Everyone desires to live in a big room. Most people who are starting to live by themselves will live in a bedsitter for a start. When living in such a small room, one usually tries to make it bigger however much it is small. They try to live big in a small room. It is possible to make a small room bigger through designer decoration. Here are ten tips that will undoubtedly make you room bigger.
· White it out
[one_half_first]A good idea to make your room bigger is to paint the walls and the roof white. White is reflective and makes a room have a cloud like an effect. It also makes the room look airy, calm and serene. Painting the room all white will also make the boundary between the ceiling and the walls unrecognizable hence making the ceiling seem higher. Architects love white color on their projects because it enhances the architectural design building. White color, therefore, prevents a cluttered look in a small room and makes it look spacious.[/one_half_first][one_half_last][/one_half_last]
However, if you feel the white color will make the room look cold and boring, add a few dark colored items for example, dark colored furniture, throw in some dark colored rugs on the floor.
· Keep a low profile on furniture
Pick furniture that is at least 10centimeters above the floor. Overstuffed and clunky furniture pieces should have no place in a small room. Pick a sofa that is on legs, that means it will be elevated to about 15 centimeters above the floor. For a table, a round one is ideal. This is because its round corners will enhance easy movement of traffic. You can also use light and reflective table tops, especially for marble or glass tables. When choosing chairs for your small room, pick chairs are high but have low backs so that they don’t clutter the room or block the view. To keep your floor open avoid coffee tables and instead use side tables.
· Add mirrors on the walls
Mirrors are meant to trick the eye. Mirrors will create a great sense of openness in the room. In addition, a mirror has reflective properties and will, therefore, reflect light making the room more lit and it will also reflect the view making hence tricking the eye to view the reflected view as part of the room.
· Ditch the drapes and curtains
Curtains block the view of the exterior of the room. They also filter the amount of light getting into the room. As we saw in the idea of the mirror, it’s all about tricking the eye. Doing away with the curtains will extend the view of the room to the exterior. Drapes also occupy some significant space and eliminating them is a nice idea to expand your room. If you will need more privacy use some shutters or some lightweight blinds. If you must use curtains, mount them on a bar that extends past the window space so that you can push the curtains away to expose the whole window.
· Flooring
The kind of flooring design that you choose will define how spacious your room looks. A flooring pattern that flows from one room to the other uninterrupted will create a notion that the room is spacious. If the floor is made of timber, choose wider boards. If you choose to tile your flow, take the large format designs to achieve a continuous flooring system. If you find it expensive or impossible to change the floor pattern of your room, look for a round rug and place it at the center of the room.This will create a continuation between the furniture without adding more mats. If you prefer the old format rugs, choose a size that fits the area that is not occupied by the furniture. Interior designers insist that the rug should not extend up to the sofa space as this makes the room visually squeezed.
· Doors
Doors occupy a lot of space in a room. Consider the swing space for a door, it’s up to a square meter depending on the size of your door. Consider using slide doors or completely removing them. If you remove the doors completely, all the rooms will seem to be connected. If you have cupboards and shelves in your room, you can also remove all the doors to make them open. This creates more space since the initially enclosed space is now part of the room. A sliding door is, however, expensive and may need some complex modifications.If you really need the doors for privacy you can adopt the use curtains that have the same color as the walls.
It is also a good idea to use barn doors. Barn doors are very beautiful when they are not made up of contrasting material.
· Shelving
Shelves are a very important component of a room. It is useful for storing small items that can otherwise make the room full and disorganized. However, when shelves are not properly designed or placed in the wrong place, they eat up a lot of space making the room worse than if they were not there. The best shelves are those that start from the floor to the ceiling. This design gives a sense of a high roof to a room hence drawing the eyes of any onlooker upwards. Interior designers also advise that you should not have a lot of storage space in a small room. It is important to combine both closed and open since an open format will make the room feel cluttered however much you try to minimize the storage in those shelves while a closed one will make you lose that personality.
