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We all have that one room that feels a little underwhelming when it comes to space. Every home has it.
But can you make it feel bigger? Absolutely!
Whether it’s a bedroom, bathroom, laundry room, or kitchen, these 10 expert ideas for how to make a small room look bigger will make your space feel a little more grand.
1. Paint With Light Colors
When you’re surrounded by dark colors in an already small room, it can feel a bit suffocating. It can actually make your room feel smaller than it really is! If you’re wondering what colors make a room look bigger and brighter, here it is.
Paint your walls using light, neutral colors to maximize the amount of given space.
For a warmer feeling, go with a beige or alabaster. If cool tones are more your thing, go with a greige or any color with a grey undertone.
If comfy and inviting is the mood you are going for, stick with that warmer undertone.
I personally love the color Toque White by Sherwin Williams because it’s a neutral color that gives you the best of both worlds depending on the lighting. It can feel warm when the lights are on, but it does have a grey undertone when the lighting is dim.
Here’s where it gets fun – you can paint one wall a dark color and make it an accent wall. Keep the rest of the walls light. Check out my husband’s home office where we kept the walls Agreeable Grey and painted one wall a dark forest green to create a moody men’s home office.
2. Mirrors Create the Illusion of More Space
If you were to ask me my favorite way on how to make a small room look bigger, mirrors will always be my answer!
Stick a mirror on any wall in the room and you’ll already feel the room getting bigger. But when available, place mirrors across from the entrance into the room, or across from windows.
When you enter a room and see a mirror on the other side of it, it’s going to reflect the entire room back at you, and in return, you’re going to feel as if the room goes back further than it actually does.
Placing a mirror across from windows takes that natural light and spreads it across the room. And when you consider lighting is a key ingredient to making small spaces look bigger, this becomes the perfect place for your mirror.
The bigger the mirror, the better. You can place a large mirror over a console table, or a full-length mirror in a bedroom. I just got this beautiful mirror from Wayfair for my bedroom and YES it makes the room feel bigger, and YES it’s the best mirror I’ve ever seen!
Small bathrooms are especially important to have the right-sized mirror over your vanity in order to make your bathroom look bigger – make it tall and wide! Check out my vanity mirror size guide here for a deeper dive.
RELATED POST: 17 Amazon Bathroom Vanity Mirrors You Will Obsess Over!
3. Clean and Organize Loose Items
If you have a cluttered space with loose items that don’t have a home, this can make your room feel a little bit tighter.
Tidy up the room and organize where you can. Make sure you don’t have boxes piled into the corner of a room or things crowding table tops and surfaces. Also, be sure to have a home for each of your items – whether it’s in a drawer, basket, or closet, there should be a place for everything when you’re not using it.
In the kitchen, be sure you don’t have A TON sitting out on your countertops. It’s okay to have some decor or your coffee maker out. But don’t make it a habit of using it as storage!
In a bedroom, something as little as making sure clean clothes are put away and dirty clothes are in a hamper makes a big difference.
A cluttered space will always look crowded and feel small. When you keep your room clean and organized, you eliminate that feeling and open your room up a bit.
RELATED POST: How to Store Blankets So You Have Room To Buy More Blankets!
4. Simplify Your Space (Less is More in a Small Space)
If you have a small room, let’s be honest, physical space is just not your friend. We can make it feel bigger, but there’s no way to physically make the room bigger – without some construction and lots of money. 🙂
With that being said, we have to accept the fact that we simply cannot add a lot of furniture into a small space.
For how to make a small room look bigger, use less furniture! You have to put your minimalist cap on for a second and think about what furniture is absolutely needed in your small space.
If you never use that table in the corner, do you really need it in that room? 😏 Don’t worry, I’ve had to ask myself that question plenty of times!
This doesn’t mean that you can’t use big furniture. Because depending on the layout, bigger furniture can create the illusion of more space.
The layout of your space is equally as important as simplifying your space. When you walk into the room, it’s best to have your bulkier furniture on the perimeter of the room, and smaller furniture in the center (if necessary). This will open up the room and give you back even more space!
5. Neutral Furniture Colors Keep the Room Light and Airy
I think you already know where I’m going with this one. Since we’re on the topic of furniture, let’s talk about the color of said furniture and the way it can impact how big your room feels.
Dark furniture can make a room feel small. So if you have a dark couch, dark accents, or any other dark furniture around the room, it may be time to consider where else that could work in your house and if you’re ready for a space-saving upgrade!
