Clean Up
This is a solution in a surprising number of situations. Clean up the clutter, because it makes any space to feel smaller. Common problems include dirty clothes in piles on the floor, toys scattered around the room, junk on the table and anything that blocks your walkways. Open up walkways, because no one should have to navigate around piles of junk to travel through a room or switch from the couch to the recliner.
Open Up the Space
Open up the space between pieces of furniture so that they don’t feel so crowded. Open up the view to the living room window or television. When things block the view, it looks cramped. Ironically, the root cause could be your tall chair in the middle of the living room. The solution might be a new low-rise couch or moving that fichus tree to the corner. In some cases, you could solve the problem by replacing barriers with glass. For example, glass shower frames make the room feel larger than if you had a shower curtain around the shower.
Find out if you have the room for a sectional sofa. That could replace several other pieces of furniture, making the space look bigger while increasing the overall seating capacity. You’ll also get a coordinated look, whereas having a mismatched variety of furniture makes the space feel larger. Furthermore, having a single large piece of furniture in the room with a few accessories makes it feel larger. That’s why a bedroom with nothing but a bed, desk and end table feels larger than one with several pieces of furniture in it.
Change Your Color Scheme
Use the same color scheme to make the space feel larger than it is. When there are chairs and couches in half a dozen colors, it looks cluttered and thus crowded. We’d recommend lighter colors, since that makes the room feel more airy. Dark colors may feel cozy, but that makes a small room feel cramped.
Let There Be Light
Do what you can to let in light. That alone makes a space feel larger, since it is connected to the outdoors. If you can’t let in natural light, create more artificial lighting. Dark rooms feel cramped if not outright claustrophobic. If you can’t see the other side of the room, it might as well not be there. Adding lamps and recessed lighting will make the space feel larger. We’d recommend table lamps and recessed lighting, since you don’t have to sacrifice floor space to improve the light levels. Alternatively, some people may get more light by eliminating the heavy draperies or opening the drapes once in a while.
Another solution is installing mirrors. Mirrors can reflect the light back into the living area and make the space feel larger than it really is. Reflective coffee tables and plate mirrors on your end tables could have the same effect, though you have to be careful of glare from artificial light sources.
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