How to make a small room look bigger

When we decorate our homes, we want to inject as much of our personalities into our spaces as possible. But this can feel like a challenge when we’re working with small rooms! Well, one of the ways around this issue is to find ways to make the small room look bigger using different tips and tricks to change the look of the space.

This is a design trick that we’ve heard about in magazines and TV for years but putting it into practice can feel a bit more difficult when we don’t have an expert designer eye watching over the entire process. No need to worry though, take a look through our best bits of advice on how to make a small room look bigger and you’ll be off to a flying start.

Now if you don’t want to embark on a big redecorating project in your small room, there are some quick fixes you can make to change the feel of that space:

• Declutter – this is one of the best ways to make your room feel bigger. By removing clutter and large pieces of furniture, you can maximise floor space, thus making your room appear larger. You can also do this by placing more items on shelves too, to clear up space on the floor or surfaces.
• Use a rug – an area rug can give your room the appearance of being larger than it is thanks to the illusion of creating extra space at the sides. You could even try layering your rugs, to add depth to your room.
• Rearrange your furniture – by moving your furniture around, you can see how you can use your space differently and maximise the amount of space that you have. Place larger items of furniture against the walls and use smaller pieces such as small coffee tables as focal points.
• Move your curtains to a higher spot above your windows – by making your curtains longer to reach nearer to the ceiling, you’ll create the illusion of height, which in turn makes the room appear bigger and grander.

Another small change that can make a big difference to a more-confined space is to add mirrors. Mirrors reflect the space around us, and if you’ve read our guide to creating a feng-shui bedroom, then you’ll know that they can reflect the things we want to manifest more of in our lives – so if space is what you want more of, then use a large mirror to reflect the rest of the room.

Floor mirrors are especially great for this hack, as they appear to extend the amount of floor that you have, thus creating the feel of a larger space. Mirrors also don’t take up too much room, whether placed on the floor or hung up, so they are excellent décor pieces that won’t take away from the space you already have.

Mirrors also reflect natural and artificial light, which can make your room look brighter and airier. This is a great way of creating the feel of more space, as large spaces tend to attract the most light.

If you’ve got the budget and the time to make some bigger changes, then there are some amazing ways you can change the feel of the size of your rooms using clever storage and furniture hacks.

Try swapping out your children’s beds with bunk beds – this way, you create more space for them to play and enjoy their room, and you can still fit both their beds in. This also works for teen rooms where they need both a bed and a desk because you can fit a desk, chair and small bookcase underneath a raised bed, leaving room for them to enjoy their personal space. 

Find furniture that fits your space and needs better. For instance, don’t invest in a huge sofa for a small living room, especially if there are very few household members. Instead, invest in a comfortable, smaller option that better suits your needs, and you’ll find you have a lot more space for the items that you didn’t have room for previously.

This also works if you have a huge wardrobe that takes up too much room in your wardrobe. Replace it with a clothes rail that can be moved into another room if you need the additional space at different times.

Using plenty of stacked storage is another way you can maximise floor space in a small room to make it look bigger. Consider using open shelves for books and personal trinkets, or closed basket drawers for clutter that you’d rather remain hidden away.

A lot of furniture today comes with clever enclosed storage, such as beds with hidden storage underneath the base of the mattress and sofa pouffes that have hidden compartments where you can store your magazines, toys or other clutter. This not only keeps your space tidy, giving the illusion of more floor space, but it also provides you with additional seating at no extra cost to your limited floor space.

As we’ve already established, the best ways to make a space appear bigger are to add more light and more visible space to a room – and one of the best ways to do this is to use natural and bright colours and materials in your space.

Using vertical planks of laminate, luxury vinyl or engineered wood in your space can create the look of an elongated room, giving your room the illusion of more space. You can also use light-coloured flooring like beige carpet, or natural vinyl to give your space a lighter feel. Grab yourself some free swatches from your local Tapi store to check out the different options you could get for your room.

For your wall colours, opt for colours like sage green, off-white (our white bedroom design ideas blog should give you some inspiration), and light blue to give the room an airy, lofty feel. If you want to use wallpaper, opt for a pattern that isn’t too busy, as it will make your walls feel closer together and will take up more visual space than your furniture. Contrast the lighter colours in your room with darker wood furniture to create more depth, and if you love to use colour, then instead use colour décor and accessories to brighten up the room, or a single statement colour on an item of furniture.

For more décor inspiration, check out our style inspiration page to find different ways you can decorate your home to bring your style to life, including cosy bedroom tips and ideas  – alternatively, check out our lookbooks to help you find the colour schemes that you’d love to try or our colour finder to match colours to your current favourites. Visit your local Tapi store to speak to one of our flooring experts if you want to find the perfect flooring that will make your small room look bigger.