We talk a great deal here at Apartment Therapy about the idea of making spaces feel visually larger than they really are. We've talked about changing up paint colors and using mirrors and more natural light, but those are all yesterday's news. Today we have 5 fresh (and simple) ideas to open up almost any space.
1. Unify Your Artwork: Although we can talk all we want about using oversize artwork in small spaces, the reality is many options aren't exactly affordable. If you have a collection of smaller pieces make their frames and mats all the same color.
2. Get It Off the Floor: Do you have something on the floor just because? A basket? A box? A funky ceramic animal that happens to be trendy at the moment? Spaces feel larger when you can see more of the floor. Look at shelves, wall-hanging storage, or consider even doing away with the extra stuff all together.
3. Few But Large: In an effort to clear out items to make a space feel more open, make what you have count. Large artwork, large rugs, crazy off-the-wall lighting that makes a statement. Wall-to-wall curtains or floor-to-eiling panels that draw your eye around a space are all good things and cut down on the visual noise that lots of small details can create.
4. Put Emphasis on What You Have: Does your space have large windows? How about high ceilings? Beautiful old radiators? Thick wooden doorways? Drawing your attention to the architecture of the space pulls your eye to the far outer walls as much as possible. Make the interesting features stand out, with specific lighting or accent colors, instead of blending them in.
5. Can It Be Clear?: We're talking about side tables, accessories and frames. If they can be clear to show more of the walls, floor and other surrounding objects... do it. When you can see through them, it automatically makes things feel larger. Sure there will be more fingerprints, but you'll get over it soon enough (or get really good at whipping up an inexpensive spray cleaner).
What tricks have you learned over the years? Share your wisdom in the comments below!
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I agree with a lot of your ideas here - I've always tried to emphasize the height of a room with long curtains that stretch from floor to ceiling or taking the back splash up to the ceiling on a kitchen wall that doesn't have cabinetry above the counter top or even in the shower tiles - anything you can do to bring the eye up works wonders on the size of a room.
Editing furniture is also key - just be switching up my dining room table and chairs I added a ton of visual space to my main room recently, without changing the day-to-day # of seating available or the overall functionality of the space. I added a pedestal table and clear, Lucite chairs. I knew I'd like the updated look - I had no idea how much bigger my condo would feel!!
How can I make a narrow hallway feel larger?
I have found that area rugs need to be used with caution as well, each one defines a territory or space which tends to make small rooms feel even smaller.
Make Design: Do a paint trick. Paint a 2 shades darker color horizontally along the bottom, but lower than a typical chair rail height. Maybe to your knees or just above. Consider a moulding strip like chair rail. Paint the upper 3/4 a lighter color.
Paint the chair rail the lightest of them all and potentially to match the ceiling.
(think cream or matte white).
This should do the trick. Send me a picture and I can help further if you like.
Best,
Suzi
http://www.collierwest.com
Love it, but I would have to figure out how to hide that big honking cord on the light fixture.
These are great ideas for all areas where you want to create a feeling of open, airy light. Repeat the one shape, color or texture that you love 3 times in the space. You can vary the size to add interest.
Let there be light! Un-fussy your window coverings, add reflective surfaces, lighten your palette, provide contrasting values in each room.
Think of your floor, wall, table surfaces as real estate. Only add things that add value to that real estate.
Rethink furniture in terms of visual weight. Instead of a heavy end table, try a self-standing open 2 stack shelving unit or vintage metal tray with stand.
I am not so sure that you even need to "make a room feel larger", what exactly is wrong with a small room? I am more interested in a room containing the things that I need to be comfortable and that I use and love. Small spaces feel cozy and enveloping. If you need something to "feel larger" perhaps you should move to a larger space. Many Victorian/Edwardian homes and turn of the century buildings have small rooms that, when decorated artfully, can be inviting little jewel boxes. I have lived in studio apartments that I filled with art, antiques and books. My current one bedroom (775 sf) is also filled with the art, antiques and books that I have been collecting since I was a teenager. Embrace your small space and make it wonderful.
Where can I find that light that's on the wall in the picture? I love it.
