It’s not written anywhere that a small space has to feel overcrowded, uncomfortable, or dreary. Her are some easy steps that can make any small space seem brighter and more spacious:
1. Break up different areas with different colors of paint. If you use one color for the hall way and the kitchen, and a different color for the connecting living room, it will add definition between areas, as well as creating interest and creating more space within a space. Where as, painting all of the walls in your home the same color, will cause all of the areas to “bleed together”.
2. Carry the prints and motifs from the kitchen into the connecting hall way. You can do this by using the same wall paper or border in both the kitchen and hall way. This is a fun way to make that small kitchen seem grander without being too over-the-top.
3. Keep the space as light as possible. Whether you have carpet, tile, or hardwood floors, try to use light colors. Hardwood can be stained in light blond wood colors; use area rugs that are light colors throughout the space. Open up the curtains and let the sunshine in. Opening the windows will visually expand the space. Other than brightening up the area, the sunlight also tends to bounce off surfaces, giving the room a more cheery feel.
4. Integrate floor to ceiling curtains, stripes, or artwork. The idea of all of these things is to draw the eye upward, toward the ceiling. This will make any room feel more spacious. Wallpaper or painted stripes emphasize high ceilings, and hanging large pieces of artwork higher than eye view on the wall, will draw the focus of the room upward. The point of all of this is to draw people’s eyes away from the close proximity of the walls.
5. Mix in a couple of pieces of oversized furniture. Although this may seem counterintuitive, the idea is that the oversized furniture will trick the eye and make the other furniture seem smaller. Also, having one or two large, interesting furniture pieces will distract from the small size of the space, and put the focus on the furniture, because most people don’t think of using oversized furniture in a confined space.
