass window, and its lighting replaces a chandelier.

  • Kitchen with a false window in the ceiling

The "window" here is made of plexiglass. The moldings framing it - from polyurethane. And the ceiling itself is made of plasterboard.

False window with light

  • Approximately the same effect can be achieved by creating a glossy niche stretch ceiling and embed LED backlighting around the perimeter. The niche may be of any shape.
  1. Dark floor

Dark colors, for example, dark blue, black, graphite, etc., have the property of visually distancing objects and surfaces. So, the floor, trimmed with dark tiles or dark wood, would seem to fall down and thereby increase the height of the kitchen.

  • If the repair you have already done, then you can just lay a dark carpet on the floor like the bottom right photo. Of course, the coating should be short-nap.

Dark floor in the interior of the kitchen


  1. Lighting with the direction of light up

One or two floor lamps and / or wall lamps, the light of which is directed upwards, will be enough to create the effect of a higher and “airy” space. And all because reflected from the ceiling and walls, the light will be distributed more evenly and will not create harsh shadows.

  1. Floor to ceiling mirror

Not bad lift the ceilings and increase the space of large mirrors, especially in facing one or two walls of the kitchen. In the next photo slider, you can see how the low kitchen-dining room in the panel house was transformed from two mirrors from floor-to-ceiling height.

The mirror in the dining room in the wall

The mirror in the dining room in the wall

Read also Guide to the choice of mirrors for facing and decorating the kitchen.

  1. Curtains to the floor

Curtains should pick up long, that is, concerning the floor or even lying on it as shown below in the photo. Suitable styles of curtains - assembled in a uniform fold, panel (Japanese) or cotton (mustache).

Long curtains in the interior

It is desirable that the fabric had a vertical pattern, that is, all the same stripes, rhombuses, floral motifs, etc.

Window decoration examples

Whatever the curtains you choose, the curtain rail should be installed under the ceiling. The ideal choice is a roof rail. More about the eaves for the kitchen.


  1. Spotlights or ceiling lights instead of pendant

Suspended chandeliers in the kitchen with low ceilings will practically touch the heads of its inhabitants, visually overload the interior, shade even more and “lower” the ceiling itself. Spotlights and ceiling lights look, though not as elegant as the chandeliers, but they take up less space and create more pleasant and even lighting.

  • For stretch ceilings, recessed spotlights should be used, and for ordinary ones, overhead.
  1. Small plinths to match the walls

Floor plinths should choose low, preferably in the tone of the walls or universal white.

  1. Wall decor with vertical orientation

Pictures, posters, panels or decorative plates can also contribute to an increase in the height of the kitchen. To do this, they need to hang just above eye level, as shown in the photo below or in a row vertically. It is also desirable that the wall decoration pattern contains vertical lines. All this can be found in our section. Dressing.

Pictures hung above eye level

And a little about the mistakes that it is better not to make

The design of the kitchen with a low ceiling has some limitations that you should be aware of in order to avoid a mistake. Here is a small list of them:

  • Suspended chandeliers, as already noted, will clutter the space and will simply interfere. The only place where the chandelier does not hurt - over the dining table. The lamp here can hang at a distance of 60 cm from the tabletop.
  • Decorative ceiling beams - they make the ceiling heavier and attract too much attention to it.
  • Unfortunately, stucco molding, especially with gilding, is good only on high ceilings, and on low ones it looks too alien and hard.
  • Making the ceiling a shade darker than the walls is likely to slightly lower its height, and painting in a dark color will completely lower it, creating the feeling that the ceiling is pressing.
  • Installation of suspended ceiling systems. Standard whitewashing and painting - the best way to finish a low ceiling.However, with a great desire, you can install a stretch ceiling, which, compared to other suspended systems, does not take too much height, namely 4-5 cm.
  • The decoration of the walls with horizontal stripes, as well as the design of the window with curtains with a horizontal print, though will push the walls apart, but significantly lower the kitchen ceiling.
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