If you can stand in the middle of your room and touch the walls
on all four sides, then you probably need to add some visual
space to your room (either that or see a surgeon about those
gorilla arms of yours!). If the neighbor next door has a closet
bigger than your room (and it's not a walk-in closet!), then
you need a little help "growing" your small room!
Here are some miracle visual tricks to make your room appear
larger:
1. Use light values when painting your room. That does not mean
you are doomed to white walls! (padded or not!) Try a pretty
celadon or chamois (light green or cream beige, for those
non-lyrical decorators out there!)
2. Place the large pieces of furniture against the walls so the
open space in the middle isn't broken up. (I know what you
are thinking! "Pamela," you think. "The large piece of
furniture against the wall completely COVERS the middle of
the room. WHAT open space?" In that case, might I suggest
wall demolition? Moving?)
3. Choose a sofa and chairs with open arms and exposed legs.
This allows light to filter under the furniture, making the
room appear airier. (But you can no longer hide dust bunnies!)
4. Consider smaller scale furniture. A sofa or bed that takes up
less area will help visually open the room. (Probably not a
good idea to put a king-sized bed in that closet!)
5. Use vertical space for storage. Add a hutch or
floor-to-ceiling bookcases as a storage solution to reduce
the amount of floor space taken. (But I would discourage
hanging books and bric-a-brac from the ceiling - you never
know what will land on your head in the middle of the night!)
6. A large mirror in the room will reflect light around the
room. This is especially effective with near a window so the
outdoors can be reflected. (Just my own personal taste, but
I think mirrors on the ceiling and all the walls might be
just a bit tacky - unless they are helpful for your ... ummm
... business!)
7. Arrange furniture at an angle if possible. This gives visual
interest to the small space. (I can hear you thinking again!
See item one above!)
With a few visual tricks and some rearranging of furniture, you
can make any room appear bigger than its actual size. But let's
be realistic here! If you want to move that four-poster bedroom
suite into that closet - well, forget it! Unless your cousin
Vinnie is in the home remodeling business! In which case, you
may need more than just a miracle! Might I suggest liability
insurance?
Actually, you may be five feet tall, but how you dress definitely has an effect on whether you look taller or shorter. It's called an optical illusion, and it makes all the difference in the world, in how the human eye perceives you, or a room, or anything else.
Google "optical illusions" for a crash course in this phenomenon. :-)
I am five feet tall. No matter what I wear, I am still five feet tall. No one is fooled by furniture scale or placement. Even color.
What they remember is how well you pulled that room together. I have seen small rooms with dark red walls and even darker plaid--large plaid--upholstery. What I remember was how luxe, cozy and beautiful it was.
Don't get small scale furniture unless you and those you know are small. Get the furniture you like, just fewer pieces of it. If you're spending money on furniture, get good furniture, things you love, love, love. So that every time you walk in the room, you think, "I really like that sofa or that whatever." Whatevers can be really costly, too.
Mirrors, though, are a really good source--of light. That's where they really shine. Right. So if you only have one window or a super view, use one big or many, many smaller mirrors to let the sunshine in.
Make the small room a dazzler, and no one will remember it's size.
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