Whether your room is larger or smaller, the wrong size furniture, décor, and accessories cause it to be a distraction to your peace rather than an enhancement. Rattling around in an oversized room with an undersized sofa and a chair or two makes one simple feel out of place. But cramming a small room with that oversized recliner and sofa doesn’t leave room for people at all.
Get more from your small space
Visually enlarge a small room by painting the trim, ceiling, and walls with similar but slightly darker hue or in lighter shades of the same color. Use the lightest shade on the ceiling, the darkest on trim and the medium tone on the walls. If the walls have architectural interest, enhance with an additional level of the same hue to give depth and definition. Keeping the color consistent throughout the room gives coherence to the look.
Scale the furniture to the room. In the smaller space, think low-armed side chairs and a narrow sofa. Or go for a grouping of chairs in a circle, mixing fully-upholstered with wood-trimmed seating to give interest. Remove bulky pieces that fill entire walls and replace them with smaller options. Rugs should fit under the furniture legs but not extend to the walls to pull the grouping into a unified ensemble.
Make furniture do double duty by utilizing a storage ottoman as a coffee table, or a low bookcase as a sofa table. For a cramped entryway, try a gathering of small mirrors to bring light into a dark space.
Go big or go home
In a larger space, you need statement pieces to ground the design. The use of a larger sectional, massive coffee table around which to gather, and an oversized reading chair transforms a large area into a cozy family room. Add side tables, sofa tables, bookshelves and other wood pieces that bring warmth and texture into the room.
A large mirror to draw the eye can fill a wall and bring interest to a windowless expanse and carry light into the room. Mirrors work great in large entryways as well by reflecting architectural details and light into large dark areas. Choose expansive artwork, a soaring vase, a contemporary sculpture to lend interest to your room and draw the eye into the room. Fill walls with larger-scale art or groupings to avoid them appearing empty. Add colorful cushions and throws to bring warmth and coziness to your home.
If your home is too small for your belongings and you crave a larger home, talk to your local real estate specialist to see what’s available to you.
About the Author
Sandy Malbrue
Hi, I'm Sandy Malbrue and I'd love to assist you. Whether you're in the research phase at the beginning of your real estate search for representation or you know exactly what you're looking for, you'll benefit from having a real estate professional by your side. I'd be honored to put my 14 years real estate experience to work for you. Be it to gain wide exposure for your home with my marketing plan, negotiate offers or manage the transaction once you've accepted an offer, in a way that will get you the best price and cause the least amount of disruption to you life as possible.
If you are a buyer, allow me put those skills to work for you to help with the pre-approval process, work with you to locate and arrange for you to view homes of interest to you , and negotiate your offer. Once you have an accepted offer, I will help you arrange inspections, I will manage the transaction for you, from helping to arrange for inspections to keeping you up to date on contingency removals and walking you through the process to a new set of keys.
Let's do this!