Which Attribute of Ceiling Color Influences Perceived Room Height?

We investigate effects of the hue, saturation, and luminance of ceiling color on the perceived height of interior spaces.

Previous studies have reported that the perceived height of an interior space is influenced by the luminance of the ceiling, but not by the luminance contrast between ceiling and walls: brighter ceilings appeared higher than darker ceilings, irrespective of wall and floor luminance. However, these studies used solely achromatic colors. We report an experiment in which we extend these findings to effects of chromatic ceiling colors.

We presented stereoscopic room simulations on a head-mounted display (Oculus Rift DK2) and varied hue (red, green, blue), saturation (low, high), and luminance (bright, dark) of the ceiling independently of each other.

We found the previously reported ceiling luminance effect to apply also to chromatic colors: subjects judged brighter ceilings to be higher than darker ceilings. The remaining color dimensions merely had a very small (hue) or virtually no effect (saturation) on perceived height.

In order to maximize the perceived height of an interior space, we suggest painting the ceiling in the brightest possible color. The hue and saturation of the paint are only of minor importance.

The present study improves the empirical basis for interior design guidelines regarding effects of surface color on the perceived layout of interior spaces.