How To Instantly Increase The Size of Your Room With The Right Kind of Home Decor

One of the biggest problems with small houses and apartments is that they tend to look cramped fairly easily. In a small space even one item too many will make it look over crowded. There are ways to keep a small room from feeling like you are in confinement.

Color, arrangement and lighting can all play a vital role in your efforts to make the space appear roomier and more comfortable. Icy blues and creamy colors on the walls and ceilings can really open up a small area. You see, it is all about illusion.

The eye will see what we tell it is there. The light colored walls will reflect more light giving the room the appearance of a spacious and airy area. The color of your walls will affect how the room looks in the light.

If you have dark walls they tend to absorb the light adding to the claustrophobic feel of the room. A good trick is to paint the walls a bright color and use an even brighter color for the borders. This enhances the illusion of depth in the room.

Another way to minimize the crowded look in a room is to use built in shelving. Recessed storage areas does not take up the available wall space. This gives you more legroom and makes the place less cramped.

One area that most people tend to leave blank is the wall just beneath the ceiling. By installing shelving or placing artwork at the highest points on the wall you draw the eye upward. This is an illusion of height that can add dimension to most any room.

Do not count out the use of mirrors in your decorating scheme. They also reflect light and other surfaces making the area seems twice its original size. You can get decorative mirrors that will blend nicely with your other decorations. Decorative lamps are equally effective in creating mild ambience. Feng Shui fountains are pretty effective in creating calming indoor spaces too.

You can easily add length and width by choosing the right window treatments. If you have a small window with an expanse of wall on one or both sides you can make the area look longer, wider and brighter. Start the drapes at just below the ceiling and make sure they are floor lengths. Next extend the rods beyond the small window out onto the wall for a few feet. When closed it looks as if you have a picture window and when open the drapes can act as a frame for the small window.

Finally use continuous colors that do not have line breaks. This way you avoid making the room appear in small sections. Also consider the size of the sofas and other pieces of furniture. In a small room less furniture looks roomier.

By Amy C.