How to make a small room look bigger
The first in a new series looking at common design dilemmas. Read on for three ways to tackle any interiors issue – and how to apply them in your home.
I was going to write about several different design dilemmas in this post. But then I realised that there’s usually more than one solution to every problem – and it would be too long if I tackled them all and too superficial if, for reasons of length, I had to stick to just a couple of small ideas for each.
So instead I have decided to deal with one problem at a time, and that way we can explore several different ideas to find out which one may suit you. This week we’re going to look at small spaces. Because even big houses have small rooms. And it’s not always about how to make them look bigger. Sometimes it’s simply about how to make them look better, so that size, to coin a phrase, isn’t everything.
We will go on to look at making large rooms cosy, low ceilings seem taller, a dark room feel lighter, bring character to a featureless box, deal with an awkward shape, and find storage solutions. You can, of course, add your own solutions and ask your own questions for everyone to chat through, as there are bound to be common problems which can find a common answer. I’m also wondering if it might make a cool e-book to put them all together in one place. What do you think? Do let me know in the comments.
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Now, on with the issue at hand: how to make a small room look bigger. Of course you can’t actually change the dimensions of the room, so solving a problem like this falls in one of three directions. Actually, most interior issues can be solved in one of the three following ways – so as the series progresses, we will look at applying similar methods to different dilemmas.
Essentially you are either going to try and disguise it, cause a distraction so you don’t notice it, or simply style it out. All you have to decide is which is the right solution for your particular space. I imagine, as in life, that it will vary from room to room.