It feels safe to say that if most of us got one “home-related” wish, we’d wish for more space, right? But also for most of us, that’s not a realistic option. It tends to be pretty pricey to add more onto a home, if that’s even possible. However, there are some tricks of the trade that can at least make your room feel bigger if that’s what you are looking for. More of an optical illusion, if you will:) I actually can’t believe we haven’t written this post yet! So here are all of our tips and tricks to help your space feel both bigger and well-balanced.

The Right Wall Color Tone (Based on Your Room’s Natural Light)

The amount of natural light in a room is extremely important to the tone of paint you use for your wall paint color. The common thought is to paint a smaller, dimly lit a light color to make it feel bigger and brighter. Let me show you why that isn’t always the best choice.

Take the family room in Emily’s farmhouse. It’s one of her favorite room’s but it didn’t really start off that way. She initially chose that taupey color, and while pretty, it wasn’t right. This room doesn’t get very much natural light, which was on purpose since it’s the TV room. Because of that, the taupe just felt a bit dead. As you can see, Emily knew it had to change and went with that rich, beautiful blue/teal. When you’re in the room, it feels both cozy and large at the same time.

This is Emily’s old family/playroom in Los Angeles for those who are newer here. Em really wanted to make the room feel cozy, and as most of you know, she’s the #1 fan of the color blue…so she chose that really pretty blue for the room initially. But there was too much light coming through those front windows and from the other parts of the house. So while she wanted cozy, it really cut off the space from the rest of the house, made it feel small in a not-so-great way, and didn’t read how she wanted with all that light coming in. She regrouped, went with a happy white (and a cool mural), and viola! A bright, happy room that feels SO much bigger and blends better with the other rooms it’s attached to:)

RULE OF THUMB:
– Less Natural Light = Darker Paint Color
– More Natural Light = Lighter Paint Color

Don’t Crowd The Walls

Especially if you live in a small home, the idea of giving up even an inch of floor space seems WILD. But trust me, if you give your walls some breathing room, the whole space will feel A LOT bigger.

This was my last studio apartment, and boy, did I love it. However, space was an issue as it was under 400 sq/ft. It was tempting to want to cram a bunch of furniture in there (maybe a desk too?), but instead I let the pieces I chose breathe a little. Notice how the sofa isn’t completely pushed to the wall, and how the side tables aren’t right up against the sofa and/or walls. Everything feels placed instead of crammed. Doing that will inherently make your room feel bigger.

Since not everyone lives in a little studio, here’s Kaitlin’s INCREDIBLE living room we revealed last year. Her living room can clearly handle/needed more furniture than my old one, but still the principles are the same. None of the furniture is pushed against the wall, and there are generous pathways between all of the furniture pieces. It’s cozy, collected, intentional, but not crowded.

I wanted to zoom in on her bar cabinet to show that even this piece has a little room from the wall:) Every piece breathes, which creates the illusion of more space.

RULE OF THUMB:
– Don’t push your furniture against your walls.
– Give yourself pathways between your furniture.

Choose The Right Furniture Scale

Sorry, we’re not done with my rooms:) But the reason why is that your girl (me) has lived exclusively in small spaces and feels very passionate about this piece of advice!

Don’t automatically get the smallest-sized furniture for a small space. It may seem counterintuitive, but typically, choosing “normal-sized” furniture pieces will make your space feel intentional and not truncated. Of course, there’s a balance, right? For my current living room sofa, I chose the 84″ size. There was a 72″, but I felt it would have looked too small. Would I have more “space” with those 12″? Yes. But not in a good way. And had I chosen a big sectional, that clearly would have been too much. This piece of advice was also something that Nate Berkus said in the video I saw a couple of years ago, so if you don’t trust me, trust Nate.

My desk area is another example. I could have chosen an average-sized, rectangular desk, but instead, I wanted to fill out the space better and chose an extra-long desk. Imagine a smaller desk in the nook. It would have looked tiny, which would have made the space look less intentional and smaller.

My last example is Kaitlin’s basement/office. First off, do we see how much better this low-light room looks painted dark?? Exactly. But I’m here to talk about furniture scale. In the “progress” photo, the furniture scales aren’t balanced with each other. But when the sectional and flushmount got bigger in the new version, and the wall cabinet smaller, it all feels so much more open and larger.