It is also a good idea putting shelves in the least expected places such as pathways, over a door way.
· Emphasize the vertical and the horizontal
Employing one element in the room that will emphasize the verticality of the room will increase the sense of openness. It also enhances the feeling of movement and flows in the room. You can adopt the following elements to emphasize the vertical of the room, a tall shelf or a shelf mounted just below the ceiling, vertical shiplap or bare hanging bulb.
To emphasize on the horizontal, you can run some shiplap right up to the walls and ceiling. This will have an effect of a seamless transition from the walls to the ceiling hence emphasizing the height and width of the room. Everything is focused on enhancing movement. Look for example the legged sofas creates a sense of dynamism, the mirrors will create a sense of an extended view. All these are trying to emphasize on the horizontal dimension of the room.
· Art and decorative pieces
Art will make a small room detailed. It plays a big role in spaciousness and look of the room. Place artwork above your eyeliner to create a sense of a high roof. If you have a collection of artwork, place them over some furniture starting from the largest in size to the smallest. Some pieces of art can be arranged according to the kind of material they are made of. You should also consider placing them over a piece of furniture, choose one that has a connection with the pieces of art so as to create cohesion.
There is a common saying that one man’s meat is another man’s poison. If you are having a small room, showcasing some outdated items won’t help. It will instead make the situation worse. The main aim of decoration is to maintain harmony between the concentration of your favorite items and a spacious area. You should, therefore, decide on a handful of items you really love and keep the rest away. A secret to keeping your decorations in place is to rotate your favorite decorations every two weeks so that each one becomes the center of attention at some moment. This also helps to ensure that you don’t get bored with the same decorations every day.
· Keep it simple
Small spaces are all about editing them to look bigger. Avoid too many knickknacks or group them so that they look like they were installed. If you have a lot of pieces, possessions, and patterns the room will definitely look cluttered. Avoid busy patterns and too warm or cold colors. Artwork or decorations should not be overdone, consider placing them on one accent wall. The furniture you place in the room should be simple, don’t go for some funny design furniture that will make the room full and imbalanced.
In conclusion, the bottom line here is just being strict with yourself and intentional and careful about everything that goes into your room. Everything narrows down to being simple, organized and obeying a few design rules.
In a small space, everything counts. Having a small room in a house can make you feel confined and uncomfortable. You do not have to be annoyed; because there are simple reasons which you can use through the use of certain designs. There are particular tricks that, when applied, can make a small room look bigger.
Here are some of the known tricks you can try:
1. Open up the room by maximizing views of the outdoors; it will make your room look wider.
2. Stick to light colored walls. Light colors reflects spacious environment.
3. Good illumination provides spacious home.
4. Put away table tops which are not needed. They seem to occupy space and provide a crowded look.
5. A white painted ceiling may look higher and spacious than darker paints.
6. Diagonally designed flooring usually results in a spacious room.
7. Select medium sized tiles even in bathrooms because it makes the room more spacious.
8. Do not buy oversized furnitures; it will eat up a lot of space inside the house.
9. Simple window decorations will help your room look bigger.
10. Mirrors can also make your room look bigger.
Keeping your room tidy and organized can help make your room look bigger; because there are lots of spaces to move freely. Do not cover your walls with a lot of decorations; it looks untidy and confined when you put so much wall decorations. Arranging the furniture with focus will help you achieve the spacious look you want. Take out large rugs, fixtures and other things inside; it will make you feel more relaxed and comfortable.
References:
- Carlson, J., Remodelista, T. E., & Recorded Books, Inc. (2016). Remodelista. New York: Artisan.
- Kime, G. (2012). Decorate!: Clever tips for enhancing the value of your home. Oxford: Infinite Ideas.
- Make small place look bigger Retrieved from http://www.insideout.com.au/expert-advice/interior-stylist/10-easy-ways-to-make-a-small-space-look-bigger
It is always more challenging to work in a small place, but the challenge is a welcome one. There are plenty of products out there that assist in making a small space appear larger. Thanks for the tips!