Small space; how to elongate a room
Living in a one bed flat over the last few months has been challenging, while I appreciate the space I have, living in a smaller flat has felt cramped at times. This got me thinking about how you can decorate smaller spaces to feel bigger than they actually are. This post will breakdown the ways in which you can make a small space work harder for you and appear bigger than it actually is.
You forgot the ceiling
Continue the colour of the wall into the ceiling, this tricks the eye into thinking the wall is continuing past the vertical plane and works very well at distracting attention if the room is an awkward shape. To accentuate this further paint in a satin, semi-gloss or gloss finish on the ceiling, as the shine reflects light around the room it will make the ceiling seem taller than it really is. As you can see from Niki’s living room below, painting your ceiling in darker tones can make the ceiling appear lower making the room feel cosier. While in a smaller space you want to paint the ceiling in one or two tones lighter than the walls to enhance the sense of height.
Image: Nicki Bamford-Bowes
2. Colour match
Living in a small space can be tricky and filling the space with items can make the space feel even smaller. Try to match furniture, kitchen cupboards, tiles, radiators and built-in shelves with the wall colour. This will draw attention away from the individual items as they will blend in with the room. As a result, the space will look less cluttered and the space will seem bigger.
Image: El Fenn Hotel Marrakech
3. Stripes
Vertical stripes act like an optical illusion increasing the height of a room, making the space look longer and taller by drawing the eye up towards the ceiling. This is particularly true when vertical stripes stretch the height of the space and carry on up above the window. Paint vertical stripes on the walls to make a room feel bigger ideally in cooler colours such as blues, greens and violets that will appear to recede from view. Paint the base colour in a darker shade and the stripe in a lighter shade, you could even try using matt paint on the base and satin on the stripe to enhance the depth and light in the room. I would avoid overwhelming the room by keeping the stripes to one or two walls. You can even play around with the traditional notion of the stripe, see the images below of the stunning room by Amber Road Design at the Collectionist hotel in Sydney for inspiration. Striped wallpaper will also have the same impact as well as fabric with a strong vertical element in the design. It’s not just stripes that expand the height of a space but also structural vertical elements and architectural panelling so you could play around with this idea if stripes are really not your thing.
Image: The Collectionist by Amber Road Design
4. Full height or nothing
I recently saw someone on Instagram asking if they should build their cupboards to the full height of the room, as they were worried the room was too small. I jumped into their question box and explained that they should build their cupboards to ceiling height for that exact reason. Small rooms are always going to be small but you can create the illusion of height by extending cupboards and bookcases up to the ceiling. Not only does this provide you with extra storage, it creates a seamless look if painted in the same colour as the walls.
Image : The London home fix
I hope this gave you some inspiration and new ideas on improving your smaller spaces. Share this post on social media and the photos on Pinterest if you found it useful!