Ceilings are reaching new heights.
These days, “10 feet is the new 9 feet,” said architect John Cetra of New York-based CetraRuddy Architecture, noting that home buyers love high ceilings because they allow room for tall windows. They also give architects more space to play—with features like domes, mosaics and vaults. In contemporary homes, a wood or tile ceiling can provide texture and warmth.

Here’s a sampling of dramatic design options.

Barrel vaults were originally structural in purpose, often used in industrial buildings to support heavy machinery. In Manhattan’s 19th-century Puck Building, brick vaults with steel beams were installed in the floors underneath the printing presses that were once housed in the space, said Mr. Ramirez, who designed six residential units in the building for developer Kushner Cos. In converting the space to condos, plaster was removed to expose the original brick vaults and beams.

Made by nature

New condominiums and modern houses are generally known for simple ceilings with clean lines. But many buyers of contemporary homes now want natural materials, like wood, rather than “just a white box,” said Chad Oppenheim, founder of Miami-based Oppenheim Architecture + Design. “We’ve been seeing a movement to make modernism more warm, more comfortable,” he said. “People are tired of that cold aesthetic.” In a contemporary home in the Bahamas, Mr. Oppenheim designed ceilings made of 8-inch-wide cedar planks.

Wooden beams and boards have long been popular in traditional-style homes, said Randy Correll, a partner at Robert A.M. Stern Architects and co-author of the book “Designs for Living.” For a basement wine cellar inside an oceanfront house in Dartmouth, Mass., the firm designed a structure of white oak beams. In what they call a “Crown of Thorns” pattern, the beams are stacked symmetrically in a circle. “It’s at the end of this long passageway, so it was like a little surprise when you get to that room,” Mr. Correll said.

“Crown of Thorns” beamed ceiling: $15,000 to $20,000;
Cedar-plank ceiling: $21,600

A coffered ceiling is typically a series of sunken panels that are square or rectangular. The effect is somewhat akin to an upside-down egg crate, Mr. Cetra said. Popular in traditional homes, coffers are often made out of wood beams, plaster or drywall, then decorated with molding and lighting. They have “an element of formality without being over-the-top ornate,” said designer and home builder Bobby Webb, adding that he often uses them in dining rooms, libraries and home theaters.

A groin vault—a series of intersecting arches—is a classic architectural feature that has been used for centuries, said Andrew Scott Kirschner, co-founder of Jackson Kirschner Architects and Associates in Melbourne, Fla. A groin vault “creates a mood or feeling as you walk through,” he said, and signals that “the space you’re going into is really special.” A 25-foot-high groin-vaulted ceiling he designed for a client’s home in Orchid Island, Fla., was decorated with a hand-painted fresco showing tropical birds and flowers

Groin-vaulted ceiling with painted fresco: $80,000