With the right ideas for Decorating Small Spaces, you can make a small space seem bigger.

Don’t let a small space confine your aspirations of living large. By implementing interior design principles for a tiny room, you can create a functional, aesthetically pleasing area that also feels more open and spacious than it is. Determine the activities you’d like a small room to accommodate before you plan its decor. Browse through home decor magazines or websites to get ideas and set Decorating Small Spaces to help you narrow your living-large design options.

Tips for Decorating Small Spaces

Colors and Walls

When decorating small spaces, light wall colors such as misty gray, barely beige, crisp white and soft pastels make a small space feel more open, airy and cheerful while dark colors close in the room. Paints with a slightly reflective finish, such as satin or semigloss, supply a shiny surface that allows the room’s light to bounce, resulting in an even brighter space. French vanilla colored paint can add subtle warmth to your walls, while maintaining a more spacious feel. By painting a low ceiling two or three shades lighter than the surrounding wall colors, it creates the illusion of a higher ceiling and a bigger room.

Windows and Light

To open up the room to more light, remove heavy window treatments. Add privacy to bare windows with solar film, window wallpaper or decorative film. You can also attach Roman shades or blinds to the inside of the window frame. If you prefer lightweight sheers or curtains, extend the curtain rod beyond the window frame when you want to open up the room to the light. Skylights and solar light tubes installed in a ceiling also increase the amount of natural light available when decorating small spaces. Bring decorative illumination into the middle of a room with a hanging light fixture, such as a small chandelier or pendant light. Lamp bases in metallic silver add radiant sparkle to the room. Wall lights near the ceiling can bounce more light around the room and help to make it feel bigger.

Furniture and Layouts

Bulky and awkward oversized furniture envelopes and overwhelms a small room. Instead, opt for multipurpose furniture sized to fit the area. A storage bench situated at the foot of a bed delivers a convenient spot to sit, as well as extra cupboard for bed linens or seasonal clothing. Exchange massive, solid headboards for open replacements, such as a metal scroll or wooden rails. In living areas, create a conversational area that consists of a sofa and two chairs. When space permits, create a square conversation area with a coffee table surrounded by four chairs. Shelving units that attach to the wall make optimal use of empty wall space.

Accessories

Minimize decorative accessories to provide a clutter-free Zen feel to the room. Hang an oversized mirror on the wall to make small room feel bigger. Opt for large, framed prints with similar themes or oversized painted canvases to deck the walls in lieu of numerous small pictures that crowd the walls with a disorganized, chaotic appearance. Pictures hung slightly above eye level also create a visual illusion of a higher ceiling. Freshen a small room with colorful toss pillows, natural flowers and pots of greenery.

Decorating Small Spaces