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The Reason Vertical Lines Make Rooms Feel Taller

The Reason Vertical Lines Make Rooms Feel Taller

Vertical lines make rooms feel taller because they bring your eyes up and down instead of allowing them to drift towards the walls and across the width.  When your eyes are focused on the vertical space it distorts your perception of the area making it feel taller.  This is similar to how horizontal lines make spaces feel wider.

Here’s an example using a room with the same dimensions but in one image the wall is a single color and the other it has even vertical lines.

room with no vertical lines
room with vertical lines to make it look taller

Unlike horizontal lines which can be the floorboards, furniture half way up the space, and patterns on the walls, vertical lines to make a room feel taller have to go vertically up the wall as the goal is to expand the height of the ceiling from the floor visually.

Ways to Use Vertical Lines to Make the Room Look Taller

To use vertical lines to make a room look taller try:

  • Patterns on the walls by including striped wall paper or painted lines
  • Long curtains that stretch from floor to ceiling, either solid or vertical stripes 
  • Tall and narrow display cases, shelves, or bookshelves
  • Murphy beds can work as the cabinet creates the upward lines
  • Tall and narrow mirrors bring eyes upwards, and as a bonus they reflect light helping the room feel more spacious
  • Artwork, especially if it is vertically aligned can bring eyes upwards.
Any type of line that grabs attention from the space and keeps eyes going up and down should work to make the room feel taller.  The goal is to offset horizontal lines while keeping the space balanced, grounded, and feeling natural.
Pro-tip: If you have a fireplace with a mantel, either remove the mantel or add a decorative trim that goes from the fireplace up to the ceiling to add vertical lines.
There have been multiple studies that test this design principle out, and this one from Sage Journals has an interesting finding that in addition to the direction of the lines, the density can also impact the perception of the size or height of the room.

To help keep eyes drifting from the ground to the ceiling, create a focal point up higher.  If you are using shelves or a book case, place something bright or unique to create a point of interest on the top shelf.  You could use a brightly or bold colored glass art piece to pop out.  The size of your window also doesn’t matter, it is the length of the curtains.

Even if your windows start half way up the wall and do not expand to the ceiling, your curtains can.  This creates the room heightening vertical effect.  Another tip for very low ceilings is to use a couch with a lower back, especially if it is a straight horizontal line.  The lower line of the couch compared to the height of the ceiling, and combined with the vertical lines, will help make the room feel taller.

Here’s some examples of how furniture and different objects can impact how tall a room looks.

empty room with no vertical lines looks shorter
using furniture like a bookcase and curtains to make a room look taller
lines on walls and curtains can make a room feel and look taller

Vertical lines on the walls, created with furniture, or using curtains and art, can help make a room feel taller.  If you cannot have the ceiling height adjusted, you can always use the design tips from this post to help expand your space.

The Expand Furniture Editorial Team

The Expand Furniture Editorial Team

The Expand Furniture editorial team is composed of furniture designers, interior decorators, artists and professionals that render 3-D room visualizations, as well as advertising professionals.