I know it's "trendy" and some people are sick of it, but the clear/lucite furniture really is great for small spaces because it doens't clutter up the place. I use clear dining chairs and not only does it make the dining space seem larger, but then you're able to see all the beautiful details of the dining table that I splurged on.
Also, I find that if you keep your area rugs in the same tone as the floor (ie: dark floors w/ dark carpets and vice versa), it doesnt chop your space up as much and looks more unified and bigger.
Granville, I love your way of thinking and the imagery of a jewel box. I'll keep that in mind for my new place, the first floor of a townhome that will be a 490ish-ft. studio for me. I like cozy things.
I have a very large room, and I'd like to know how to make it feel smaller. How come nobody ever offers this advice?
paint the cord the same color as the wall.
MakeDesign: horizontal stripes on the floor visually widen a narrow hallway. Either paint, stain or carpet— flor tiles would make it pretty easy to customize and are easy to pick up and wash if it's a high traffic sort of hallway.
I don't see how any of these ideas would work with wtw beige carpet. This is advice for people with "beautiful [...] architecture."
@ Goosebucket, in Europe you can find the light at the Habitat shops. They sell it in two sizes.
Nailbunny: You can place area rugs over beige WTW carpet.
@TSPInteriorDesign, yes, I have done this, but as Jon King noted, area rugs on WTW break up the "sea of beige" look into smaller areas. Which is a plus for me, but not a method to make the space feel larger -- and this post is titled for "ANY Small Space."
Thanks for sharing, I love the ideas! I live in a small NYC apartment and I look forward to implementing these soon to make it feel bigger!
Keep you wall color, curtains and rugs in the same colors and close in value (light, mid tone or dark, not price) to make a small space feel larger.
These are all great ideas! I've been putting them into practice as I try to "lighten up" my house. I would say, though, that you shouldn't try to work against the space that you have. I live in a 120-year old house with small rooms, narrow windows, low ceilings, and ugly carpeting, with no architectural details to speak of whatsoever. I've fought it for the last two years, trying to make it seem more modern and clean, but that's just not what I have. My living room feels better when it's more "closed-in" and cozy, with a few extra pieces filling in the corners, but my bedroom has enough light that I can make it a more minimal room. Do what you can to lighten things up, but embrace a space that's designed to be cozy and "cluttered", Thanks for the article!
@montanagal, great advice!
I hate to ask this, but I'm wondering what those sandals are! Any help appreciated. Thanks!
@Goosebucket, you can get the Valenti Luce Pistillo lamp at http://www.stardust.com/PISTILLO.html
How can you make a narrow house feel wider?
Are those lucite chairs comfortable to sit on for long periods? I bought a dining table and chairs for the look of them, but can't sit for more than half an hour at a time, because the backs and seats are so hard.
Can anyone recommend some good manufacturers of clear furniture (besides kartell)? Desperately looking for a clear desk.
Thanks!
#Modernist1 -- lol are you serious?? Jealous here! My suggestion would be to follow all the small space suggestions and make people really envious : )
If you always aim draw the eye to the extremities or edges of a room this helps immensely. So tall shelving units in the corner, not the middle of a wall and pictures spread out to fill the width of a wall rather than being clustered in the centre.
I also find if you can see some floor around the edges of an area rug it "frames" it and makes the space seem bigger.
And, although it seems counter-intuitive, don't have dining tables pushed up against a wall, it just makes the whole room look cramped. Pull them out even a foot or two, it does take up more floorspace but it pays off because it really does gives a sense of more space.
ok, so the gorgeous lamp is 600.00US. How about a diy lamp for similar style/effect? Any of you giftedly crafty folks know how to help us out with a design for less?
Yes, but what about tiny rooms with very high ceilings (8.5 x 8.5 with 12 ft ceilings)? Especially tiny bedrooms with 12 foot high windows and enormous, looming, Wardrobes and a double bed.
I keep reading AT to discover a solution to my problem and not finding it. Not complaining about AT, which I love notwithstanding. Just registering a futile wish.
@Suzeh I'd look for a ceiling light that could be wall mounted - maybe some variation of the Ikea Maskros. Not sure how it assembles, but possibly you could do only half of it and wall mount it.
