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Make a Small Room Feel Larger

If you have smaller rooms in your home and despair of ever finding enough space, don’t worry.  There are some clever decorating and design tricks that can be used in any home to instantly create a feeling of more space.  Here are some of our favourites.

Easily Increase the Space in Your Home

The first and easiest thing that you can do to create more space in your home is to clear out the clutter that tends to accumulate over the years.  Go through all of the stuff that you own and decide what you can keep and what can be gotten rid of.  The stuff you’re keeping can be kept in storage or easily organised using clever storage ideas.

Even the furniture that you have in your home can make it feel smaller.  Large, ornate pieces of furniture will make a space feel more closed in and appear to take up more space than they really do.  Choose streamlined, low furniture where possible and place the larger items against a wall so that you can still see the floor space.  Glass is a great option for coffee tables, dining chairs and so forth.

Play With Colour to Increase the Feeling of Space

It is amazing the amount of difference that the right colours can bring to a space.   Generally speaking, dark, warm colours will close a space in to make it feel more intimate, while lighter, cool colours open up a space and give it a feeling of airiness.

A great colour trick to use is to use a monochromatic colour scheme.  By using colours that are different tones of the one colour, you will create a feeling of harmony and flow throughout the room.  To avoid a feeling of “sameness”, play with the different kinds of textures that are available in materials and paint finishes.

Remember that contrasting colours will only act to break up a space and make it feel segmented and therefore smaller.  Therefore it is a good idea to try and coordinate the furniture and soft finishings with the wall colours if at all possible.

Open Up Your Home with Light Tricks

Dark rooms will only look small, so it is important to bring in either natural or artificial lighting so that the room is optimally lit.  To bring in as much daylight as possible, do away with heavy curtains and replace them with lighter, sheer materials.  If the room does not get much natural light, add some lamps or install more ceiling lighting.

A great trick to increase the feeling of space is to use materials that you can see through.  For example, a small bathroom will instantly look larger if you replace an opaque shower screen with a see-through, frameless screen.  Using glass furniture where practical in living areas has a similar effect.

Also take advantage of reflective surfaces such as mirrors.  Used cleverly, mirrors can make a space appear a lot larger than it ever did before.  If you don’t like the look of a mirrored wall, it is simply a matter of buying a large mirror with a stylish frame that can be wall-hung.

Increase the Feeling of Space Using Fabrics

Using prints or patterns can create a feeling of “busy-ness” and a room that is too busy will always look smaller than it should.  Small prints and patterns especially are bad for this.  Try using plain fabrics and introducing texture for visual interest.  If you must have a pattern of some type, try to opt for simple patterns that are not too garish or overwhelming.

Take full advantage of sheer fabrics for things such as curtains, valances, table coverings, and slipcovers for furniture.  Again, plain is best, but if there is too much “plain-ness” in the room, simple stripes or a gentle floral will work well.