Make Your Room Look & Feel More Spacious With These 10 Design Tips
Designing a room so that it looks more spacious is always a good idea. Spaces that are larger look more open and tend to feel quite tranquil while smaller spaces can look more cramped thus will feel less relaxing.
Now with summer in full swing and opportunities to immerse ourselves in the wide-open outdoors, it feels like a good time to share these 10 tips so you can bring that open and airy feeling into your home all year long. This is something I always keep in mind when designing and staging spaces for my Fairfield and Westchester clients as well as my E-Design clients all around the country.
1
Find balance
Look to your furniture to balance the weight of your space. A coffee table and chairs with legs look great with a sofa that has a solid base and vice-versa. You can apply this tip not only to your living spaces but to your bedrooms as well.
2
Avoid crowding
When it comes to shelfies, less is more! Don’t display a lot of little objects, rather use larger items and leave plenty of space in between groupings.
For more on shelfies, click here.
3
Reflect back
The more light you have the more open your room will feel. Mirrors are a great way to bounce natural light but don’t stop there. Think reflective materials like a glass tile backsplash, especially in smaller kitchens.
4
Layer up
Placing fixtures at different heights not only lights up areas of your room that would otherwise be darker, it adds height and dimension. This layering technique makes your space feel more open. Note how the lighting fixtures in this room are all different but coordinate well together, adding function and visual interest when the lights are both on and off.
For tips on lighting, click here.
5
Don’t be too bold
Keep upholstery patterns to scale with one another, using lighter colors and textured fabrics in lieu of bold prints. This prevents your eye from focusing on single objects but rather moves it around the room to create a sense of spaciousness.
6
Stay Neutral
Keep your color palette light and neutral. By using similar colors throughout your design (rug, upholstery, window treatments & walls) your room will appear open, airy and fresh. Note how the colors here make this living room feel open and spacious.
7
Live large
Contrary to what you might think, selecting large scale pieces can create the perception that your space is bigger than it is. If you have a gallery wall consider anchoring it with one large piece of art. Overall this minimizes clutter and creates a focal point for some drama and a more airy look. Also, one large piece of art by itself will create the illusion of a larger space.
8
In focus
Speaking of focal points, big or small, you should always create one. This keeps the focus off of the size of the space and directs your eye to the best feature in your your room.
9
Stay connected
Connecting all of your furniture with the rug is a technique used to make a grouping in a large room feel more intimate and it is also a great way to make your space feel larger. Do not get a rug that is too small, rather one that is large enough so the legs of all the furniture pieces can sit ON the rug.
10
Go long
Hanging window treatments from the floor to ceiling and higher and wider than the window moldings create the illusion that the window is larger than it is. This in turn helps to make your room look and feel more spacious. If you like, you can also take it a step further by using a vertical pattern.
Typically you won’t be able to buy these drapes ready-made but don’t worry, we can make some for you in our workshop
All of these tips are simple yet powerful tools to make your space look more spacious and feel more serene. Hopefully you have learned something new that you can apply to your home.
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