Designers Use This One Trick to Make Small Bedrooms Feel 2x Bigger

Feeling stuck in your small bedroom layout? There’s no need to start browsing real estate listings just yet. That’s because there’s a straightforward, effective way to make your bedroom appear much larger than it actually is. And fortunately, it doesn’t have to cost much either! 

According to a handful of designers I spoke to, the best way to make a small bedroom feel twice as big is simple: The pros say to paint the walls and ceiling the same color.

If you’re wondering why this design move works, it has everything to do with fooling the eye. “It blurs the transition between the walls and ceiling, making the room feel larger and more cohesive,” says designer Noha Hassan. 

Not sure what paint color to use for the job? Designer Shannon Cassell recommends opting for a dark hue, as designer Meghan Jay did in the bedroom above. “That sounds counterintuitive, but the dark color makes the edges of the room disappear,” Cassell says. To make this trick extra-effective, double down on the blurring effect with coordinating textiles. “I would add window treatments in the same or a similar color to help the walls feel more expansive,” Cassell notes. 

While paint is the most budget-friendly approach here, if you’re more of a prints person, you can still embrace this technique. “I love to take a rich, narrative wallpaper all the way up and across the ceiling,” says designer Wendy Morrison. “By using the same heavy pattern as the other four walls, you can change the impression of where the walls end.” Essentially, carrying the wallpaper onto the ceiling also results in a similar elongating and enlarging effect for the whole room. 

Designer Jennifer Hunter did just that in a bedroom she dubbed “the Tree House.” Choosing a leafy wall covering from Sandberg, she fully encapsulated a “room in the sky” vibe with this technique. For Morrison, though, ceiling wallpaper does more than just offer the appearance of additional square footage. “We spend so much time looking up when we’re in bed, so replacing a blank ceiling with a characterful print goes a long way when it comes to transforming a tight space,” she says. 

Whether you choose to paint or wallpaper, know that this trick will help you fake square footage. Who doesn’t want a little more “room” to sleep?