When homeowners look to add style and character to their home, one area that often gets ignored is the ceiling. Generally, when people are redesigning their home they look to frame windows with billowy valances and drapes, cover floors with plush rugs and luxury tiles or coat the walls in colored papers and paints. Often, we spend so much time looking down and around that we forget to look up! But, believe it or not, ceiling height and décor has a lot to do with how comfortable a space is perceived to be. Incorporating exposed, decorative trusses into the height of any room can instantly transform its ambience from echo-y and cold to comfy and warm. When you walk into any room, your senses take into consideration its size and space. Internally, you quickly size up your comfort level in that particular room. For this reason, ceilings are built in different heights and styles. Some are flat and some are pitched. A regular vaulted ceiling, for example, will have 2 asymmetrical sloped sides and create a cozier atmosphere. A cathedral ceiling, on the other hand, will be shaped like an upside down ‘V’, with 2 dramatically sloped sides that come together at the highest pitch point. While cathedral ceilings are hands-down, viscerally impactful and visually impressive, they don’t necessarily offer a cozy room to dine, have a conversation, sit and read, or take a snooze. Adding architectural elements can make the ceiling space less intense and imposing, especially the incorporation of embellishments like attractive wood or faux wood exposed trusses. Exposed trusses are a framework constructed of a combination of beams, columns, braces and sometimes arches. In luxurious wood finishes, like deep espresso, light walnut, rustic oak, and rich mahogany, these structures bring elegance and a touch of intimacy to those soaring overhead spaces. Design plans for exposed trusses go from a basic scissor truss style to the more elaborate arched hammer style truss. Think, rustic Swiss Alps Chalet, stately French country manor or charming Napa Valley winery. So, when you’re in the mood for a room change, don’t forget to look up toward the stars! The natural look and feel of wooden elements like exposed trusses, or even beams, are the best way to dress up that empty, lofty space up in the rafters.