We rarely have the possibility to change or extend the size of a room. But there are a lot of possibilities to make your room look bigger than it is. Here I want to give you some options to consider to make sure your room doesn’t look too small. These tips concern the floors, the walls, types of furniture, colors and patterns, art pieces and how to organize the room.
Flooring
- you’re thinking of changing your flooring and want to lay parquet; choose a classic parallel pattern and lay the pattern perpendicular to the narrowest dimension of the room.
- you want to have a new area rug in the living room. Make sure the rug is big enough such that the sofa and armchairs can be placed on it, or at least their front legs.
- you don’t like the old wood flooring anymore and would like to change the look of the room, make it look more contemporary. You can paint the flooring in a color in the same or almost the same color as the walls.
Walls
- consider plain wallcovering with a horizontal texture. Wall-covering like fabric or vegetal wall covering are good options.
- if the walls are taller than the length of the room in order to avoid a “tower effect”, you can add wood panels up to approximately 3,5 feet (1 to 1,40 meters) from the floor. The upper part of the wall should then be lighter or the same color as the panels.
- with very tall walls you can also paint the ceiling darker including a part of the walls from the top without interruption, like a 30 cm horizontal stripe in the same color as the ceiling.
- avoid any length pattern. For example, choose landscape or square instead of portrait directions.
- the 4 walls should have the same color, but if you want more effects, keep the same color and just change the shade. Don’t go for complementary colors but more for different shades of a same color.
Furniture
- select low profile furniture, such as side-boards heights.
- if you need the storage space or must have big and tall furniture, they should be a similar color as the walls of the room.
- make sure that the furniture is practical and provides the storage space you need.
- avoid furniture with no real function. Avoid unnecessary footprintsin a small space.
- consider wall mounted lighting instead of floor standing lights.
Colors
- even more important than going for light colors instead of darker ones, make sure the color isn’t interrupted. For example, if there’s a heater or a door it should be the same color or at least, a very small tone difference to the wall.
- If you want to have different colors, go for colors in the same tone.
- Avoid strong contrasts for the colors you are considering.
Patterns
- Choose textured patterns over colored patterns.
- if you want colored pattern, choose a low color contrast.
- the recommended patterns to be consider are with horizontal stripes. Again, don’t go strong on contrasts.
- too large pattern would overpower a small room.
- too small of a pattern would make the room look like a doll house.
Artwork
If you want to have a large painting or picture, for example a big abstract painting, choose a painting where the background has a similar color shade to the wall.
Organization
- keep only things that you need in the room, or in your daily life
- don’t store items in too big a quantity. For example, if you live alone why have a large collection of bathroom towels? Whether it is cosmetics or cleaning products, think of what you really use and need! Will you really look again at a magazine you have already read? Give them away to your friends or colleagues so they can enjoy them as well. Remove articles and store them if they are really important to you.
- keep decoration items that you enjoy and have real meaning for you. It is better to have a small quantity of medium-sized pieces or one large item instead of a lot of small ones which can give an impression of a doll house. Too many items depreciate the value of each individual piece.
- avoid big pieces of furniture and try to keep a distance between them so you can keep the walking path free of obstacles.
- think of multifunctional furniture. For example, a couch table or an ottoman which provide a hidden storage space where you can put magazines or blankets.
I love challenges when decorating a new space and I hope these tips give you some ideas how to optimize the space in your room or home. A home that is beautiful, feels comfortable and is easy to maintain, brings pleasure.