How to Make a Small Room Feel Spacious
Home staging is all about presentation but changing the way a room looks is more than visual; it also changes the way it feels. One of the most common reasons to change the way a room feels is to get the most out of spaces that are small and would otherwise feel cramped.
Do you have small rooms in your home that you wish were a little bigger, but not so much that you’d do any major remodelling? Then read on, because we’ve put together a number of ways to make small rooms feel much more spacious!
Colours
Colours are a powerful tool when decorating, and one of the most important ways you can squeeze more space out of a room is to employ contrast. You can do this at either end of the spectrum, either with very light tones or very dark tones, but most people tend to prefer using bright white for small spaces. Contrast creates depth, and using depth carefully can create the feeling of a much larger space.
Colour: use bright colours to create depth
Storage
It’s no secret that storage takes up valuable space we might like to keep as part of the floorplan, so it follows that being smart about storage space gives you more room to work with. Hidden storage works well, and one of the best ways to implement it is with multi-purpose furniture, like benches or window seats that open and double as cabinets.
Storage: use hidden storage to free up the floorplan
Accents
Be frugal with your décor and accent pieces. Having lots of small objects decorating a room will quickly make it feel cluttered, especially if it’s a smaller room. Try to limit groups of accents on tables and shelves to under 5, or even under 3 if the space is particularly small. And remember, you don’t need accents everywhere!
Accents: Be frugal with décor and accent pieces
Artwork
Wall décor is a big part of completing the look and feel of a room, and for smaller rooms, the rule-of-thumb is to essentially combine the concepts we’ve already applied to accents. Rather than filling a wall with many small pieces, try for one big one. In small rooms, don’t feel the need to place décor on every wall, either; leaving a few blank walls is a great way to avoid that same cluttered feeling you get from too many accent pieces.
Artwork: use one large artwork rather than many small ones, and don’t be scared to leave a few walls blank.
Curtains
The best way to get more space out of a room with curtains is make sure that they’re long! Floor-to-ceiling curtains can make the ceiling seem much higher with very little effort on your part.
Curtains: opt for floor-length curtains wherever possible
Rugs
A nice rug in the centre of a room not only helps make it more comfortable but can also help the floor seem wider! If you’re looking for a final touch to pull all the elements of a room together, consider a quality rug, especially if you’re working with a small space.
Rugs: use bright colours to create depth
Lighting
With lighting, the opposite concept applies; only one source of light can make a room feel smaller! Making a room feel more spacious can be as easy as adding a few well-placed lamps. Make sure that the light in the room is spaced out evenly, to try to eliminate dark corners as much as possible. This works even better in rooms that have less natural light, as natural light is one of the best ways to make a space feel bigger. When it’s in short supply, it’s important to make up for it.
Lighting: Use more than one light source to eliminate dark corners
Mirrors
Another classic illusory trick for creating space is using mirrors to manage the light in a space. When placed on walls that are typically dark, and don’t see much light, they can help light a space and make it seem bigger. This is commonly done to bounce light coming in from windows.
Mirrors: Place mirrors on dark walls to add more light, and create an illusion of space
Furniture
There are two big things you can do with your furniture to save space. First, apply the common theme of one or two larger pieces, not several smaller pieces. Even if you can barely fit a larger bed in a room, it can make the room feel bigger than using a smaller one! This applies to chairs and sofas too; cut down on the number of chairs as much as possible.
The second thing you can do with your furniture is avoid skirts on the sides of your furniture, and opt instead for chairs and beds that leave the legs exposed. Skirts on furniture can make them feel heavy, and this affects the atmosphere of the room.
Furniture: Use the largest bed & armchairs possible, rather than multiple smaller items
Need more help with home staging?
These are just a few of the clever tricks you can use to get the most out of a small space, and you can employ them when homestaging too. For more ways to help your home look its very best, contact us today!
