ways to make a room appear larger

[Brightmove]

Try the approach a certain large housebuilder uses: No interior doors whilst the house is on show, clever use of mirrors, minimal undersized furniture, neutral colours - oh and don't forget the silver tray with glasses and imitation bottle of champagne - you'll be mesmerized and wont notice how small the room really is!

[crystal_10]

1. You can paint your walls light and use dark colors for the border and trim. Paint your wall trim and moldings a lighter color than your walls. When you paint your moldings light, the wall appears further back, making your living room appear bigger.

2.
Sometimes furniture can take a lot of space. To avoid that here are some useful tips :

• Use multi-function furniture like a chest that can be used as a coffee table, sofa beds, chest of drawers, and beds with drawers for storage etc. Stick to clean lines in the furniture. Use an extendable dining table, folding tables and nest of tables, which can be tucked away when you don’t need them.
• Place the large pieces of furniture against the walls so the open space in the middle isn’t broken up.
• Scale the furniture to fit the size of the room and don’t block walking pathways. With furniture and accessories blocking the view into a room and out to open spaces, a room will look cramped. By moving furniture out and away from walkways, you’ll open up the space and make it feel larger. If you can see the floor, the room will look larger. Having oversized sofas or too much furniture will make the living room look smaller.
• Consider having at least some of the furniture pieces the same color as the walls. Even the bigger items like armoires and chest will begin to blend in to the room and widen out the room. You can add some detail by stenciling in a design or accent onto the furniture.
• Setting your furniture at an angle works because the longest straight line in any given room is it’s diagonal. When you place your furniture at an angle, it leads the eye along the longer distance, rather than the shorter wall. As an added bonus, you often get some additional storage space behind the piece in the corner, too!
• If the furniture in your room is tall, that might be making it seem as though the ceiling is lower than it actually is. Make sure there is plenty of space between your furniture, too.
• Choose a sofa and chairs with open arms and exposed legs. A glass table, will keep keep the appearance of a open and free space. This allows light to filter under the furniture, making the room appear airier.

3.
Lighting is a key element in opening up a space.Let the light into the room too. Buy letting the natural light flow into the room, you will be surprised at how this will open up the room and make it look larger. If you do not have a lot of natural light, you can add some lighting features to the room to make it look bigger. You will be amazed at how this small addition can make a big difference.
If you have access to natural light, make full use of it. Bring it into your home through windows. Full height glass panes work best. Having a large picture window can make a room seem bigger because a barrier between visitor and outside view has been removed. Instead of seeing a dimension-defining wall, visitors see an expansive view of the outdoors. Make sure window coverings are sheer, or are pulled back, to bring more light in. If the view is bad use hanging plants and potted flowers near windows. Lamps will bring in colour and focus attention.




4.Keep your room tidy and organized. There’s nothing that makes a small space feel cramped more than having too much stuff. With things neatly arranged and out of sight, the space that is in view will feel orderly and open. A cluttered room equals a smaller room.
Don’t cove your walls with a lot of pictures. One large painting works better than a group of small paintings. If there’s too much going on, all clamoring for attention, it can make the room feel busy and crowded. So, when decorating a small room, create a focal point, one area or feature that will draw the eye. In the dining room, the focal point will probably be the table. In the bedroom, it’ll probably be the bed. Make that focal point the star of the room. Arrange the furniture so that focus is
drawn to that area, and keep the décor in the rest of the room to a minimum ( limit the number of accessories ).
Keep the floor as clear as possible. This is one of the most important ways of maintaining a sense of spaciousness. One more tip – Take out large rugs to create the illusion of more floor space.

[jenny12]

Hello Friends...........

1. When trying to make your room appear larger, the rule for choosing wall colors is simple. Choose light colors. White, yellow, and pastels of your favorite colors will be the best choice for your room. These lighter shades will reflect light and make the room appear to be larger.
2. Keep the room monochromatic. For example if you chose a pale blue for your wall color, your carpet and window treatments should also be blue, although they can be a shade or two darker. Your upholstered furniture should also be a light blue color, or neutral with blue accents. For your smaller accents, you can use a darker blue color. You may also want to paint your ceiling blue as well, using a color one or two shades lighter than your walls.

3. Patterns in fabric, wallpaper, and upholstery help to keep the room more interesting; however, large-scale patterns can shrink the size of the room. When choosing wallpaper or fabric, take a ruler with you. If the pattern repeat or pattern images are four or five inches in size, they will be too big for a small room. If the image or pattern repeat is two inches or smaller, it will be a more subtle design and help the room to appear larger

Thanks

[Michelle Alden]

Here are a few tips to make a room appear larger:

•Cream colors and icy blues are just a few of the many color combinations that can open up a tiny room into a bigger living area. Light colours make your room look bigger and brighter because they are more reflective making a space feel open and airy, which will help to maximize the effect created by natural light.

•Use multi-function furniture- such as a chest that can be used as a coffee table.

•Stick to clean lines in the furniture.

•Place the large pieces of furnniture against the walls so the open space in the middle isn't broken up

•Don't block walking pathways with furniture or accessories. Blocking the view into a room and out to open spaces will make a room look cramped.

•If the furniture in your room is tall, that might be making it seem as though the ceiling is lower than it actually is. Make sure there is plenty of space between your furniture too.

[Walker Fox]

Thanks for the tips. Do any of you adopt a standard style or do you adapt to suit the individual property?

[jodieB]

I have read the same as previous posts using light coloured walls, ceilings and floors, placing furniture vertically and in corners of the room creating more floor space..use multi-functional furniture so that the room is minimal and not cluttered..

[ryanzurke]

I believe in simple way to make furniture according to room space, use some small size window and mirror in some decorative way. This small thing appear room size larger.

[zigojacko]

Removing any furniture from the room will make it appear larger. I guess this won't be the solution you're after though. Haha

[New Homes Expert]

Dont put too muach furniture in it and keep it well lit.
Take off the door.
Use glass table tops and "smaller" than usual furniture.

You will only fool stupid people. Most people will have room measurements and will see how small a room is before any viewing.

[melissaJohn]

In my opinion you should avoid set too much things in the room, first of all install a carpet, try to decorate your room with only a single bed and a chair.