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18 Tricks to Make a Tiny Space Seem Bigger

Small is beautiful with the right colour, storage, and flexible furniture

Kerrie Kelly 24 September 2017

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Lots of people live in a small home, a small room, or just a small space. Others want to live in an intimate way versus dealing with the maintenance and cleaning of a large square footage space. Small is beautiful, easy, and practical, too.

No matter what your reason for living in a small space, you’ll undoubtedly have to make some compromises in your decorating, get really organised, and make some adjustments to your lifestyle in order to live efficiently. With colour, strategic furniture buying, space planning and interesting lighting, your place will feel wonderfully YOU with all the space you need. See if some of our tips will work for you.

Tracy Murdock Allied ASID

1. When adding draperies to the room, keeping them in the same colour as walls will help avoid contrast to the space.

modernmini.zoovy.com

2. If you have large windows with beautiful views bring outside colours to your room to unify outside world with inside and expand the look of the space.

Gridley + Graves Photographers

3. Let as much natural light as possible into a room as it opens up space and gives it a character.

Contemporary Living Room Contemporary Living Room

4. Sofas and armchairs that are raised on legs create a sense of light and space; therefore they are more preferable for small rooms.

Check out these must-have furniture pieces for small spaces

ZeroEnergy Design

5. Declutter the space. Try to dispose off everything you have not used for a year. Do not get attached to furniture. Get rid of any item of furniture that is not adding to the look of the room. Create organised storage wherever possible.

American Traditional Dining Room Traditional Dining Room

6. Link adjacent spaces with the same colour and flooring. Keeping to one colour makes rooms look bigger. However, if you do need to change flooring materials it is wise to stay in the same colour family.

Michelle Hinckley

7. Use light colours or neutrals throughout; as they are space expanders and provide a neutral background for furniture and artwork.

The Lettered Cottage

8. Using cool colours will make the walls to visually recede.

Schwartz and Architecture

9. It is best to avoid unnecessary details, such as ruffles in furniture and window treatments. Use simple panelled draperies or shades.

Eclectic Home Office Interior Design Ideas from Greg Natale | Interior Design, Decorating, Furniture,

10. Using smaller prints or plain colour fabrics and rugs will create a single, unified effect and visually expand the room.

Mascheroni Construction

11. Consider using multifunctional furniture, such as ottomans, which could be used as coffee tables or sitting area.

Take a look at these multifunctional furniture pieces for compact homes

Eclectic Living Room Eclectic Living Room

12. Installing an oversized mirror or a set of smaller mirrors will add extra light, sparkle and make a small room appear larger.

American Traditional Bedroom Traditional Bedroom

13. Using ottomans, window seats, armoires and bookcases with enclosed compartments is a perfect solution for hiding everyday clutter.

Kerrie Kelly Design Lab

14. As a rule of thumb, scaled-down furniture will make the room look larger, however, fewer but larger pieces of multifunctional furniture will help avoid clutter created by small furniture pieces spread out in the room.

LDa Architecture & Interiors

15. Consider adding a floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall bookcase. This trick will create an impressive focal point and visually expand space by pushing the walls and ceiling out.

Mirrored Backsplashes, A Breath of Fresh Air | Apartment Therapy New York

16. Folding and stacking pieces of furniture and furniture on wheels can be pushed out of the way when not in use, as a result creating more space when needed.

17. If possible, remove as many doors as possible or use pocket doors to increase the sense of space.

Contemporary Kitchen Contemporary Kitchen

18. Do not fill up every shelf in a room; leave some of them half empty and spacious for an airy and more dramatic look.

Read more:
How to Live Large in a Small Apartment
Small Space Solutions From People Who’ve Been There, Done That

Tell us:
Do you have some tricks on how to maximise on space in small areas? Share them with us in the Comments below.