How to Make a Room Feel Bigger

Ever wonder how two similar sized rooms – or even homes – can look so different in terms of space? Or better yet, how a space half the size of another can look and feel so much more airy and comfortable? Chances are, it all has to do with strategic furniture placements, space planning, and design.

Here are a few tricks of the trade for maximizing space and making your home’s interior feel bigger and more spacious.

• When adding draperies to a room, hang them just below the ceiling to make the room appear taller. Also, keeping them in the same color family as the walls helps avoid breaking up the space.

• Bring the outdoors in and help unify a room by choosing a color palette similar to the view you see outside your window.

• Let as much natural light in as possible. If you only have one window in a room, hang a mirror on an opposite wall to bounce natural light throughout the room.

• In a small room, opt for sofas, dressers, and arm chairs that are raised on legs to create a sense of light and space.

• Don’t feel the need to display all your collections at once. Instead, swap them out a couple times a year to cut down on the clutter and give your room a consistently fresh look.

• Run the same color and flooring throughout adjacent spaces. If you do need to change, at least stay within the same color family.

• Visually expand a room by using smaller prints or monochromatic colors in upholstery and area rugs.

• Choose furniture that performs double duty, like a storage ottoman that could also be used as a coffee table or extra seating.

• Add storage and interest while visually expanding your space by adding wall-to-wall or floor-to-ceiling bookcases.

• Leave shelves half empty for a more spacious and airy look.

In rooms like your kitchen or bathroom where “looking bigger” isn’t the goal, but looking better is, perhaps it’s time to swap out your faucets, appliances, cabinet hardware, and so on just to freshen things up short of a complete make over.  And if the job involves professional plumbing, you’ll get just that when you enlist the help of Your 1 Plumber.  Now and always, we’re the only plumber you’ll ever need.