Use lighter colors for furniture in a small room – including but not limited to linen fabric, light grey, beige, off-white, etc.
This will help ensure your room stays light and airy.
RELATED POST: The Couch My Guests Won’t Stop Talking About
6. Large Art Creates Bigger Walls
Think about hanging a teeny tiny picture frame on a large wall. That tiny little picture frame is going to shrink the wall down with it.
Large art and pictures will expand the appearance of the wall, making the overall size of the room feel bigger. Look at your largest blank wall. This could be the perfect place to hang large art.
When I say large art, this means anything over 24”x36”. In a small living room, you could hang large art behind a couch or on an unused wall.
You can also use the picture wall effect to create a larger feeling wall. Just get 6 to 9 medium-sized square picture frames to make a grid on the wall, and fill them with your favorite pictures of you and your significant other, friends, family, or pets!
RELATED POST: How High To Hang Pictures: Get It Right Every Time!
7. Hang Curtains the Right Way
Curtains can really work in your favor when it comes to making the room feel taller. Unfortunately, I’ve seen curtains hung so low, and it makes the room feel really short.
Hang your curtain rod 3-4 inches from the ceiling. That way your curtains have a long, vertical appearance to them, and in return, you get the illusion of a taller space.
What about the curtain color? The best color, and fabric, you’ll want to use is a neutral-colored, sheer curtain. As you can see, there’s a recurring theme when thinking about how to make a small room look bigger and it really does revolve around colors.
Sheer gives off that light and airy feel, and it doesn’t weigh down the room at all.
If you want to see this in action I have the perfect hack for you. Check out the related post below to get the perfect-looking curtains to make your room feel bigger.
RELATED POST: How To Hang Curtains Like A Designer
8. Utilize Patterns For Height and Width
On the subject of adding height to the room, you can achieve a taller and wider room by utilizing patterns.
Use accent walls, wallpaper, and paneling to create patterns that elongate your room in both directions.
If you’re new here, let me tell you that my favorite way to add height to a room is with a board and batten accent wall. When you do this kind of accent wall with a vertical and horizontal pattern, you not only create the feeling of a bigger room, but you also take a bland room to the next level.
You can even do a half board and batten wall in a small space like a bathroom for the illusion of height.
RELATED POST: Easy DIY Board and Batten Accent Wall (Step By Step Guide)
Wallpaper patterns carry through a room. This visually opens up the space. My recommendation is to pick a pattern that is a little more spread out, and I know it’s been said many times before, but go with a lighter color!
When it comes to wallpaper, you can even do an accent wall as well. Patterns with vertical or horizontal lines can add much-needed height and width to a small room.
Wallpaper isn’t as scary as it sounds – check out my post peel and stick vs traditional wallpaper.
9. Keep Your Entry Point Clear
One thing that makes a room feel smaller is when your entry point to the room is partially blocked by furniture.
When you have to shimmy or walk around a piece of furniture to get into the room, this immediately makes your mind shrink down the room altogether.
Clear your entry point to the room and make it free of any furniture. When you walk into your room, you should be able to freely move about. The room should open up to you, not away from you.
For example, if you have a small room where you’re walking into the back of the couch, see if there’s a layout option where you can turn the couch to the side or towards you. This isn’t always a possibility, but the point is to try and make the room as accessible as it can be for you without having to go through an obstacle course!
10. Spread the Light for a Bright and Inviting Room
Good lighting in a room is a great idea – seriously. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have the right amount of lighting in a room!
Ensure the middle of your room, and each corner of the room is well-lit. The best time to test this out is at night when you don’t have any help from natural light.
Go into your small room and turn on the lights. If there are dark spots in the room, it may be worth looking into a table lamp or floor lamp.
Does it feel cozy with the given amount of light? Typically a room that has enough light will give you that homey feeling we all love.
Now during the day is a different story. Natural light that provides an abundance of sunshine throughout the day is your best friend for making a small room look bigger and brighter. Do everything you can to take advantage of it by opening the blinds and ensuring furniture does not block any light into the room.
A room that is bright is a room that feels bigger, and that’s a pretty important thing to achieve when thinking about how to make a small room look bigger.
Although we can’t easily increase the physical size of a room, we can easily create the illusion that a small room is bigger than it really is.
I hope you’re able to put some of these 10 simple ideas to the test and achieve a room that feels big, bright, and spacious!
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