Make Your Space Bigger with no renovations

You don't always need extra meters - you just need to use yours more effectively.

Small spaces don't feel small because they are small - they feel small because of a few bad decisions you haven't thought about yet. Where is your storage? What colour are your walls? Are your windows doing their job? Let's work on this before we move house or pull out tools.

Go vertical.

Floor space is finite - but wall space has much more scope. Every time you store something on the floor that could live on a wall you are eating into the space you walk and live in.

Use the space under things.

Under the bed, stairs or couch. No one competes for this space except maybe your dog or cat. If your furniture has legs, it has space to store something.

Invest in Furniture that does 2 jobs
Ottomans that open, bed frames with built in storage, coffee tables with storage. Anything that does two jobs effectively is going to help you here.

Go lighter with colour

Dark colours absorb light and visually shrink spaces - Light colours bounce light and push the walls back out again. Basic visual physics.

Horizontal stripes and lines. Not vertical.

Horizontal lines (rugs, furniture silhouettes, paneling) trick the eye into perceiving the room as wider. Save the vertical lines for where you need the illusion of height or to make a vast room smaller.

Don't put thing in front of windows.

I get that sometimes there are not enough walls or walls/ windows are in the wrong place - but you need to be flexible here. Even if it practically suits you to have something in front of the window, it affects your subconscious and the harmony of the room. It also blocks natural light and air flow.

Get the lighting right.

A small room with a dim overhead bulb will always feel like a box. Layer your light , different bulbs (warm and cold) or a lamp here or there. Using mirrors to reflect light are a great energy efficient solution to maximize light.

Less stuff, fewer colours, fewer details.

If you are going for space or airy and not cozy or intimate - use fewer colours and have less stuff around. If you are dealing with a small space - every added colour competes for attention. Pick your palette and stick to it. Put only what is necessary in this space. Favour minimalist, modern or mid century simplicity when choose furniture. Overly ornate items can create heaviness.


You don't need a bigger house - you need to work smarter with what you have.