#Modernist1
This is my list to maker spaces seem smaller, pulled from different sources over the years:
Dark colors, reddish tones, matte surfaces
Solid furniture, fabric to floor or wood to floor.
Intense colors that contrast with floor, walls
Hide the corners, hide the floor
Focus interest on a spot near the viewer
Break up sight lines with curves that re-focus eyes on an intimate area
Put larger items further away from viewer, small clutter nearby.
Dark / detailed ceiling
Light down from ceiling; sparkling lights near viewer
Lines parallel to viewer.
Use Visually Weighty items:
- Details, knick-knacks: lots of eye-stopping points.
- Wallpaper: big pattern, med shades on dark.
- Multiple small pictures. Intimate, detailed, esp near viewer
What are the specific lucite chairs ppl keep mentioning in the comments? How do you know you're all talking about the same thing? o.O
I currently have a set of 6 folding lucite chairs (which I also bought on craigslist but for much, much less <does happy dance>), and both the cb2 peekaboo media console and c-table. So, as you may be able to infer, I am a fan of plexiglass. However, I do irrationally wish ppl would stop saying "takes up no visual space" in their reviews and recs for these products, the whole phrase just feels trendy, however truthful it is. >.>
for nailbunny beige wtw - if you rent you can buy cheap canvas dropcloth and paint with large colorful design and anchor with velcro over top.
for dulcibella use your verticality. instead of a standard bed, make a captains bed. cheap and easy - get used kitchen base cabinets off craigslist, screw together [paint for uniformity, take off the toe kick will save you 4" on the bottom]. If you like - use small step stool to get up on top of bed, you will garner huge storage underneath and if you use cabinets smaller than the bed you can use rope light to illuminate the perimeter. narrow wardrobes on either side of bed instead of bedside tables leave more walking space around the bed, and a shelf above the head pillows will can be mounted for reading lights [puck lights are great] alarm, etc. very small and cozy but ample storage for most
I rent a little cottage (whole of downstairs is 30f by 9ft wide at its widest and at some points it's barely 7ft) which is full of glorious “architectural details” that I need to plan around. I have tried every 'make it bigger' trick in the book until I realised that I love my LITTLE cottage and that I was assessing everything according to these rules as opposed to if I loved it or not. These ideas are fantastic and I’m sure I’ll use a couple but all rules should be taken with a pinch of salt (and preferably a slice of lemon & shot of tequila too!)
Oh and for the person asking about a DIY version of the light how about using the metal flower bowl from ikea http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/90184052/#/90110061. For £30 you could buy two, curve one of them into a tighter bowl shape so it fits inside the larger one, use a drill to make a hole in the middle of each, glue together and put a low wattage bulb in the middle. The flower filigree pattern would cast shadows in the wall (although not as nice as the £600 one of course!). Just an idea.
Thanks to redcloverstar and suzi. I'll play around with the space.
Any suggestions what color paint you should use for the walls to make the place look bigger? I have beige,cream and chocolate brown tones throughout my living room. My bedroom set is black and my bathroom is black and white tiles.
That BLACK BEAUTIFUL WALL is just the ticket to create depth and height at the same time it generates warmth and sexiness!!! I love it!!! Black is sooooo underrated as a wall color. Thanks for showing us its beauty.
@goosebucket: Lamps Plus sells a version of this fixture in two sizes - http://www.lampsplus.com/products/robert-abbey-anemone-13-inch-wide-ceiling-or-wall-light__19207.html -- I'm considering it for my hallway. Jonathon Adler also has a (pricier) version.
@Dulcibella-- I lived in a similarly sized dorm room and was delighted with the walk-on loft top closet unit. Take advantage of that overhead breathing room! You’re in an ideal place for lofts & mobiles & hanging lamps. Even hanging storage units...like the nifty baskets or plants on pulleys ideas from elsewhere on this site.
@Nailbunny – I don’t understand why any of those wouldn’t work with ANY floor covering. It’s just illusion tricks after all – do what you can draw your eyes away from the elements you don’t like and towards the things you do.