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Believe it or not, there are many simple visual tricks that can give the illusion of more space ad make your home look bigger, and they don’t require any major renovation work.
You can ‘open up’ literally every room with them, and make a small space feel larger without spending a single cent spent or a single wall torn down.
Want to know how? Check out our list of tricks, and choose the ones that can help you:
Focal walls
Image source: Mandeville Canyon Designs
If you’re already using a neutral palette as expected in a small place, consider spicing it up with a darker, contrasting hue.
For instance, if your walls are beige, go for a taupe focal wall which will still allow the other three to blend together, but will make them look much larger than they did before.
The magic of carefully used dark colors is that they distract neutral places without stilling all attention for themselves, especially when applied on window walls in a beige/white setting.
Putting light furniture in front of them is also a marvelous idea, as it will additionally weaken their shocking effect.
Still, don’t forget to keep the general scheme light, because that’s what adds the most spaciousness and fresh breeze inside.
Don’t go too far with furniture
Image source: P+A Interiors Inc
Your place is already small, so don’t make it messy with unnecessary elements that will make it look even clumsier and more crowded.
Exaggerating with furniture is not a practical solution even in bigger rooms, so keep displayed things at minimum. For instance, replace the two sofas you don’t really need with a single, bigger one, or use as few chairs as possible.
Use transparent objects and hang mirrors
Image source: Colin Cadle Photography
Glass is welcomed in small spaces, wherever applicable. Mirrors, for instance, are unbeatable when it comes to bigger space illusions, as carefully placed one can ‘add’ significantly more square footage to the room than you ever could imagine.
Besides, mirrors are beautiful, timeless, and chic, and you can use them in many clever ways, and pair them with every style.
While transparent objects in general are not that popular for high-traffic rooms, you can make the most of them during your bathroom renovation.
Instead of a curtain, install glass doors on the shower, and make every corner of the bathroom completely visible. If your doors are wooden, you can even replace them with mat glass panels or French ones.
Don’t stand in the way of light
Image source: jamesthomas Interiors
Light is a natural way to expand tiny spaces, which is exactly why you need to appreciate the large windows that you have.
Use them to the fullest, and cover them as translucently or rarely as you can, because the more natural light comes inside, the more positive, fresh, and energizing the room will feel.
You will simultaneously add length and depth, and you will even do it without exaggerated and attention-demanding solutions. In case you need sheers to protect your privacy, keep them light, or pulled back for as long as possible.
Add artificial light
Image source: Melanie Coddington
There will never be such thing as too much light in a small room, so make sure you back up the sun with a bit of artificial light. You can use floor or table lamps, pending fixtures, or even chandeliers to make the room more classy and welcoming.
Continuous flooring
Image source: Tanya Schoenroth Design
The rule number one in small homes is to keep floors united and consistent, because in such way the place looks much longer than it actually is.
Installing kitchen linoleums and living room hardwood won’t help the whole picture, so go for a durable and practical option that can meet the needs of any room.
At the same time, skip rugs and patterned carpets, unless they have the powerful vertical strips imprinted to assist your spaciousness idea.
Repurpose furniture
Or, explained in a better way, fool the eye with creativity and multi-functional pieces. Physically, this will make your place less cluttered, and will provide some extra storage space you never knew you can count on.
Just to give you an example: it is quite easy to use your comfy ottoman as a serving table (while you’re also storing a bunch of things inside), or to open the wall-fixed console and to use it as a large dinner table.
Your dresser can also become your nightstand, while the heavy desk can pull its weight to become your brand you twin bed at nights.
Go vertical
Image source: CDA DESIGN
The one dimension you still didn’t consider in your small room is the vertical one, and that’s exactly where you can splurge, experiment, and customize.
Think of lofty areas, for instance: they’ve become super-popular with their unique vertical shelving sets, unobtrusive nooks, and under-staircase storage.
What designers did there is to pull out the maximum of that space, so try hiring a contractor to do the same for you.
To start with, you don’t even have to ask for professional services – try out open shelving on your own, and remove all bulky items out of the way. Looks good, doesn’t it? Go on!
Pull curtains back, or expand them
Image source: House of Amelia
Open windows are quite a common sense with small rooms, but there is another important windowing trick you should be aware of.
The longer the curtain rod is compared to the actual size of the window, the larger that window will seem, and that applies both for width and length.
Doing this, you’re killing two birds with one stone: the ceilings will also start appearing taller than they actually are. With two or more windows positioned next to each other, you can even think of a single wall-to-wall curtain.
Transparent elements
Image source: Lisa Petrole Photography
The problem most small-home owners encounter is that even the tiniest and most size-moderated pieces they buy make their rooms feel cramped. Still, that doesn’t have to mean that you need to limit your utilities to a mattress and a table!
Instead, consider acrylic furniture to complement a furnished apartment (it can be used on tables, desks, chairs, consoles, etc.), and your place will never look cluttered.
Transparent furniture pieces blend seamlessly with the interior and look as if they weren’t there at all.
At the same time, they stand out enough to make a powerful style statement and give an instant upgrade to any decorating scheme – the so-called ghost chairs are one of the most sought after furniture items in the world.
The Less is More principle
Image source: LUX Design
You’ve heard of it, haven’t you? This rule sounds weird, but it is probably the most logical design approach you can use in a small home.
The same goes for the cantaloupe rule: simply don’t put large elements in cantaloupe-sized places. Large furniture is generally a good solution, and big, but few well-chosen pieces will be much better than the hundredths not-that-necessary knick-knacks we buy in thrift shops every day (as long as we place them with care).
Besides, large furniture makes a stronger statement, and it is far more practical for a unified look.
Don’t push furniture too close to the walls
Image source: Rugo/ Raff Ltd. Architects
If you push furniture elements up against the walls, the only thing you will achieve is a cramped and busy look, and that doesn’t really help your idea of employing spacing tricks.
Instead, pull the elements few inches from the wall (as much as your room can allow), especially if discussing bigger ones.
Strategized painting
Image source: Lisa Teague Design Studios
Try to match the color of the walls and the floors, so that the edges between them will become less visible. Apply the same rule for walls and trims, ceilings, and door/window frames.
As for the ceiling, keep it as light as possible in order to make it appear taller.
Practical storage solutions
In the case of bathrooms and kitchens, there are a lot of places that hide incredible storage capacity: for instance, you could think of repurposing the space under counters or between cabinets, and hide as many things as possible in their large drawer boards.
At the same time, you can hang belongings on the internal side of the cabinet doors, in the smaller refrigerator sections, under the sinks, or on the sides in the doorway.
The less visible your utilities are, the bigger the place will look, so consider even vertical shelving to display your accessories and collections in a unique way.