Light Out Home Decorating Ideas to Make YOUR Small Room Seem Larger
Today’s living spaces are small. Although houses seem to be getting bigger the rooms inside of them seem to be getting smaller, sometimes it is all that the people can afford and sometimes the people who live there have chosen to down size.
Whatever the reason, unless you are looking for a cozy kind of an atmosphere, a small room can take its toll psychologically. You feel cramped and closed in, you may even feel claustrophobic and you find yourself wishing that you had more space. It is a home decorating nightmare.
Well, unless you decide to move, you are going to have to make do with the space that you have. Fortunately there are several home decorating ideas that will give you the illusion that your small room looks larger than it actually is.
Here is a list of some of those ideas,
1. Colors - Use light neutral, mono-chromatic colors. Because light will reflect better with the use of light neutral colors, your room will have more of an open airy feeling. Keep the moldings and trim the same color.
2. Wallpaper and fabrics - Use solid color wallpaper and window coverings. Make sure that the color that you chose is similar to the walls with only a slight contrast at most. If you decide to use a design make sure that the repeat is small and not more than two inches apart.
3. Furniture - Use small, light open furniture. Try using a love seat instead of a full length sofa and open back furniture wherever possible. Avoid over stuffed upholstery.
4. Mirrors and glass - The use of mirrors will add an entirely new dimension to the room. As a matter, of fact this is one of the most powerful home decorating ideas that you can use to make a small room seem larger. You may want to consider using mirror front cabinets as well so that they do not seem so obtrusive. The use of glass tabletops which will allow you to see the floor will also make your room seem larger.
5. Window treatments - Makes certain that your window treatments let in as much light as possible. Light is the most important factor when trying to give the illusion of more space. Avoid the use of heavy drapes.
6. Vertical space - Use the vertical space of the room as much as possible. Use taller furniture as well as floor to ceiling shelving.
7. Clutter - Remove all clutter! Whatever is out of place and in your way is only going to make the room feel smaller and cramped. I recently wrote a post on this that you can refer back to for more help in this area.
It can be a real challenge decorating small places! And the rooms that we live in are getting smaller and smaller, sometimes it is by choice, but sometimes it is not. The good thing here is that although the rooms may be small they don’t have to seem that way.
November 14th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
It is indeed hard decorating a small apartment. I know because I’m living in one. Anyway, I find that having smaller sized furniture goes a long way in creating more space. Innovative storage and reducing clutter are other important aspects as well to maximize on space use.
November 14th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Thanks WH for stopping by! Good ideas!
November 17th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Thanks for sharing this. Our condo is just 1200 sq. feet and still small for us two since my husband keeps his stuff like his instruments and production studio in this space.
November 17th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
cool page. visit u here. have a great day ahead!
November 28th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Owning a small, three bedroom home myself, I found this article to be very useful! I used to dread living in a small space whenever I thought about it, but now I’m seeing how efficiently you start to live once you learn how to work with the space you have!
November 28th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Thank you Bingkee, Ria and SpiritualBloggers for stopping by. I am glad that I could help!