Without extensive renovations and an unlimited budget for remodeling, expanding a room may seem impossible without demolishing walls. If you are willing to paint and use some effective organizing strategies instead, your space may appear much larger!
The key to making any small space feel larger is choosing lighter colors and taking advantage of natural lighting. Read on for our top tips for making it feel larger!
Paint the Ceiling Light
Installing several carefully placed light fixtures can bring life and brightness into any small space. Paint the ceiling lights a lighter shade than your walls for maximum impact and to expand visual space.
Make any room appear larger without the need for wall demolition by painting baseboards and trim in lighter colors than the walls, which will help the eye travel freely throughout the space and create the feeling that everything connects seamlessly.
Paint the Walls a Light Color
Paint can help make any room seem larger, and choosing a color such as white, pale yellow, or blue can play an integral role. Lighter hues tend to open up small rooms by making them appear larger.
But don’t shy away from darker hues if you want to create an atmosphere of drama. Shades like Restless Sea can bring depth and visually expand a room.
Paint the Trim a Light Color
By painting both walls and trim the same color, everything appears sharper and more unified, giving the room an airier atmosphere when combined with matching furniture pieces and tone-on-tone woven upholstery fabrics.
If you have an open, long space, consider painting the shorter walls a darker hue; dark hues recede while light colors advance, giving the room the appearance of being larger.
Paint the Floors a Light Color
Lighter flooring colors in a small space can make the room seem larger while simultaneously drawing attention away from furniture or knick-knacks that may be taking up too much of the available space.
Interior designers frequently recommend pale colors to expand a space because they reflect light and make walls seem to recede, while others suggest darker hues to add depth and character.
Lighten Up Your Furniture
As opposed to popular belief, dark colors tend to close off a room; however, using vibrant hues on the ceiling can actually make a small room seem larger by creating an entire color canopy overhead that visually expands it.
Many designers agree that white paint is ideal for small spaces as it reflects light around the room, yet other experts may recommend neutral tans or medium shades as the ultimate choice for walls and trims.
Use Multi-Function Furniture
Most stylish painting ideas that incorporate color involve accent walls or painting trim in an eye-catching hue, but for small spaces it may be wiser to stick with one soothing hue throughout.
If your room is long and narrow, painting the shorter walls in darker hues may make them recede more quickly, creating the impression of more space overall.
Choose Light Colors for Your Walls
White hues can help make any room seem larger by opening it up visually, and by painting your ceilings with similar hues of white as your walls, creating an illusion that your room is larger. But you can take it one step further by giving both walls and ceilings an equal dose of brightness with paint that works similarly on them both.
Use of higher sheen paint finishes can also help the walls reflect more light, making this an excellent solution for rooms that receive limited natural illumination.
Use Light Colors for Your Ceilings
Painting your ceiling the same color as the walls can help reduce visual clutter and give a room the impression of being larger, which works particularly well in spaces that are higher than they are wide. This trick works particularly well in rooms that are taller than they are wide.
If you want a dark paint color on the ceiling, choose tones like charcoals or deep blues as warm hues can restrict space.
Use Light Colors for Your Trims
Utilizing light colors for your trim can add both style and contrast. Choose the hue to complement the walls or use an eye-catching hue as an eye-catcher accent.
An added vertical element can make a room seem higher; for example, installing beadboard or board-and-batten wainscoting in light colors will create this effect in any ceiling space.
Use Light Colors for Your Floors
Color can be an incredible tool to transform a space and make it seem larger, yet it’s important to keep in mind all of its nuances and how they may alter your environment.
Dark colors may create the opposite effect, making a room seem even larger. Dark paint helps extend a room by disguising any visible edges between walls and furniture in its way.