Living in a tiny apartment for four years with two great danes) taught me quite a few tricks for making your a room look bigger. I know that many of you are apartment-dwellers, and making a room seem larger than it is is a skill all of us need! And if you want to see all of my Small Space Resources, download the E-Guide below. After living in a tiny 750 sq. ft. apartment with a child, a husband,
and TWO GREAT DANES we became experts at it!
How to Make a Room Look Bigger
1.// Raise the Roof!
Draw the eye up by extending bookshelves and curtains to the ceiling. This applies to any room, but especially small rooms. Giving the illusion of height will make it seem like everything is bigger! Plus, you will get more storage in there and we all know storage is key to small space living!
Related: How to Raise a Baby in a Small Space
This extends to artwork as well. As you can see below in our living room/ family room I made some DIY black and white artwork and did a simple grid above the TV to raise your eye (and distract from the ugly TV.)
[bctt tweet=”Raise those shelves! Yep, #smallspaces demand full length bookshelves, curtains, and artwork!” username=”allthingsannie”]
Related: DIY Narrow Desk
2.// Balance Big and Small Furniture
Yes, I said use big furniture–but in good taste. Do not think I am giving you permission to go buy a huge Restoration Hardware sized sofa. I mean, what houses do they seriously make furniture for? Even their showrooms look ridiculous and those are some big rooms!
Back to the point–If you have a small room with tons of tiny furniture, you are going to feel like you live in a doll house. Use appropriately sized furniture for the important pieces. In our old apartment, we had an apartment-sized sectional (slightly smaller than normal but still large!) even though we had a tiny living room/ family room. But by using a large piece of furniture, it anchored the room, provided tons of seating, and made the room seem bigger than it was.
That being said, then we made a narrow media console, skipped a coffee table, and kept the other pieces of furniture to a minimum to help with traffic flow. See balance! Big couch, small media console, small rocking chair (occasional seating).
Related: DIY Small Space Media Console
We also used a large oversized mirror and placed it on the “hallway” wall. By far it was the most complimented piece of furniture in the house, because it made such a statement. If we had put up a moderately sized mirror, it wouldn’t have had the same effect.
3.// Use Color Selectively
You can see that I chose a neutral color for our main living spaces, and a similar one for our kitchen. However, I decided to use an unexpected navy blue for the nursery. People have the misconception that you can’t use dark colors in small spaces when the exact opposite is true! Using a dark color in a tiny room (B’s old bedroom was 8 x 9 with no door!) made the walls recede and made the tiny bedroom seem way larger! Dark colors work in small rooms that you want to make cozier and more intimate.
[bctt tweet=”#interiordesign myth: Don’t use dark colors in a small space! ” username=”allthingsannie”]
Related: How to Pick Paint Colors in 5 Steps
4.// Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Mirrors are your best friend! Since they reflect light they are going to make your room seem much larger. When you walked in our front door of our apartment, you saw this mirror first which made the entire space seem larger than it was.
If you are living in a small space and want to see all of my favorite resources for small space living, make sure to download the small space guide below!
Also check out my post on small space living roundup and a house tour of our old apartment!
Christine says
These are fabulous tips! Pinning!
Paige @ An Uncomplicated Life Blog says
Wow that apartment was small! I lived in a similar place (minus the extra “bedroom”) in a historic house in Minneapolis before we moved to Texas. I loved the small space! But with a family and two dogs (I had a dog with me… But he’s just 11 pounds so it was basically just me in this tiny place) you got really creative! But of course you did, you’re amazing at interior design. I couldn’t agree more about using vertical shapes to enlarge the room. I’m a big fan of floor to ceiling curtains too, and it did wonders for my 600sf apartment!
Jaelan says
I’m so in love with your old tiny apartment. We live in about the same space and we are DROWNING. Unfortunately we didn’t do anything with the space because we’ve been on the cusp of leaving for years now. Ohhh the joys of a PhD, right?
In our next place, I’m determined to make it feel like “home”.
Supal Desai says
did you write this post for me? Because my london flat is tiny and ALL these tips are perfect for me (and my flatmates)! Love the idea of “raising the roof”!
Sissi says
That is such an awesome post with so many great tips! And you hit the nail on the head- coming over from the SITS sharefest but the funniest thing is that I am moving in 3 weeks and we will have very low ceilings and a couple very small rooms- I am happy you gave me some inspiration!!! Thank you so much.
Tiffany @ A Touch of Grace says
Yes to the curtains! I wish all curtains were made longer. I feel like I need to rehang half the ones in our house right now.
Colette @ Restyle it Wright says
Great tips! I’m 1000% with you on the whole mirror thing. My old 1300 sq ft house was filled with that and even now in my much bigger house I still tend to use mirrors across windows whenever possible. And that black mirror was definitely a statement piece 🙂
Lisa says
Good morning!
Thanks for the tips! We live in a craftsman style house and its an old home remodeled…which means a small living room. We are just getting ready to get new furniture/decor, paint, etc. and these tips will come in very handy, especially raising the roof. Something I would have not considered prior to your pictures! Thanks for sharing and cute apartment!
Cheers,
Lisa ~ http://www.dreamsandcaffeine.com
Martie says
Great tips! I love the look of your apartment with the smaller/large sectional! And mirrors do fool you, don’t they? Thanks so much for sharing, I found this on Create Link Inspire.
Michelle Wilson says
Love these tips! Definitely going to pin this so I can refer back to it!!
Theresa @DearCreatives says
Thanks for all the great tips! & Thanks for sharing at the #InspirationSpotlight party. Pinned & shared.
Kim Miller says
Love these tips and I’m sharing on our apartment community’s Facebook page!
Marva | sunSPARKLEshine says
These really are some great tips and your photos look amazing! Thanks for sharing them with us on the #ShineBloghop where I found you.
Have a lovely weekend!
Julie @ Logger's Wife says
I’ve heard about hanging curtains higher but never thought about the artwork higher on the wall thing. That’s brilliant! #ShineBlogHop
Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says
Ooooh, I LOVE this! We live in a small townhouse – I have got to try some of these tips. I never thought about the artwork one. I always thought to hang the artwork low but it totally makes sense to draw the eye up.
Pinning this on my Deliberate HOME board.
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
xoxo
Kim says
Great tips and your house looks great! What I like to much about this post is that it’s design for real people! #SHINEbloghop
bonnie morgan says
Great tips. I totally agree about big furniture. I don’t know many homes that could handle such big furniture.
You have learned all these great decorating tips and I see they work. I love your large mirror and am a great fan of mirrors.
Thanks for sharing such great tips.
Kirsten says
Hi, Thanks for these great tips – I am totally with you on dark colours and big mirrors! I also wanted to comment on the bookcase you have at the end of the sofa . This works really well to define the living room space away from the entrance – but because you’ve kept it low, it doesn’t cut off the space.