Today, when restate rates in mega cities are touching sky high, most of us are forced to live in comparatively smaller apartments. Standard size of rooms in these apartments are comparatively smaller than what it used to be a few years ago, in independent houses. But that’s a truth and we got to live with it. I always used to wonder about how I can make my smaller room look bigger. Obviously, I can’t resize the rooms and so I am left with other options. One such option is to create illusion of a bigger space by painting, rearranging furniture and trying other hacks to create the illusion. If you are going through the same confusion and want to make your room look bigger, then here’s the post worth reading. Today I am going to talk about how to make a small room look bigger by creating illusion of a bigger, spacious space using simple home decorating tips and hacks.
Having a big luxurious home is a dream of many, but with higher and higher cost of living, it often gets difficult to buys a bigger home. Even if you manage the money to buy or build a big house, things does not always fall into place due to other issues like lack of land in the neighborhood or inventory of available flats. But, let me tell you that a home is a home and it is the most peaceful place on Earth. So, no matter how small your sweet home is, you can always decorate it in such a way that it will look comparatively bigger and spacious.
If you really want to make your small space look bigger and spacious, then there are many ways to get it right. Well, the placement of the furniture, their size, the color of the wall, ceiling etc. contributes a lot in the way your home looks. By making just a few changes here and there, you can make a small room look bigger and spacious.
As I said, I myself have struggled in making my space spacious and that’s when an interior decorator friend of mine shared some quick and easy to implement home decorating hacks to make my space bigger. I am happy to share those secret decorating hacks that can help you make small room look bigger and spacious. So, if you are desperately looking to make your smaller rooms look bigger and spacious, then you should try implementing some of the decorating hacks. These tricks have helped me make my space bigger and spacious and it’s going to help you too.
Small homes do restrict your capability of decorating your rooms with many decorative items. But if you want to take my advice, it is more important to keep the essentials in your home rather than making your home look like a storage place.
You need to understand the difference between decorating the rooms and dumping things inside your home for the sake for decoration. If you know the basics of interior decoration, you will know that opting for the right items and keeping those things in the right place and in the right way can actually create a hell and heaven difference in the way your room actually looks.
Thankfully, there are easy ways to make a small room look bigger and spacious. It does not require a lot of remodeling or hiring an interior contractor. Just a bit of tweak in the way you have laid the furniture, painted the room and placement of mirror etc can totally transform your space and make it look bigger and spacious.
So are you ready to explore these home decorating hacks that’ll help you to make a small room look bigger? I guess you are, so let’s dive in.
Here’s how to make a small room look bigger and spacious
People who suffer from the problem of claustrophobia know how suffocating tiny places can be. So if we could try out means to make a small room look bigger, then I think it will be great. Sometimes, little bit of illusionary effects does the trick and sometimes proper placement and arrangement of items actually help in finding out more space even in tiny places.
Here, are best ways to make a small room look bigger
Paint color
If you really want to make a small room look bigger and spacious, then the first thing that you should do is to paint your rooms with lighter shades. The main reason behind that is lighter paint colors gives the illusion of a larger area. Monochromatic colors are also a great option to try, to make your spaces look bigger, but lighter shades can do wonder.
On the other hand, darker shades may look cool, bright and trendy but it kinds of creates a suffocating feeling as if the rooms are getting more and more shrieked. But, still if you do want to use a darker shade, then paint it in a room that is in reality spacious and large.
The paint color is not simply limited to the walls but it also includes the flooring. Light-colored flooring also makes the room more spacious. In case, you have a problem in replacing the dark color carpets or dark wood floors, you can cover as much floor space as you can with light colored rugs. Make sure the color is in tune with the color of the walls and it’ll help you make a small room look bigger and spacious.
Furniture with leg
Using furniture with leg showing can create the illusion of bigger space much effectively than furniture that has no legs. So the next best thing that you can do to make a small room look bigger and spacious is by using furniture that has leg showings. This is because furniture that directly rest on the ground can actually look very big and bulky when kept in a small space. In comparison to that, furniture that has leg showings draws our eyes in the upward direction and gives an illusionary feel of more light and space even in a room that is otherwise tiny and comparatively smaller.
Multifunctional furniture
Since, you are experiencing lack of space and you want to make a small room look bigger and spacious, it is important for you to not stuff your rooms with lots of furniture. You need to take a minimalist approach while choosing the furniture and go for smart multifunctional furniture. In other words, keep things that serve dual purposes like for example, a sofa which has pull out storage space, a steamer trunk that can be doubled as an end or a coffee table, an ottoman that you can open for some extra storage space as and when required.
Identify the furniture which you can downsize because it’s going to help you in creating free space. For example, you can get rid of the leaf from your dining room table until and unless it is very much needed. You can replace the usual traditional bed with a pullout sofa or keep a daybed which can also serve as a sofa. You may even replace the recliner of full size with a chair and footstool of medium size.
Clear furniture
The other kind of furniture that creates the illusion of more space is the furniture that is made of glass. These clear or see through ones make the space look more open as well serve your purposes. They also come in various designs and add some uniqueness to the space. If you are looking to make your space look bigger and spacious and you are yet to buy furniture then go for the furniture with glass top or glass in sides.
