Last decade, everyone wanted big furniture items to fill generous rooms in spacious houses. Recently, however, there’s been a significant trend towards downsizing.
This isn’t just the empty-nesters, either. Everyone is looking to live more modestly.
But small rooms have their own challenges. Here are 13 quick and easy ways to overcome them.
1) Coordinating wall, floor, and furniture colours will create a feeling of space.
2) Let in as much natural light as possible. French doors or glass sliding doors will give the illusion of indoors flowing seamlessly into outdoors.
3) Paint all rooms in the house the same colour.
4) One large print works better than a group of small prints.
5) Move furniture away from walkways to open up the room.
6) Simple lines work best in small spaces.
7) Keep curtains and blinds the same colour as the walls.
8) Reduce clutter. Keep your interiors organised!
9) Don’t feel the need to fill every shelf in a room to the brim. Empty space on your shelves will help your room feel more spacious.
10) Sofas, armchairs and occasional furniture on raised legs will create a sense of light and space.
11) Select plain fabrics, small prints and neutral stripes. For example, the homewares in this photo are light and neutral; but, as you can see, definitely not boring!
12) A monochromatic colour scheme works best for small interiors. Remember that light colours recede, so stick with white and neutrals. If you want to add some colour, try cool colours and pastels—think teals, lemons, lavenders, mints, and similar colours.
13) Lastly, mirrors are the easiest way to make a room look larger, because they reflect light and make the space feel more open. But be careful: heavy mirrors will overwhelm a small room!
