You don't have to knock down walls to make a room seem bigger. Sometimes it takes a little imagination and a lot of know how to create that spacious space you crave. Here are 9 easy ideas that you can do right now to make your room appear larger. 1. Use light colors on your walls. Light colors on your walls will give a more open, spacious feeling to your room. Light colors on your walls will have your walls recede, where as dark colors will create a "closing in" feeling. 2. Unify your walls. When painting, paint your baseboards, chair rails and window trim the same color as your wall. If you have doors in your room, paint your doors the same color as well. This will remove all the visual distractions on your walls, unifying your walls... and making your room appear larger. 3. Simplify your windows. A small room is not the place to have fancy, fluffy window treatments. Keep it simple, with roman shades, or simple lined drapes. Have the fabric of your window treatments the same color as your walls. This will unify your walls even more, and creating a larger space. 4. Avoid area rugs. Keep the floor as clean and open as possible. This helps to create a spacious feeling to your room. This concept also works when creating a spacious feel for multiple rooms. Having your floor all one material will have your rooms flowing into each other and creating a larger space. 5. Reduce the clutter. With small spaces, you want to create as much open space as possible. To do this you need to clean up the clutter, minimize the amount of furniture and stay organized. 6. Small furniture and dark colors. Although, you should use light colors for your walls, the opposite is true for your furniture. A club chair upholstered in a light color will appear larger than if you covered it in a rich chocolate brown. The same is true for your wood furniture. Lean towards rich dark stains that help minimize the size of your furniture. The more contrast with your walls the smaller your furniture will seem and the larger your room will feel. There is one exception to this rule. You could also consider upholstering your furniture in the same fabric as your window treatments and the same color as your walls... your upholstered furniture will "disappear" into the walls. 7. Avoid patterns. Some pattern is nice for interest, but avoid loud, busy patterns in a small space. Stick with patterns that read as a solid. 8. Let the light in. If you have windows, create window treatments that allow the sun to shine in during the day. Natural light and the appearance of windows can really open up a space. 9. Use mirrors. Adding a mirror to a wall creates the illusion of open space. It also reflects light to add brightness to the room. Have a wall that you're not sure what to do with? Add a framed mirror. Following these simple rules will create an open, spacious room. You'll be amazed at how your small room will transform into a bright, larger room. Happy Decorating! Jennifer Thoden |
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