Small Spaces – How To Increase Spaciousness of A Room

When decorating a room the most universal problem in any home is too much space or not enough of it.  Since money doesn’t fall from the sky and allow us to build walls to expand, we need to come up with other ways to deal with our space issues.  There are a number of decorating ideas to help create the illusion of space in a room and make a space feel larger.

• Open plans allow our eye to move freely throughout a space by using uncluttered openings between rooms and uncovered windows.  Rarely does there need to be a door on a dining room or kitchen, so one might remove it.

• Place large pieces of furniture against and parallel to a wall to avoid cutting up the space into smaller ones.  This 73″ Bantam sofa from Design Within Reach is placed against the wall to allow movement through the space.

• Use a minimal amount of furniture and accessories.  Keep tabletops clean and bookshelves neat and un-cluttered.  Less is more!
• Simple or monochromatic color scheme with minimal patterns allow the eye to move around the room.

• Leave some open space.  Large furniture on legs with space underneath helps give the illusion of spaciousness.  Also using clear Plexiglas or glass tables like the one in the above picture or this creative one from Plexi-Craft allow a feeling of open space in a room.

• Mirrors are the oldest design trick we have.  Use mirrors to create the illusion of depth, just be mindful of the image you are reflecting.  The backs of people’s heads, cut off at the neck is not great viewing at a dining room table.   One or more of these 32″ mirrors from Lille will work wonders.   
  
• Select wall-to-wall floor covering to unify the space and make it feel more expansive.  Actually having the same flooring throughout can really help rather than a carpet here, wood floor, rug, tile and more.  I love this 100% wool bubble loop from Robertex called “What If” which is available in a nice selection of colors.   The up close view really gets into the wonderful texture of this carpet.

• Finally for those who really want to get creative… light the perimeter of the room and if possible under the base of large pieces of furniture to make them float.

More often than not a small space is easier to decorate than a large one.  If the room only has room to comfortably seat three adults, crowding more furniture in will not achieve anything.  Understand the limitations of a space, but play they up to your advantage.