How To Make A Narrow Room Look Wider

13 Tips for choosing the best paint colors, furniture, and decorating techniques to make your small living spaces look bigger.

When living in a small space, such as an apartment, Tiny Home, or other compact house, it can be hard to figure out the best way to make your narrow rooms look wider, especially without actually knocking down your walls, or completely stripping your spaces bare and ending up with a bland and empty room.

But without taking such drastic measures, there are many ways that you can trick the eye to make your rooms look bigger and wider, without having to abandon all of your favorite home decor items. So to lend a hand, we wanted to share with you a few of our favorite interior design tricks that will help to make your rooms at least look much bigger...and that’s half the battle, right? 

Contents:

1. Make a Statement

2. Choose Your Room Color Wisely

3. Use Wallpaper and Decals

4. Have Furniture Match Your Wall Color

5. Compartmentalize Your Space

6. Multi-Functional Furniture and Hidden Storage

7. Use Minimizable Furniture Solutions

8. Use Furniture with Exposed Legs

9. Add Super-Chic Clear Furniture

10. Install Floating Wall Shelves

11. Use Hanging Pendant Lights

12. Use Lamps to Spread Light Evenly

13. Use Mirrors

1. Make a Statement

2. Choose Your Room Color Wisely

Choose colors that will make your room appear and feel larger, like a neutral tone such as beige or white. Another strategy used by experts is to create depth in a room by using darker colors and off-setting them with lighter colored furniture. This adds a stark contrast between the two, creating depth, and inevitably making your spaces feel more dynamic by taking the focus off the size of the space and onto the more noticeable items in the room.

3. Use Wallpaper and Decals

Using a well designed wallpaper or decal pattern is another great way to make a small or narrow room look wider. Use a wallpaper mural, and install it so that the pattern extends from one wall and onto the adjacent one. This tricks the eye into seeing the two walls as one continuous surface. The more intricate the pattern, the more difficult it is to tell where one wall ends, and the other begins. Here’s an example:

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4. Have Furniture Match Your Wall Color

Understandably, repainting or wallpapering your whole space may not be a viable option for you due to a variety of reasons. These could include: you are currently renting; the cost of renovating is not in your budget; or maybe you just simply don’t want to be that adventurous with your walls. If this is the case, then another great solutions for you is to choose furniture in a color that matches the color of the walls. By blending the colors, it will visually pull back your walls and expand the feel of room.

5. Compartmentalize Your Space

To make a narrow room look bigger, it can be a good idea to compartmentalize the room based on function. For example, if you only have a small living room, like an apartment or Tiny Home, and need to have both an area to relax on the sofa, as well as a home office to work in, you can create clear boundaries between the areas by using furniture as dividers (such as a sofa), or create clearly defined areas with the type of home décor that you use. Keeping both functional areas separate will make the room much more efficient, and therefore much more comfortable and liveable.

Use a large rug to tie the living room area together and create a distinct divide, while giving the home office a separate and slightly enclosed feeling with the use of a corner-desk and stylish office chair. Even though you are trying to divide the room into separate spaces, it is still important to establish a natural flow between the areas so that it doesn’t look overcrowded or stifling. Think about the configuration of your furniture carefully and design to the size and space of your room. These tricks will also work well when designing a small kitchen setting.

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6. Multi-Functional Furniture & Hidden Storage

One of the best ways to create extra space in a narrow room or small home, is to utilize multi-functional furniture and hidden storage. A great example of this would be to add a window seat or bench that has hidden storage beneath it; all you have to do is remove the cushions and lift the seat lid to find a generous amount of extra storage space. Similarly, why not use some stylish lounge room stools, that act as a side table when not in use, and quickly convert to extra seating when guests come to visit. Once again, just lift the seat lid and you’ll find bonus hidden storage.

If extra kitchen bench space is what you need, but building anything permanent is impossible due to the size of your kitchen, then why not opt for a butcher’s bench cart on wheels? This will provide extra kitchen bench space for food preparation; provide additional storage with it’s many built-in basket drawers and shelves; or can even be maneuvered to become a stylish breakfast bar for eating meals.

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8. Use Furniture with Exposed Legs

Whenever you are dealing with a smaller space or narrow room, using furniture which has exposed legs is a great way to trick the eye into making a room feel larger. By being able to see underneath a sofa that is raised up off the floor on legs, for example, you are instantly given the impression that there is more floor space, and therefore the room feels much bigger. Alternatively, using a raised side buffet or console on legs, rather than those which go all the way to the floor, will reveal the space underneath it, and visually open up the room.

9. Add Super-Chic Clear Furniture

By choosing to add clear furniture to a small room, such as a glass coffee table or Perspex chairs, you will inevitably open up the space, and make it look much bigger. By replacing traditional pieces of furniture that block your view with transparent alternatives, you will be able to see more floor space and the room will appear much bigger. This look is definitely not for all home styles, but will look simply amazing in any Modern or Abstract style setting.

11. Use Hanging Pendant Lights

If space is too tight to use a variety of lamps around your room, another great option is to install hanging pendant lights or wall sconces above, and on either side, of your bed. These will replace the need for bedside table or floor lamps, and will therefore save that extra floor or table space that would otherwise be taken up. This is a solution that is not only functional, but also looks super-stylish at the same time, adding a unique look and feel to your bedroom.

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12. Use Lamps to Spread Light Evenly

Lighting plays a large part not only in the way a room looks, but also in the way it feels. And in the case of a narrow room, having only a single source of light can make it look dim and shallow, and inevitably feel small and cramped. To remedy this, we recommend installing more than one light source, helping to spread the light evenly around the room, and therefore visually expanding its dimensions.

One way to do this is to install several small LED down-lights in the ceiling, evenly spaced to spread the light. Another great suggestion is to place several table or floor lamps around the room, making sure that they illuminate all edges of the space. This is not only a much more cost effective way to achieve the same desired effect, but it will also look chic and stylish at the same time, adding extra atmosphere to the room.

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13. Use Mirrors

The use of mirrors to make a small space feel much bigger is a concept that you will see us mention time and time again. But that’s because it is one of the single most effective ways to make any room feel instantly larger. This works especially well in smaller abodes, such as Tiny Homes and apartments, where space is tight throughout the home, as well as for narrow rooms in larger houses too. Mirrors not only add depth to a space, but with the right shape and chic design, you will also add huge amounts of character to your walls and a real style of your own to the space.

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These are just some great ideas that could help you make your small living spaces feel bigger and become much more functional. Whether you are living in a small apartment, a Tiny Home, or just trying to make the most out of those narrow rooms in a larger house, employing some of these great ideas when planning your next room re-design could be the perfect solution to helping you finally realize your dream home. 

Visit Estilo Living now for all of these, plus many more, solutions for small living spaces!