We opened up the wall between the kitchen and living room - we removed the upper part of it and turned the lower part into a breakfast bar. It looked good, but it left our living room with only one solid wall, and the seats for the breakfast bar created an awkward situation. We were only thinking of allowing light to flow through the space, and didn't know enough to consider foot traffic and the furniture arrangement in the living room. We did a lot of unfortunate things, and now I'd be reluctant to knock down any more walls without a professional opinion. More recently, I decided to paint the dark ceiling coffers white, because the ceiling is low, and I thought it would look higher if they were white. I'm half way through the project and don't know yet if it'll look good, but there's no turning back now.
That's an interesting story! I'm sorry to hear the wall removal created awkwardness. I feel like decor media and house flippers romanticize the open concept, but don't help people understand the potential pitfalls. On the coffers - I think you'll be fine! Ceiling color is another bizarre decor discussion. Since dark colors are supposed to recede, designers say dark colors on the ceiling are good. It is extremely rare to see designers actually paint a ceiling a dark color, though. The real issue is the common culprit - contrast. Coffers or beams that contrast at the ceiling will attract attention and can make a ceiling feel lower. When the whole ceiling blends to together - lighter or darker - your eye tends to ignore it and focus elsewhere. White ceilings are usually preferred because (a) we all have them so we don't give it a second thought and (b) you get better light-spread from table and floor lamps because they reflect well off the ceiling. I talked a lot about creating more height in my kitchen remodel video, refreshing my bedroom video, and the "Make Your Rooms Look Taller" video, if you haven't seen those yet!
We opened up the wall between the kitchen and living room - we removed the upper part of it and turned the lower part into a breakfast bar. It looked good, but it left our living room with only one solid wall, and the seats for the breakfast bar created an awkward situation. We were only thinking of allowing light to flow through the space, and didn't know enough to consider foot traffic and the furniture arrangement in the living room. We did a lot of unfortunate things, and now I'd be reluctant to knock down any more walls without a professional opinion. More recently, I decided to paint the dark ceiling coffers white, because the ceiling is low, and I thought it would look higher if they were white. I'm half way through the project and don't know yet if it'll look good, but there's no turning back now.
That's an interesting story! I'm sorry to hear the wall removal created awkwardness. I feel like decor media and house flippers romanticize the open concept, but don't help people understand the potential pitfalls.
On the coffers - I think you'll be fine! Ceiling color is another bizarre decor discussion. Since dark colors are supposed to recede, designers say dark colors on the ceiling are good. It is extremely rare to see designers actually paint a ceiling a dark color, though. The real issue is the common culprit - contrast. Coffers or beams that contrast at the ceiling will attract attention and can make a ceiling feel lower. When the whole ceiling blends to together - lighter or darker - your eye tends to ignore it and focus elsewhere. White ceilings are usually preferred because (a) we all have them so we don't give it a second thought and (b) you get better light-spread from table and floor lamps because they reflect well off the ceiling.
I talked a lot about creating more height in my kitchen remodel video, refreshing my bedroom video, and the "Make Your Rooms Look Taller" video, if you haven't seen those yet!