RULE OF THUMB:
– Buy normal-sized furniture for even a small space.
– Don’t be afraid to go a little larger in general!

Hang Your Curtains Higher

This may be well known, but it’s TOO IMPORTANT not to include.

Since we don’t have any examples of us doing this wrong, ha. Here are some graphics I made for my own bedroom. It’s pretty clear which makes the room feel bigger, right??

Here’s the before of how the rod in my bedroom was installed. I understand wanting to show off the moulding, but ultimately, making the room feel taller and bigger was more of a priority to me.

If you’re looking for a really solid guide of what to do (and not to do), this very helpful graphic is from our famous “Hanging Curtains All Wrong” post.

And then here! The reveal! The curtains would have looked fine on the window moulding, but they are simply better above, making the room feel so much bigger…which is exactly what I wanted:)

RULE OF THUMB:
– Hang your curtain rod 2/3 the distance from the top of your window.

A Bigger Rug

Let’s continue with the scale talk because rug scale is so important!

Is there a time and a place for a small rug? Sure, but only if it’s sooooo intentional. Otherwise, go bigger! Here’s a post about the right rug size for every room, but the overarching piece of advice is to not skimp on size. Take the river house family room. Almost all of the sectional is on the rug, which we love. Imagine the rug smaller, it wouldn’t look right. Honestly, they could have even gone a size up if they had wanted to. Choosing your main decor pieces in substantial sizes will, again, make the room feel bigger. But for rugs, you still want space away from your walls. Otherwise, it will look like strange wall-to-wall carpet.

See here, Brady chose a rug that was tailored to the room as opposed to the sofa. I think was was mostly to clear the entrance to the dining nook/kitchen. Every room will have its own needs, so always make sure you measure so you know where it will hit in the space.

And my last rug example is Mallory’s living room. She, too, is in a not huge apartment, but still made sure that her rug was a substantial size, without making it look almost wall-to-wall. The space feels bigger because of it!

RULE OF THUMB:
– Go for the bigger size (even if you need to wait a little to save up).
– Always measure before you buy.

Larger Scale Art

This is the last scale lecture, I promise:)

Large-scale art doesn’t just mean one HUGE piece of art on a wall, like these two very awesome pieces you see above in Em’s best friend’s living room. But since I’m starting with this room, let’s talk about them. A large piece of art, depending on the design, lets your eye relax and focus. It creates a sense of grandness, which in turn will make the room feel large and grand. I know that extra-large pieces like these are usually pretty expensive, but if you find one within your budget, go for it!

But it’s not just about one large piece; you can also have a gallery of pieces, like I did in my last apartment. The trick with creating a gallery wall that’s going to make a room feel bigger is to simply… go big. I went floor to ceiling, making sure I had my large “anchor piece” and then building around that. Here’s a whole post on our no-fail guide to creating your own gallery wall. Overall, make it have a visual impact and don’t go too small with every piece.

And here’s a less intense version of a single piece of art that is perfectly sized for the wall it’s on. I’m sure there are a lot of people who would’ve put up a smaller-sized piece, but it would go against the balance/scale of the room (which is what makes a room look and feel bigger:)).

RULE OF THUMB:
– Go big or go home:)
– Avoid too much “bitsy” art that will ultimately make your room feel smaller and cluttered.

Mirrors

This one may be pretty self-explanatory, but a mirror not only visually creates an optical illusion that there’s more “room” in the room it’s in, but it also bounces light around to make a space feel brighter, which also tends to make a room feel bigger.

It’s a very easy hack and can act as a large-scale piece of art! It’s a win-win-win.

DECLUTTER

I don’t have any photos for this one because all of our professionally shot rooms are intentionally uncluttered:) This is not about becoming a minimalist, but more about everything you have out, should have a place. The furniture and decor can all visually breathe. You should be able to walk into your room and feel calm when you walk into your home, right? Caitlin wrote a really great post about how she declutters, in case you need any tips. I mean, who doesn’t?

This is where I leave you, with the hope you feel inspired to make a couple of changes if that’s what you’ve been looking for:) Of course, not everyone wants their home to feel big, but if you do, these tips are going to help at least a little.

Love you, mean it.

Opening Image Credits: Design by Mallory Wackerman | Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: MOTO REVEAL: How Mallory Made Her Boring Living Room Feel Homey In Just One Month