The Illusion of Space: Making a Small Room Huge Without Remodeling (Guest Blog)
Odds are, you don’t live in a 4,000 square-foot mansion, which means you probably have a room or two that are smaller than you’d like. Unfortunately, unless you have a few thousand dollars lying around to knock out a few walls, you just have to live with a room that looks and feels cramped - right?
Actually, there’s a way to make small rooms larger without bringing in a demolition crew. Whether you don’t own the property or lack the funds for an extensive renovation, you can still transform your tiny room into a spacious space. Here’s how.
Clean Up and Declutter
Whenever you are concerned about space, you should take extra pains to clean up and avoid lingering messes. Overcrowded bookshelves, paper-covered desks, shoe-strewn floors, and more only make a room feel more cramped, so your first step should be clearing out anything you no longer need. This should extend even to areas of your home you don’t often show off, such as the insides of cabinets or your attic and garage. It’s time to get rid of the family boat that doesn’t run and the baby clothes your kids don’t fit in anymore. The more you adhere to a minimalist lifestyle, the easier it will be to keep your rooms looking huge.
Store Creatively
The key to creating space is to keep your floors clear. That means in a small room, you shouldn’t rely on bookshelves, armoires, and other floor-sitting furniture to store your stuff. Instead, you’ll need to think creatively about your space and the items you need to store. Instead of decorating counter tops with knickknacks, you should be using them practically to store appliances or tools. If possible, you should take advantage of vertical space, utilizing your wall space with shelves, and you can use ceiling hooks to keep other items out of the way. As long as your items are organized and off the floor, your room will look larger.
Allow Visual Flow
One major design trick to make small rooms huge is to decorate them with the same palette, textures, and style as adjoining rooms. If you leave the doors open, the eye tends to gloss over the wall boundaries and flow into nearby rooms, so your entire house feels like one large, continuous space. Conversely, if your tiny room is painted a different color, it will feel conspicuously separate from the rest of your home.
Invite Natural Light
Darkness might as well be a blanket encasing and smothering everything in a room. Even in a spacious room, the dark tends to cover and constrict. Small spaces should be as light and bright as possible, with minimal window coverings to improve the airiness of the room. Instead of using heavy shutters or wooden blinds, you should opt for sheer curtains or woven blinds. Additionally, you should consider using brighter, more reflective paint to bounce the natural light around.
Use Mirrors Liberally
Mirrors are always a decorator’s best friend. Mirrors reflect light and color, effectively double visual space, and provide textural interest. While it might not be a good idea to cover all of your small room’s walls in mirrors, installing two or even three could be beneficial in making your space seem as large as possible. The best place to hang a mirror is above décor you want people to see, such as an accent couch or a sculpture; otherwise, you can place your mirrors across from any windows to enhance the light in your room.
Tiffany Rowe prides herself in her ability to create and provide high quality content that audiences find valuable. She also enjoys connecting with other bloggers and collaborating for exclusive content in various niches. With many years of experience, Tiffany has found herself more passionate than ever to continue developing content and relationship across multiple platforms and audiences.
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