Window treatments
If you have a small space and you are thinking of going for the window treatments that are heavy, bulky and ornate, well that is not a good idea. It may be pretty to look at but all those drapes, curtains, cornices and valances made from heavy and highly decorated materials absorb too much of natural light and make the rooms look stuffy.
Windows must be there in the corners to brighten up the room with natural sunlight inside, which will automatically make the space look bigger. And, for the best effects, it is best if you use slatted window blinds or sheer lace curtains or may be bamboo shades. Slatted blinds will provide you with enough privacy when you keep them closed while the bamboo shades provide semi privacy when you close it as well as it allows the sunlight to come inside through the wooden materials.
Mirror remedy
One of the coolest ways to make a small room look bigger and spacious is by using the mirrors. When used strategically, mirrors can easily create an illusion and make tiny spaces look bigger. The best way is to place them as a covering for an entire side of the wall (which is preferably closer to the window) or on sliding closet doors.
Mirror remedy also serves two other purposes. Firstly, it will enable the images, wall hangings, accessories, wall hangings, and light from the recessed lighting or lamps will be reflected into the room. Secondly, it will also allow the natural sunlight to reflect all over the room, making the room look bigger and brighter.
Add stripes
Stripes are a good option for you to try to make a small room look bigger, as both vertical and horizontal stripes create an illusion of more space. The vertical ones aid in drawing your eye in the upward direction while the horizontal stripes are instrumental in making the rooms look wider. However, while selecting the colors, be sure that it matches and is in tune with the rest of the fabrics and finishes in your room. If you use a shade that does not match with overall theme of the room, then it may look odd.
Shelves color
You can store the items of similar colors on the open shelves. This is because it gives a very neat, clean and organized look to your small space. It does not give the feeling of being cluttered together. Moreover, it also helps to space out the things in your open shelf and use them for display purposes as well as for storage. This may sound like a simple hack, but it’s very effective in creating a clutter free and organized space that ultimately look neat and spacious.
Utilize the ceiling
The ceilings must be utilized properly for creating an illusion of a bigger space. For that, you may install a band of small moldings which will be around a foot down from the ceilings all around your room. The color of the paint in the wall area which is above the molding must be different than that in the wall area below of the molding. A combination that always works great is the color white or cream in your ceiling while the rest of the walls lighter shade of blue or pale yellow.
Lighting
The kind of lighting that you are using in your room can make or break the overall look of the space. For example, if your rooms have harsh top-down lighting, it kind of make the room all the more small as it pools all the light on one specific space. On the other hand, if you use few small lamps, you will see that the light will spread all over the room making your eye move all around the room, thereby creating an illusion of a large space.
Besides all these, make sure you open windows during the daytime to let the natural light in as that helps you make a small room look bigger naturally.
Declutter
Needless to say, but too much clutter in a small space can actually make the space look even smaller. So, one of the easiest ways to make your smaller rooms look bigger and spacious is by getting rid of the clutter. The more less stuffs in your rooms, the spacious it will look. Less clutter creates a positive impact on the visual and size of the room, so declutter your room now.
Start by getting rid of unnecessary decorative accessories, artificial plants and flowers, Knick knacks, or other items which you kept so long just for display which otherwise holds no such value or serves no important purpose.
Built-in cabinet
When you got small rooms and there is literally no storage space left on the floor, you can always consider a built-in cabinet. This is great as the open space within the walls will be perfectly utilized and it will also not unnecessarily take up additional room space and at the end, you will get better storage options as well.
Upholstery
Go for the plain upholstery of solid colors instead of choosing pieces having busy patterns. This makes the small space look less chaotic and more open. In addition, plain upholstery also helps in preserving the clean lines of the pieces of furniture making the room look clean, organized and spacious.
Over to you
Owning a home big or small is a matter of immense satisfaction as it is a place of perfect peace, privacy, relaxation and happiness. But, I have come across people who have always dreamt of owning a big home but could not afford the money or have it due to some other issues. Well, I understand that with more space, you get opportunity to beautify your home with various decorative items or buy furniture and other things of various shapes and sizes as per your choice.
On the other hand, having less space in your home puts restrictions on such things. But, I want to tell you that, instead of getting upset, you may find out alternative means to make a small look bigger and spacious. Like, for example if you are having problems with small home space, then you can always try out ways that can bring out some extra space in your room or at least create an illusionary effect of a bigger space.
With a little bit of imaginative and creative power, you can always give your rooms a whole new look where they will look classy, bigger and spacious than their original size. I have already shared a few quick and simple hacks that can help you to make a small room look bigger and spacious. You can easily tryout some of these home decorating tricks for it is easy to implement and does not cost much.
However, one thing you must remember is you must never stuff your rooms big or small with unnecessary items. Decorating the rooms is an art and cluttering doesn’t work. Instead, it makes the space very bulky and busy. So, avoid overstuffing and rather declutter your space, arrange furniture correctly, use right shades of paint and these simple hacks will help you make your smaller rooms look bigger and spacious.
I will be waiting for your valuable feedbacks and so do share your experiences by commenting on the comments section. Also, feel free to suggest other ways that can make any small space look bigger and spacious.
And finally, if you like these posts, then please, share and spread the word.
