Home Feeling Claustrophobic? Add Airiness With These 5 Elements

Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, venturing out into the world can be a claustrophobic experience of overwhelming stimuli, people and things getting way too close for comfort. When you get back to your home, you might be aiming for a space that lets you take a deep, refreshing breath. How do you cultivate a feeling of airiness in your home, no matter the size, style or amount of stuff? Consider these five ideas and design details.

None of these elements will completely take a cluttered, claustrophobic space and turn it into a space that feels like an empty warehouse, but adding small details like this, or exchanging these ideas for some heavier elements you might have, will go a long way toward making your rooms lean more into the easy-to-breathe category.

Floating furniture like wall-mounted credenzas add airiness by lifting their weight from the floor, leaving lots of space underneath for air to move around freely. This immediately makes the entire room feel just a touch lighter. Keeping the floating furniture a wall-matching color and free from a lot of ornament adds to that airy feeling. Spotted on Stadshem.

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Just like painting say, a set of shelves, your wall color can make those shelves sink into the room and not take up as much visual space, so to can choosing art that “matches” your wall color. The word’s in quotes because you don’t want to just paint a canvas the same color as your wall (although, we suppose you could). The idea is to find art that will blend with your wall and not stand out too terribly — so it’ll be like having a wall that feels like a negative space and uncluttered, but unlike leaving it completely blank, it won’t feel terribly boring or empty. Via Home Life.

Some people vote for translucent furniture when they want to add airiness to a space — and it’s true that a see-through piece of furniture just won’t take up a lot of visual space. But lucite furniture doesn’t go with everyone’s style, whereas white can and does. It’s also easy to find or DIY. So consider white-washing something in a space if you want to add a more airy feel to a room. Seen on Domino.

Adding hanging light fixtures to a space is a great way to add style, but they can be bulky and bold and sometimes get in the way and feel like the ceiling is caving in. Opting for a big, clear bulb will add light where you need it without the bulk. One hanging in the center of the room spotted on Stadshem, but we’d suggest using this idea to substitute your light fixtures anywhere in the home.

Leaving off the headboard on a bed, not using bookshelves to create nooks — if you want to cultivate the feeling of airiness, don’t box yourself in.

What are small elements that add a feeling of airiness in your space?