"The idea of remodeling a house to make it feel smaller may seem pretty outlandish, but the truth is that many houses built today are just too big to be comfortable in," she writes.

The main culprit, she says, are those nosebleed-high ceilings that started to captivate home shoppers in the 1990s and became de rigueur in new construction. They may look grand, but they can make us feel unsettled and strangely "on display," she says.

That's because, so often, the proportions are all wrong. A room that's taller than it is wide isn't the kind of place where anybody gravitates for after-dinner conversation or to watch TV while sorting the bills.

"People say a taller ceiling is always better. It's just not so," says Susanka. "These poor little bodies have no place that feels sheltered."

Among the remodeling remedies she suggests when there's square footage to spare is to thicken the walls beyond the usual 4 inches, perhaps even curving them. The goal, she says, is to use them to sculpt some new rooms and alcoves within the existing space.

Less drastic: Add a shelf around the room (at a somewhat lower height than the ceiling) and place decorative items there.

(c) 2009, Chicago Tribune.