Live the grand life: How to make a room look spacious

Nowadays with compact living on the rise, how to make a room look spacious is the most interior design conundrum home owners face.

The good news is that you can always create the illusion of having more space if you want to. You can make any given room look and feel more spacious if you are so inclined.

Following these simple steps can help you make a room look spacious even if it is really not.

Keep it simple

First and foremost, keep it simple. Decorating a small space is all about downsizing. The more pieces, possessions, and patterns you have in a room, the more cluttered it will feel.

So avoid busy patterns and overwhelming colors as much as you can i f you want to make a room look spacious.

Do not cover your walls with a lot of pictures as well. One large painting works better than a group of small paintings.

A good rule to go by is that you should never have more than five main pieces of furniture in a small room, otherwise it would be too much.

If there is too much going on, all clamoring for attention, it can make the room feel busy and crowded.

You can never have too much light

Lighting is your friend, it makes any place look more open and spacious.

Choose good lighting, and more importantly, good distribution of that lighting. Do not neglect the negative effect of dark corners.

Also lose the heavy drapes. If you want to frame your windows choose a light breezy fabric in a light color. You want to have as much natural light as you can.

For even more light, use a bar that extends far beyond the window frame so you can fully expose the window.

Add some mirrors as well. Placing a mirror across from a window is the best way to reflect light and make the room feel larger.

Improve the traffic flow

How you and your guests move through your space has a big effect on how spacious your home is perceived.

If you want to evaluate how traffic moves through your space move through your house, from room to room and inside each room.

The movement should make sense, you shouldn’t have to walk all the way around a room to get to the next. It should also flow smoothly, you shouldn’t have to stumble over things in the way.

If you want to be sure about the traffic flow, apply the Vacuum Test: Swivel your vacuum around the room. The more easily you can maneuver it, the easier it will be for you to get in and out, and the bigger the room will seem.

Use a monochromatic color pallet

One way to create the illusion that the room extends on and on, in every direction, is to pick similar colors for the walls, trim and doors.

Painting the walls and ceiling the same shade of color serves to blur the boundaries between wall and ceiling, causing your eye to travel up, essentially making the ceiling seem higher.

At least some of the furniture should be the same color as the walls. Even bigger items such as armoires and chests will begin to blend in if they are in the same color, expanding the room.

When choosing a color palette, try to avoid dark colors unless you specifically want to create a dramatic focal point.

Light colors open up a room, making it feel airy and light, calm and serene.

Finally, in small spaces that can quickly become cluttered looking, white is a good choice because it simplifies a space and emphasizes the architecture.

Choose furniture wisely

Furniture for the small space is all about proportions. Simply put, if a piece brushes up against the boundaries of the room, either up and down or sideways, it is too large.

Therefore, always leave a little air in between the sides of your furniture and the walls. This creates a sense of roominess.

In small living rooms, one large couch instead of multiple small pieces actually decreases the cluttered look and makes a room look spacious.

Also Furniture that is lower to the ground will create a feeling of openness in a room simply by the fact that they leave more space above them.

Try to choose furniture with open arms and exposed legs as well. This allows light to filter under the furniture, making the room appear airier.