Insider Tips to Make a Small Room Look Bigger

As a homeowner, you like most of your house ... most of the time. Except for that tiny living room. Or the family room that barely fits your family. Or the bedroom that you hoped would embrace a king-sized bed but seems tight with a double.

Here’s some good news regarding your too-small room. While you might not have it in the budget to hire a contractor to blow out some exterior walls and expand the space, there are a variety of tips and tricks you can use that will make that tiny area look a lot bigger than it really is.

Use Color and Lighting Strategically

You can make any room appear bigger with one simple purchase: a gallon of paint. Not just any paint, mind you, but a bright and neutral color that you apply to the ceiling only. For the walls, stick with a light shade, such as white, tan, or light gray, and then extend the size of the room with a kelly green or aqua blue ceiling. 

When painting, also switch our your lights. Instead of overhead light fixtures that will create a circle of light in the middle of the space, go for a few lamps — for example, the Link Table Lamp looks great in any room in the home and complements a variety of decors. 

Also, consider leaving at least one window in the room uncovered to provide natural light. The outside view also tricks the eye into adding depth to the space; if you are not wild about Nosy Nellie Neighbors peering inside in the evening, simply open the curtains during the day.

Exaggerate Vertical Lines With Curtains

You know how wearing a shirt with vertical stripes can make you look taller? The same is true for rooms — only, you’re going to achieve this effect with furnishings and not your fave shirt. For example, if you must cover up your windows, use floor-to-ceiling drapes. 

Another trick when shopping for drapes is to go for the same color as your walls — this will give the optical illusion of the drapes blending in with the walls and creating a vast space. Finally, for storage, choose bookshelves and/or storage units that also go from the floor up to the ceiling.

Arrange Furniture to Create the Illusion of Spaciousness

The furniture in the room can also help either make it look bigger or smaller than it really is. To improve the feel of spaciousness, select pieces that have bare legs, which have a more airy look than heavily upholstered pieces. Our Argent collection is a good example of this because of its black leather-like vinyl with white stitching and stylishly bare chrome legs. 

Also, while this might seem counter-intuitive, you actually want to pull your furniture away from the walls. Pushing everything up against the wall makes the room look and feel cramped. Even just a few inches between the wall and your larger items can make the room look bigger. 

To add even more size to the room — or just the illusion of depth — hang some mirrors on the wall; our Marcus mirror is one of many we sell that is beautiful, looks like a work of art, and helps any room appear larger.

Go for Larger Home Décor Accessories

This is another tip that may seem counter-intuitive at first. While you might think a bunch of smaller accessories would make sense in a tiny space — and that a giant vase or photo frame will dwarf the room — the opposite is true. With that in mind, here's a good rule of thumb: if it’s smaller than a bowling ball, don’t have it on display.

In general, smaller, more numerous pieces will create a sense of clutter, and clutter will shrink a room. We sell a wide variety of larger accessories that will look great on that floor-to-ceiling bookcase.

When You Are Ready to Shop, We Will Be Here!

It’s encouraging to realize you can use a variety of tricks to transform a small space into one that seems roomier. By incorporating some or all of the aforementioned tips, you will be pleasantly surprised at how much bigger your family room, bedroom, or living room appears. 

When buying new furniture and accessories, check out our wide selection on our website — for example, we have a huge selection of pieces that would look great in any living room. Of course, we’d love to see you in person too — head into our showroom today to view the vignettes first hand and learn how to utilize these accessories for smaller spaces.