4 simple hacks to make any room appear larger

Do you have a small house? Most of us wish we had more space in our homes, and never is it more frustrating than those times when we’re scrolling through Pinterest admiring all those beautiful big apartments that get pinned over and over again. 

Well, all is not lost. There are a few things you can do to make any room appear larger without having doing anything too drastic or expensive… 

Paint the walls and ceiling the same colour 

Typically, we paint our walls in one colour, and our ceiling, trims, doorways and windows in another colour. But, if you want a small room to appear larger, you’ll find that painting it all out in the same hue has a massive impact. 

Be bold and paint everything in the same colour – and yes, this advice still stands even if you fancy painting your walls green! If you’re not mad about the idea of painting all these surfaces in such bold hues, opt for neutral tones on the walls such as whites, creams and very pale greys. (In fact, lots of people swear that painting the walls a light colour makes the room feel bigger, though top designers like Abigail Ahern disagree). Just go for the colour you like best and see what impact painting the whole room has.  

Add mirrors to trick the eye  

The next best way you can trick the eye into believing your small room is much larger than it actually is, is to add mirrors. Mirrors add depth to places where there is none, and the reflection can give the impression that the space extends far beyond the limitations of the room. And mirrors bounce plenty of natural light around the room, making a small room feel bright and airy. 

Take a look at the impact the mirrors in this bookcase have on this room, for example – the mirrors reflect the rest of the available space in the room, and positioning the mirrors by the window ensures light dissipates throughout the space too.  

Think about window dressing  

Whether your window is dressed with a black-out blind or a pair of made to measure curtains, you’ll need to give some thought to the colours you’re using. While intricate patterns and bold colours will undoubtedly look beautiful, they don’t always help to make a room look larger. Instead, look for curtains or blinds that exactly match the colour of your walls to trick the eye into thinking the room is larger by not subconsciously breaking the wall into sections.

Also, if you do opt for a pair of curtains, get them measured to be on the longer side: extra long curtains hung from a pole well above the window height will puddle on the floor give the impression the ceiling is higher than it actually is. 

Choose furniture that’s raise off the ground

A final trick worth knowing is to make sure you’re using furniture that’s raised off the ground if you want a small room to appear larger. So, look for pieces of furniture that are designed with legs that raise furniture up from ground level, such as sofas and armchairs with ‘proper’ legs rather than those where the base almost sits flush against the floor. 

Tables with thin legs will give the illusion of space as you’ll be able to see more of the room around it, and furniture made from see-through materials such as glass and plastic will achieve the same result.