Small space home decor ideas – How to make your small space feel bigger
Have you been searching for small space home decor ideas and ways to decorate your house with small home decor items that make it feel cozy but not cluttered? Then you’ve come to the right place.
I’m so excited to be sharing with you these tips as a continuation of my previous article. In that article, I showcased a project I worked on in the Mediterranean.
So, if you’re looking to make your “small home” feel bigger, this article is for you.
Size matters for small space home decor ideas
Size is relevant. Whether you live in a small house, an apartment, or have spaces in your home that feel tight, it’s all about real space vs visual space.
When decorating a small home and searching for decor items, it’s all about the perception of space and its usage. So, you don’t have to be limited by the actual square footage of a room. There are things you can do to alter the perception of size, make your spaces function better, and look larger.
Let’s first talk about the envelope of your space. The ‘envelope’ refers to the walls, floor, ceiling, and windows of your home. Basically, the foundational elements that make up your home.
Below are 6 key small space home decor ideas and strategies to tackle the ‘envelope’ of your home:
Strategy #1 – Choosing your color palette
There are two ways to approach your small space color palette.
Option 1: Go light
Light-colored walls and cabinets make a space feel larger, this is mainly because pale colors reflect more light. This gives the illusion of brighter spacious rooms.
Make your space feel bigger by choosing one cohesive light color palette for your walls, furnishing, and window coverings. By avoiding too many contrasting colors you can make a space feel bigger.
Make sure that your walls, ceiling, doors, trim, and baseboards are painted in a similarly light color tone. This further enhances the illusion of a larger space. It also prevents your room from looking disjointed.
Photo by At Home With Dia ©
In the above example, the ceilings were painted slightly lighter than the walls, making the room appear taller and more spacious.
Keep in mind that neutral colors create a tranquil effect that gives a perception of greater space. So use colors like off-white, taupe, pale gray, greige (greyish-beige), greeneige (greenish-grey), or any variation of cream or very light beige on walls and furnishings.
Option 2: Go dark
But wait!… a dark color palette is also an option. Not to seem like I’m contradicting myself, but if your small space is a bedroom, a media room, or another room that will be used mainly at night and you crave a snug feeling, you can make your room look moody and cozy by using dark dusty colors. I’m pointing this out because at night when we rely on artificial lighting, walls painted in a deep/dark color tend to recede – in other words look like they move back.
Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
This alternative small space home decor idea approach involves painting the walls, baseboards, trim, doors, and sometimes even the ceiling, in the same dark smoky color.
When I say “dusty and smoky” I am referring to dark colors that have a grey undertone which makes them less intense but very soothing in appearance. For example, a color like dark green looks subdued when it has a greyish hue to it. This makes it look cozy, like a nice wool blanket that you can wrap up in and feel oh so warm and comfy.
Photo by Levente Gyulai on Unsplash
In that moody room, you can also use furniture, flooring, and window coverings in variations of the same dark color for an overall look that will make the room cozy but visually feel bigger. This is achieved because all the items within the room are in a cohesive similar dark color that helps to visually blur the lines of where the floor stops and the walls start, hence tricking the eye to think that the space is larger.
Design tip:
It is key to point out that using non-reflective paint like flat or mat tends to make the walls recede more than a satin or gloss paint sheen.
Of course, going dark can be a bit tricky to pull off if you don’t want your space to look like a dark cave, but it is an option if you prefer a sultrier look.
So, when deciding what color to paint your walls, consider how color reacts to natural daylight or artificial lighting at night. But also think of how and when you will be using the space. Is it a kitchen, or the main living area where you need a brighter, more open feeling? Then, you may want to keep your color palette in the lighter range. If it is a room that is used mainly at night and you want to achieve a cozy, cocoon-like experience, then going dark is a good option.
Strategy #2 – Small space home decor ideas for keeping it consistent
Whether you choose to go with a lighter or darker option, how you use color is important.
To make an area of your home feel more spacious, use the same colors in adjoining rooms. This creates a longer sight line without interruption and makes that space appear larger, which is especially important in open-plan layouts.
Using neutral colors allows the eye to roam freely without distraction thus enhancing the sense of space.
When it comes to choosing small home decor items, keep furniture in the same color family and avoid a hodgepodge of different wood tones and colors which can be distracting in small spaces.
Most importantly, avoid competing colors on large elements of the room, like walls and furniture. This does not mean that your spaces need be void of any color. To bring some interest and life to your rooms you can include color in accents and accessories.
