The possibilities for home improvement often feel limitless. Whether it’s as simple as slapping a new coat of paint on the walls or as complex as completely redesigning and distributing space in your bathroom, there’s no shortage of things you can do. Sometimes, however, you are limited in what you can actually do due to structural restrictions. Some rooms are just going to be small and putting in the work and money to fix that issue is always expensive, but not always worth it in the end. Don’t fret, we’re here to help with a comprehensive list of ways you can give a big feel to your room without crazy changes that will empty your pockets.
Raise The Roof
Okay, not literally. You could raise the ceiling, but that’s a little more ambitious than what we’re aiming to achieve with this list. But the best way to give the appearance of a larger space without moving any walls (or roof) is to find clever ways of drawing the eyes upward. This can be done a few different ways:
Paint or Wallpaper Your Ceiling – Heck, paint your own version of the Sistine chapel if you feel like it. Putting paint or a pattern up on your ceiling isn’t the most common of household decor choices. But it does bring the eyes up and provides its own piece of beauty.
Mount Shelves Near The Ceiling – This does double duty. One, it provides a visual attraction to pull focus up and it eliminates the need for large, bulky bookcases on your floor that take up a lot of valuable floor space. Install a sliding rail with a ladder and you can pretend you’re Belle in the local library all dang day. It’s not just for books either, knick-knacks will work perfectly up here as well.
Ceiling-to-Floor Length Curtains – Even if your windows don’t span the same height, you can still raise your curtain rods and indulge in a beautiful set of luxurious curtains to provide some extra height and texture to your room.
Furniture Moves
This might sound weird, but stay with us… pull your furniture away from the walls. No, your couch doesn’t have to be smack in the middle of your room, but by pulling your larger furniture pieces away from the walls several inches will give the feel of more space. It’s all an allusion, but one you can pull off with minimal effort. In rooms with hard floors, you can place spacers (or even those old dumbbells you no longer use) behind the couch to keep it from sliding back up against the wall.
Creative Storage Solutions
One reason we seem to feel cramped in our spaces often has to do with clutter and a lack of storage. Instead of bringing in large pieces (like a bookcase) to use for decorative doodads, furniture makes are implementing creative function into design. Ottomans with hidden storage in their base are the perfect place for blankets. You can even build storage into your room. Using the recessed spaces in your walls allows you to customize your storage without losing all your floor space. Knee drawers in the recesses or adding a window seat with underneath storage gives you tons of space to keep anything you could need without hogging the ground. You can also take advantage of vertical space along your walls for storage. Instead of dozens of plants in pots, a hanging garden along your large bare wall is the perfect alternative.
The Cantaloupe Rule
Lastly, declutter and maintain the decorative items in your small rooms. But how do you know what to keep and what to toss? Well, for things like picture frames, vases, and other miscellaneous decor items you’re likely to find wandering around a Home Goods the best rule to follow is the Cantaloupe Rule. No items smaller than a cantaloupe in your space. Long and short, the smaller the items the more of them you can cram onto flat surfaces for decoration. But again, in rooms where space is an issue, having too much stuff often lends to the small cramped feel. Open it up with larger items including your artwork. Large format canvas paintings, prints, or pieces of art make a bold statement and keep things sleek and simple.