Choose white or other light colours
Light colours will open your room up, making it feel airy and spacious – particularly white.
Painting the walls and ceilings the same light shade will enhance this effect even more, serving to blur the boundary between the two and make the ceiling seem higher.
Coordinate wall and furniture colours
Following on from the last point, coordinating your furniture with the colour of your walls will help it to blend with the space and appear to take up less room.
Contrasting colours tend to break up a space, so try to harmonise your hues as much as possible.
Emphasise the vertical
Whether it’s panelling on the walls, floor-to-ceiling curtains or a tall lamp, adding elements that emphasise the vertical aspect of your room will help make the ceiling feel higher, creating the illusion of more space.
Let the light in
A sunlit room feels bigger, so make the most of any natural light sources.
The easiest way to enhance natural light is to put a mirror where it will reflect light from the window. Not only will this create the illusion of more light, but it will reflect the view out of the window, tricking the eye into perceiving more space.
If natural light is limited, consider installing spotlights. These are bright and warm and can mimic sunlight without taking up any space in the room.
Keep things plain
Use plain coloured furniture and fittings rather than patterns. Plain, neutral tones help to create a feeling of openness and continuity.
If you’re worried all that plainness will look boring, choose interestingly-textured materials for furniture or flooring.
Space it out
Don’t clutter the room with too much furniture, and leave breathing space around the pieces you have.
If you can, move furniture away from walls and clear a walkway from the door, leaving an unrestricted view out to open space.
Use light, airy fabrics
Heavy fabrics absorb light and will weigh your room down. Choose lightweight, breezy fabrics instead to enhance the airiness of the space.
Sheer fabrics work well for curtains, whilst linen is a good choice for upholstery and cushions.
Stay low to the ground
Select furniture that sits low to the ground. Low-slung furniture leaves more space available above it, creating a feeling of openness.
Enhance the effect by hanging any pictures or mirrors low on the walls as well.
Choose lithe furniture
Again, emphasise the open space around your furniture by choosing streamlined, slim pieces.
Sixties-style furniture is perfect – it tends to be low-slung with slender legs.
How to make a small room look bigger: Summing up
We hope our tips have given you some inspiration for how to make a small room look bigger.
It’s all about tricking the eye and creating the illusion of more space – so get creative and transform your tiny room into an open, airy haven.
For more interior design tips, check out our other blogs on The Insider.