Photo by Minh Pham on Unsplash
In this example, the room’s color scheme is kept neutral and light but is accented with a sprinkle of warm wood tones on the sofa legs, coffee table, wall frames, and even the floor lamp in the corner. Also notice how introducing different textures like the knitted pouf, the pillows, the throw, the carpet, and some live plants keep the room from looking flat and boring.
This leads me to the subject of accessorizing and accenting your space.
Strategy #3 – Accenting with patterns or other colors
If you want to include patterns and prints in your space, use them sparingly. Repeat the dominant color within a pattern to accent other areas of your space, with small home decor items that complement it. Sprinkle that color here and there in the space to draw your eye throughout the room.
Photo by At Home With Dia ©
You can also use the color from your pattern in small doses (like pillows or a chair) in other rooms that are within eyesight of your space. This helps to draw the eye into adjoining rooms and make your color theme flow into other spaces.
A great idea for small space home decor items is using accents of black, white, or wood tones which add warmth and keep an all-neutral room from looking boring.
In the above open plan space, the wood pieces add some warmth to the otherwise neutral light and bright space. The pattern colors of the pillows’ accentuate the wood color. That same color is picked up in accessories, wall art, the rug, and even the low butcher block top cabinet in the kitchen. Touches of black sprinkled here and there, add interest to the overall look.
Strategy # 4 – Keep your flooring uniform
In small spaces, it is important to keep flooring consistent throughout, both in color and texture. Using different types of flooring chops up the space and makes it look smaller.
Below is an example of what not to do.
Photo by Mindspace Studio on Unsplash
In an open-plan layout or a combination of interconnected rooms, you will perceive the space as larger by using the same flooring throughout.
In regards to bathrooms, it is especially important to keep things looking consistent to keep a small bathroom from looking even smaller.
Photos by At Home With Dia ©
The floor tile from this small bathroom extends from the shower floor up the shower walls. This creates a feeling of cohesion and visually expands the space. Additionally, they painted the walls in a similar color to the tile. Keeping the wall and tile color alike makes the room look more uniform. It blurs the division between floors and walls and gives the perception of a more spacious bathroom.
Strategy #5 – Small home decor items – Rugs and carpets
In small spaces, ideally, it is best to keep the floors free of rugs, so your view of the floor is unobstructed.
If you want to use a rug to define or anchor an area within the space, it is important to pay attention to the rug’s color, pattern, and size.
One of my favorite small space home decor ideas is to use rugs to ground and define a space. Rooms such as the sitting or dining area can benefit from this tip but you want to make sure your overall floor space doesn’t look choppy. So, avoid too many contrasting colors and patterns. The rug should play a supporting role in your overall room color scheme but not the leading role. If you really want to make your space look cohesive and stylish despite its size, keep the rugs in subdued colors so they do not draw too much attention.
Also, in small open-plan spaces avoid too many small rugs that break up the visual expanse of your flooring.
In the living areas, as a rule of thumb, your rug should be large enough to be able to place the front legs of your sofa and chairs on the rug.
In a dining area, make sure the rug is large enough to accommodate all the chair legs when you pull the chairs away from the table. Your guests should be able to move their chairs to the table easily without encountering any issues at the edge of the rug.
So now we get to some other supporting roles.
Strategy #6 – Keep window coverings simple
In small spaces, it is best to avoid heavy draperies. Lightweight panel curtains let in a lot of natural light. As they flow down neatly to the floor, they are great small home decor items. They make small spaces look brighter and larger. Install your drapes as high as possible. Make sure the bottom hem is ¼ to ½ inch off the floor. By keeping the curtains’ length just shy of the floor, you allow the fabric’s weight to form tidy folds. This makes them look like tall columns. This further enhances the sense of ceiling height and tricks your eye into perceiving your room as taller and bigger.
Photo on the left by dimas anggara on Unsplash, photo on the right by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
If you must use heavier window coverings for privacy or room darkening, try to avoid too much contrast or pattern. Keeping the draperies in a similar color to your walls or a complementary neutral color, increases the feeling of space. It also makes your rooms look a whole lot bigger.
So, we have covered some key things you can do to your space to make it feel larger.
In part 2 of this article, I share with you tips on what to put in your space. I also cover the use of various small home decor items to enhance functionality. These items create visually appealing rooms that give the illusion of increased space.
Did you like these tips and strategies? Let me know which small space home decor ideas you are excited to implement in your home.
