A Practical Guide to Making a Space Look Larger

Living in a small space is often unavoidable. Some people probably choose to live in smaller space because it is easier to manage. Other people may just love small space to live in. Living in a small-sized apartment, for example, is today’s lifestyle. 
 
Living in small space gives many advantages, but some compromises might need to be made to make everything feel comfortable. Here are some tricks to make space looks and feels larger. 

Design multifunction room and furniture

You cannot put too many furniture in the room. They will cramp the room. Too many furniture could obstruct ventilation and misuse important areas. You could choose limited numbers of multifunction furniture such as a sofa bed, or a credenza that could also function as a table. Use rod for hanging extra clothes or bedding instead of adding more closets. An armoire could be useful to store miscellaneous stuffs from books to clothes, dishes or your home theater set.  
 
You could design room that could be use for several purposes. For example a living room which is also a work room and a dining room.

Play with color.

Choose color from the cool end of the color wheel and choose the soft and light tones such as light blue or green. Cool colors make the room airy. Pick wallpaper in any one of these colors. Otherwise, you may use white or cream to color your wall and use pink, blue, red, or green for the ceiling or floor. Light and bright colors make the wall or ceiling more reflective. The wall or ceiling appears farther back and thus the room will looks larger. 
 
Use colors that are in the same color family, for example green and yellow. Dark-colored furniture could be used. It will give dramatic effect in the room. Light-colored wall is best combined with dark-colored floor. The space will appears to expand. If your ceiling is low and you want to make it looks higher, paint it with lighter shade than the walls. Keep upholstery plain. Choose neutral tone wherever possible. 

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Keep your room clear

Do not let your stuffs scattered all over the room. Instead, keep them out of the view. You could organize them behind doors, in the drawers, on shelves, or in the closet. Neatly arranged stuffs will enlarge the room perception. 
 
Also do not let furniture blocking the view into a room or out to open space. Move all furniture away from any walkways. You can also arrange the furniture against the wall instead of putting it in the open space. 

Use mirrors or reflective surfaces

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You could use a mirrored wall. Otherwise you could put a large sized framed mirror on the wall or stand it against the wall. Mirrors will double the size of the room. The light will also be reflected by the mirrors and it will give you a more open feeling. You can also cover chest of drawers or bureau with mirrors.

Remove all partitions.

Forget about partitions. There are other methods you could use to define room boundaries. Differentiate the floor level for example, or use different floor pattern or carpets in several locations to mark areas. 

Use see-through materials.

See-through materials could make anything beyond appear farther away. Glass tabletops could be a nice option. Using clear frameless enclosure in your bathroom will makes your tiny bathroom looks larger. 

Choose appropriate furniture.

Simple styled furniture with not much detail is the best choice. Furniture with many details and ornaments will make your room looks crowded. Designing built-in furniture could help maximizing the room capacity. Few large sized furniture is better than several smaller pieces which will make your room look cluttered.

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Organize your kitchen.

Keep frequently used kitchen apparel only. Microwave is a must have items. It is important to have an exhaust fan installed in your kitchen, so the smoke will not pollute the whole house. 

Prepare an appropriate room decoration.

Do not use different themes do decorate each room. Just pick a single theme and decorate all the rooms accordingly.

Play with lighting.

A well-lit room looks larger. Install more lamps or get rid of heavy draperies to let outdoor lights into the room. Use sheer fabrics to allow light to pass through windows, and table, bed or furniture covers. You could use simple motives for your fabrics such as stripes, or floral vines but keep the color soft.