10 Tips to Make Small Spaces Look Bigger
My first apartment in Edmonton was tiny. It was one of a whole bunch of apartments that had been carved out of an old Queen Anne house. The one thing I knew I needed to do was make it at least look bigger than it was. After some trial and error I finally found some ways to trick the eyes of my guests, in a loving way of course, to make my space look much roomier than it was. Here are 10 tips to making a small space feel larger:
1. Use Light Coloured Paint
Light coloured paint is probably the easiest trick that can make a room look larger than it is. I kept the walls of my place white.
2. Use Light Furniture
The furniture doesn’t need to be light coloured, but light in build. For me, this meant furniture with straight, clean lines and few bistro chairs scattered here and there.
Furniture with long legs looks spacious and lends that sense of space to the room.
3. Paint the Ceilings a Light Colour
Light coloured ceilings reflect light and make the room’s walls look higher than they are. A nice, semi-gloss paint is good.
4. Have the Walls Match the Furniture in the Bedroom
If a bedroom is a bit crowded, as mine was, having the walls have the same colour value as the wooden bed frame actually made the place look a little less claustrophobic.
All in all, a room tends to look larger when the woodwork matches the colour of the walls. This is also true of the draperies.
5. Add A Mural
A scenic mural in a room can give it a little more depth. But beware, only one wall can have the mural! One on every wall can bring on the claustrophobia I talked about in the above example!
6. Bring in the Outdoors
Allow as much light into a room as you can. I never dressed my windows and on sunny days kept the blinds up. Also, my one kitchen window faced a stand of trees, so I always had pops of green in the room. This included green tablecloths, napkins, even a green dishpan and dish drain. It linked the kitchen with the forest and made it look a bit more than closet-sized.
7. Have Wall-to-Wall Carpeting
Wall-to-wall carpeting also makes a small room look bigger than it is. Ideally, the carpet should meander through all the rooms. This links them up and makes the space look bigger. Of course, I didn’t have carpet in my kitchen, and I didn’t have to worry about the bathroom since it was in the public hall. The landlady took care of the bathroom, though barely.
8. Declutter
Naturally, clutter will make a small room seem even smaller. If you haven’t used it or even thought about it after a year, get rid of it some way. Sell it on kijiji, have a yard sale, donate it, or give it to that one aunt who has bad taste. This applies to furniture, kitchen tools, knick-knacks, books, sports equipment or whatever it is. Use the money to buy some paint.
9. Dispense With Frou-frou
Dust ruffles, ruffly curtains and even ruffly, tasseled lampshades are out. Keep the lines straight and simple to give the illusion of more space.
10. Make the Furniture Multi-task
Benches and ottomans make great storage spaces as well as seats! Find pieces where the top opens up so you can store items that you don’t use often in them. Function meets style!
These are ten tips I learned to make my space look bigger! Hope some of them work for you!
