How to Make a Small Room Look Bigger

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Wondering how to make a small room look bigger?

Even if you live in the smallest apartment in a big city, there are still ways you can make a small room look and feel bigger. While the size of your space won’t change, creating smart storage solutions, decorating with light colors and fabrics and implementing a few design illusions will absolutely help.

When we moved into our tiny apartment in Dallas, we had to be creative with our space, buy furniture that was the right proportion, and find functional (yet stylish) ways to make the small space we had feel bigger.

It can be difficult if you don’t know where to start, so we wanted to make the process super simple for you. We’re confident that these 5 hacks will make any small room look bigger.

Key Things to Keep in Mind with Small Spaces

Be Smart with the Space You Have. Whether you’re wanting your living room, bedroom or kitchen to feel bigger than the actual square footage, you’re going to want to be smart with the space you have. Creative storage solutions and utilizing design tricks will help make the space appear larger.
Create Clear Pathways. In order for a small space to look bigger, there needs to be a designated flow to the space. Creating clear pathways from room to room and to your exiting doors is key.
Don’t Compromise Coziness or Personal Style. You may think that in order for a small space to feel bigger there needs to be less items in it. The opposite is actually true. With clever design hacks, you can create a space that has all your favorite things, multiple pieces of furniture, beautiful home decor and cozy elements throughout.

There are many ways to make a small room look bigger, but we’ve narrowed down the process to just 5 important hacks to implement in any space. It can be intimidating to know exactly what to do, but that’s why we’re here…to help you!

Whether you’re struggling to make your kitchen, living room, bedroom or any other tiny space feel considerably bigger, you’re going to want to follow these tricks.

1. Choose Soft, Light Colors as Your Foundation

credit: @mycityapartment

If you don’t know where to begin when deciding how to make your small room look bigger, we recommend starting with a light foundation.

Creating a space that is primarily light in color will help lift the eye and make your space appear larger. Additionally, decorating with soft, sheer and light-colored fabrics play a part as well.

Here’s how to create a foundation with soft light colors:

Paint walls and ceiling the same light color (it doesn’t have to be white but a lighter paint shade will open up your small space)
Choose lighter fabrics for your larger furniture pieces (sofas, beds, cabinets)
Opt for a soft rug
Starting with a lighter foundation for the “big” things in your space, it opens up the opportunity for you to add color and pattern with other small furniture pieces and decorative items.

2. Clear Clutter

credit: @megan.astri

Clutter has no place in a small space. The less clutter you have the more space you have.

Maybe it’s the clean freaks in us, but we never liked the appearance of clutter anyway. Too much stuff gathered in a room makes us uneasy. That’s why we always try to take a minimal approach in a small space.

If you struggle to reign in the clutter, here are some tips to help you tidy up your space:

Evaluate the Things You Do Have

One of the easiest ways to get rid of the clutter is to evaluate the things you have. Ask yourself if it’s something essential to your lifestyle. If it’s not, get rid of it. Immediately throw it in a donation garbage bag and move on to the next thing.

Usually if an item doesn’t match our current lifestyle, design style or we haven’t used it in more than a year, that’s a sign to give it to a new home or just throw it away.

Create Smart Storage Solutions

Another option would be to store your clutter in a concealed storage cabinet or closet. Within both of those places, it’s important to have organization systems as well.

You can learn more about how to organize a small closet or cabinet in this article.

3. Select Furniture Wisely

When shopping for furniture in a small space, you want to make sure that your furniture is proportionally appropriate for a space. A massive, deep couch in a small living room or a large king bed in a small bedroom are probably not the best items to add.

West Elm has amazing-quality furniture built to fit small spaces. Plus, they have an neat room planner tool to help you design your space with furniture that will be suitable for your small room.

Additionally, decorating with “clear furniture” — like glass, acrylic or open-design pieces — will give the illusion of your space being bigger than it actually is. This type of decor easily fits into many types of design styles as well.

4. Decorate Thoughtfully with Pieces That Benefit Your Space

credit: @alexandragater

When decorating a small space, you want to be thoughtful about the decor you add to it.

Mirrors are a smart decorative piece to add to a small room. Whether it’s a large floor mirror in your bedroom, a statement mirror above your dresser or a round mirror on your living room wall.

Mirrors help reflect light into a space — giving it the illusion that the space is larger.

Some other decorative pieces that should be thoughtfully considered are:

TV cabinets: Choosing a TV cabinet that has clean lines and a low profile will give the appearance of a larger space.
Open Shelving: Opting for open shelving creates a clear sight line in a kitchen, living room or bedroom. It also makes a space feel more roomy.
Art Pieces: Whether you hang large art, a gallery wall or a few prints on a wall, art will help to define a space while reflecting your personal design style.
Accent Chairs: Adding a couple of small accent chairs to a living room or a reading nook chair in a bedroom adds additional seating in small spaces.
Round Coffee Table: When decorating a small space, round coffee tables tend to make a space flow and feel more open.
Ottomans: Ottomans provide an opportunity for you to rest your feet, use as a make-shift coffee table and possibly store items inside.
Lighting: Lighting is key in a small space. A floor lamp beside a sofa adds height to the space and a gorgeous table lamp is perfect for a nightstand. However, having too much lighting options in a space could make it feel more cluttered.

5. Hang Minimal Window Treatments

Installing curtains in your living room or bedroom can transform your space in a matter or minutes. Not only do curtains texture add softness to a space, but when you install them correctly, they can give the illusion of taller ceilings as well.

Our go-to curtains to brighten and soften a living room are cream or white curtains, however sticking with other neutral colors that compliment your living room are amazing too.

How to Make a Small Room Look Bigger — 5 Hacks You Need to Know

Key Things to Keep in Mind with Small Spaces