tricks to make a small room look bigger? (floor, window, sofas)

[dreamofmonterey]

Are there any colors that are better- make a room look bigger? I have heard the dark colors make it look small- but add character.

I am interior design challenged!-lol- I just changed the drapes that were here for over a year!


sunny

[BlueWillowPlate]

I too am interior-designed challenged, but the one thing I always heard for enlarging a small room was use mirrors.

[tet tea]

Darker colors can actually enlarge a room. Another trick is to paint the ceiling a shade or two lighter than the walls. Also having lots of small pieces of furniture in a room can make it look smaller. Try anchoring it with one large piece like an armoire, then select only a few pieces and cut down on the nick nacks.
Try hanging your drapes from just below the ceiling and have them come all the way down to the floor. It gives the illusion of height.
A large mirror can help. Just be aware of what the mirror is reflecting.

[Tjukken]

I heard that light colors combined with glas steal and mirrors makes the room feel bigger.

tho in my opinion it also makes the room look like a hospital
and i wouldent feel good laying in my coach waching tv with a beer in my hand. if the living room looks lika a hospital. I wud just sitt straight and wait to geet home...

homes shud be warm and nice.. tho that makes the rooms apper smaler..

Tho one thing u can do. is make sure not to overcrowd the room with "stuff"

Like a living room u shud have a sofa a table 1 smal chair not those huge thingys. same with the sofa not to big. then a tv and radio... (asume u want that) some picture on the wall. few smal plants.. and a bokkshelf on the wall. not thos huge floor standing ones.

Then on the floor dont use carpet. geet ur self those wooden floor lokalikes. (or real if u can afford) coz if u put the wooden lines in the room lenght it might geet the room to look longer. Dont use to dark floor.
u can also use two coolors on the wall. or perhaps the first 80 - 100 cm in wood and the rest in deep yellow.(not orange)

Atleast to me this makes the room look larger. without hospilitise the room.(is that a word "hospilitise"? dosent look right.. )

Somthing like this: "sorry for the cellphone Q"
http://home.online.no/~estein2/05052007.jpg (broken link)

[Cornerguy1]

Keep clutter from knick knacks to a minimum and choose only essential pieces of furniture. Chairs, tables and sofas which have open legs and bases, (what used to be called Swedish design), give the illusion of more space when compared to the effect of pieces totally covered with upholstery.

Rather than ornate, heavy draperies, consider minimalist window treatments such as Venetian blinds or Roman shades which mount inside the window frames. And, if possible, keep your blinds open during daylight hours to help incorporate the great out doors as part of your room space.

[ellie]

When I took the artwork down from my walls recently, the room looked so much smaller. I just had one or two nice pieces on each wall and not much clutter.

I feel like light walls move in, making the room feel smaller, while medium to darker walls move back in space and recede. That's my personal way of seeing things.

[jhlcomp]

I divided one of my rooms (really need to provide a photo) so that I could have a huge walkin closet and an office/sewingroom/reading room.

The room has white base boards and I had a professional closet company come in and design a working desk with floor to ceiling built ins. One entire wall is dedicated to this.

I tried several paint colors and came down to a very pale aqua. While the room is small, it feels larger with a lighter color than the dark I originally tried. There is another color I almost used; I would call it buttercup. Good luck!!

[desertgirl]

Great ideas so far.

I agree with adding furniture with height to make rooms look bigger. People tend to think tallish furniture, like 70+ inch armoires and bookcases, overwhelms a room making it look smaller. Furniture with height, as with ceiling to floor draperies, draws the eye upward and gives the reception of a bigger room.

Leaving enough spaces around tall pieces makes a room look bigger and airier. Like Cornerguy said, visible legs also add to the airy feeling.

Putting only short furniture in a room tends to cut it in half making it look crowded and bottom heavy. Because they don't make full use of wall space, short furniture requires pictures, shelves etc. to finish a room and, in some cases, emphasizing the bottom heaviness even more and making it look busy.

Furniture with height gives a more finished look too.

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by jhlcomp

I divided one of my rooms (really need to provide a photo) so that I could have a huge walkin closet and an office/sewingroom/reading room.

The room has white base boards and I had a professional closet company come in and design a working desk with floor to ceiling built ins. One entire wall is dedicated to this.

I tried several paint colors and came down to a very pale aqua. While the room is small, it feels larger with a lighter color than the dark I originally tried. There is another color I almost used; I would call it buttercup. Good luck!!

sounds nice - a professional closet co!- I need that. 3 overflowing closets (a jungle) why did they build such small closets 15 years ago in houses?!!!


sunny

[Ohiogirl81]

Glass topped tables are said to make rooms look larger.

Professional klutzes like myself will never know ... LOL.