How to visually expand the space of a room

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Not every apartment can boast of a large size, spacious rooms, high ceilings. But who likes to feel sandwiched between walls instead of feeling spacious in their home? But in many ways, our perception of space is formed by optical effects that create pieces of furniture, colors and shapes of the interior. And our task is just to deceive our subconscious and, using simple techniques, transform and expand the rooms.

Raising the ceiling

Higher and longer

It seems that in a room with high ceilings it is even easier to breathe, and it is not so difficult to achieve such an effect. The most obvious trick is to stick wallpaper with a vertical pattern on the walls. It is better for the pattern to be discreet, but only a small area can be distinguished with bright stripes or an active pattern. Narrow wardrobes and shelves, long vases, wall mirrors and paintings in tall frames also visually raise the ceiling. And it is better to hang them a little higher than usual.

It seems that it is even easier to breathe in a room with high ceilings, and it is not so difficult to achieve such an effect.

Play of color and light

To create the effect of a high ceiling, its lighting is of great importance. You need to choose a small chandelier or lamp with beams of light directed vertically upwards. But you should not use wide curtain rods for curtains - they visually make the ceiling line lower. It is wiser to make a hidden cornice and hang plain curtains up to the floor.

Cold and light shades visually increase the height of the ceiling. You can also paint the ceiling and walls in the same color, but make the ceiling a little lighter in tone. Glossy paint creates a more pronounced height effect than matte paint.

Size matters

If the room has rather low furniture, then the ceiling seems visually higher. Bright carpets on the floor give the same effect: they attract attention and create the illusion of high ceilings in the room.

Pushing the walls apart

Color and light

As you know, light colors make the object visually larger, and dark ones visually make it smaller. In small rooms for walls and furniture, it is better to use light shades, and so that they do not merge with each other, you can take colors that differ in tone and color scheme. Strong contrasts, flashy colors, bright spots eat up part of the space, so it is better to focus on pastel neutrals and cool tones that expand the space.

The brighter the room, the larger it appears. Therefore, so that as much natural light as possible gets through the windows, hang light curtains and air curtains on them, and also free the windowsill from large indoor plants.

Wall decoration

In small rooms, it is not recommended to use wallpaper with large contrasting patterns; you should also avoid a too small pattern - it can ripple in your eyes. In this case, one of the walls can be pasted over with wallpaper with a contrasting geometric pattern, and the other three can be left in neutral colors. Thanks to this technique, the room will be perceived as wider than it really is. In this case, it is important to remember that a vertical drawing makes the room taller, and a horizontal one lowers and expands the space.

Photo wallpaper glued to one of the walls also visually expands the boundaries of the room. The greatest effect is given by the image of the landscape in perspective: the horizon of a field or sea, mountain peaks or forest edges, a view of a night city.

The right furniture

To make the room seem larger, you need to leave as much free space in it as possible. All kinds of folding sofa beds, tables, built-in wardrobes and racks will help with this. Furniture should be small, with strict, laconic forms, and it is better to arrange it along the walls or in the corners, so as not to visually divide an already small room into parts.

Minimalistic style, laconic furnishings and furniture, the absence of open shelves, a single color scheme with several accents - all this makes the space of the room unified and voluminous. All kinds of figurines, candlesticks, framed photographs, small paintings scatter attention and cause a feeling of clutter. It is better to replace several small paintings with one medium-sized, and free open shelves from unnecessary decor.

The power of glass and mirrors

It's no secret that mirrors are the best helpers in expanding space. The room, reflected in the large wall mirror, appears to be twice as large. It is better to hang it on a long wall, so that, when reflected, the room does not become even longer, but turns into a square.

Furniture with glass surfaces also visually expands the space, making massive objects weightless. Tables with a glass top, a wardrobe with translucent inserts on the doors, stained-glass windows, glass lamps - all of them seem to dissolve into the interior and become less noticeable to the eyes.

Furniture with glass surfaces also visually expands the space, making massive objects weightless.

Flooring

The color and structure of the floor is also important for the perception of the size of the room: it is also better to use light colors for it. Parquet or laminate, laid diagonally, not only visually increases the area of the room, but also hides the irregular geometry of the walls.

There is another clever trick to help visually enlarge the room. You need to place a beautiful bright object - a flower, a figurine or a vase - in the farthest corner of the room. The guests' attention will immediately fall on this subject, and they will have a sense of a greater perspective.