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10 Ways To Make Your House Look Bigger And Brighter

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Despite the comfort and coziness of small houses, they might be crowded and quite hard to decorate. Having less space to work with is easier to set up and organize, and you need less stuff to fill it up.

On the other hand, it’s challenging to arrange all the furniture in a small space, such as sofas, tables, chairs, storage, etc. You can opt for an augmented reality service to redesign your interior to its greatest potential. However, it isn’t necessary to rip down walls and completely renovate your home to make it look bigger.

Here are a few simple tricks to make any room look bigger and more comfortable.

1. Clear Out the Clutter

“Less is more.” The German architect and educator Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe once said.

First and most importantly, declutter your space! Without a doubt, having too much clutter is the biggest reason small spaces feel cramped. Try to get yourself in the habit of clearing out clutter regularly. Don’t fret though—clearing out clutter doesn’t mean throwing away your beloved items. You just have to store them creatively.

Take a walk around your house, clear out cardboard boxes and papers and gather small items that don’t have a place. Items that aren’t used regularly and aren’t used for decor should be stored out of sight or you could even consider donating them if it isn’t something you use often. You can use baskets or shelving units to keep extra magazines, books, and kids’ toys out of the way. We especially love decorative storage boxes for keeping paperwork and office supplies out of sight.

Clearing out the clutter doesn’t take long and will help keep your space clear, calm, and more relaxing.

Related: 10 Things To Do Right Now To Make A Small Space Feel Bigger

2. Rearrange Furniture

rearranging furniture

Figuring out how to arrange furniture in small rooms can be tricky. Even the largest rooms will feel small and overcrowded if your furniture is not arranged correctly. With the right furniture arrangement, you can achieve an open, relaxed space.

In addition to the right layout, your furniture should be the right size for the room. Depending on your space, you can scale your furniture up or down to ensure it looks right. Moreover, too many things can quickly become crowded and chaotic in a small living room. For this reason, you should use a few low-profile, high-quality pieces that are well-spaced to make the space feel bigger and more functional.

3. Go with Neutral Colors

In most cases, dark, warm colors create a cozy, intimate feel but make your spaces look smaller. On the other hand, choosing light, neutral, and cool colors creates an open and airy feel. Pieces of furniture that are white, gray, beige, ivory, taupe, and shades of white will make your space look bigger and more put together.

4. Use Mirrors

decorative mirrors

Mirrors are not only a beautiful piece of decor but also create the elusion of having more space. Placing mirrors in the right place is one of the easiest ways to make small rooms look bigger. Making your home feel and look larger is the main purpose when decorating your home and mirrors, especially decorative mirrors, not only open the space but add a decorative touch too.

Mirrors reflect more light in your room, break up visual clutter and expand walls. The best way to use mirrors is to place them opposite or near windows to reflect more light around the house. In addition, if you have a fireplace, you can place a gorgeous framed mirror above the mantel as a focal point of the room.

5. Use Multiple Light Sources

Lighting is a key element in decorating a house—a method to start a lighter, livelier, and grander mood. How dark and light are presented is how our brain assesses space, and the lighting option should be highly considered when deciding the decor of a space. Chandeliers are a classic and dynamic option for lighting, space, and style in any room. These decorative pieces not only add light to your space but also add an element of style.

Even if your living room has a lot of natural light during the day, you can use lighting ideas to make it feel bigger at night. Your home will feel bigger if you light up dark corners and have light coming from different places around the room.

The key is to layer your lighting at different heights. From floor lamps in a dark corner to wall scones, the lighting in a room can transform it.

6. Choose the Right Fabrics

Living room with neutral colors

The curtain style, including its height of it and the fabric chosen, are essentials when decorating your small home. Light-colored and long curtains hung close to the ceiling give the illusion of openness while long vertical stripes on sheer fabric gives your small room a sense of height. When choosing curtains, go with ones that are the same color as the walls, or just a shade lighter.

Other fabrics and styles in the room, such as that on a sofa, also matter. Look for a sofa with a low back and a low arm, and ensure it’s raised off the floor. Also, a neutral-colored sofa can help brighten up the room. However, remember, neutral doesn’t always mean plain design. You can add cushions and throws with bolder shades and patterns to keep your room from being too simple.

7. Choose Bright Flooring

Bright flooring colors can complement the furniture and home interior accessories. The flooring you choose can expand the perceived size of a room. A room can feel smaller and more closed off with dark floors, walls, and ceilings. Light colors don’t soak up light; instead, they reflect it, making the room look bigger and more open. As a result, this will add a lighter color palette to the space and make it look bigger.

Painting walls is easy, but replacing dark floors isn’t quite as simple. For a quick and cost-effective fix, try laying down light, neutral area rugs or carpet tiles over your dark floors.

8. Paint Your Walls in a Light Color Palette

Paint Your Walls in a Light Color Palette

Making a room bigger and brighter doesn’t mean you can’t use colors. You can choose light, warm colors that will create the illusion of a much larger space. Painting a room with a light, neutral color is the fastest way to make it feel more open and airy. If you paint your walls dark, you’ll get the opposite effect. You can use pops and trendy colors in your furnishings and accessories to add style and pizazz to the space. 

9. Use Hidden Storage Spaces

Finding extra space may take some out-of-the-box thinking but once you look around, you’ll be surprised at the hidden storage spaces you might find. From built-in closets to loaded kitchen walls and staircases of storage, hidden storage places are trendy, handy, and practical.

Furniture can also be used as storage to make the most of your space. Coffee tables with storage compartments and beds with hidden storage areas can help keep your bags, hats, games, and magazines off the tabletops and put away neatly.

Related: The 12 Best Spice Racks To Organize Your Kitchen

10. Keep Your Room Neat & Tidy

Though it seems the simplest of advice at first glance, keeping things neat and tidy is hard! A small home needs to be well-organized with everything having its own place. This will help the small space feel larger, cozier, and most importantly, like home.


Having a small home doesn’t mean you have to skimp on style and decor. Finding a way to maximize the space you have through the creative use of furniture, colors, fabrics, paint, mirrors, and more will help transform your small space into a home that is welcoming and bright.

You Might Also Be Interested In: 21 Home Decor Items Under $25 to Elevate Your Space

Ways To Make Your House Look Bigger

  1. Clear Out the Clutter
  2. Rearrange Furniture
  3. Go with Neutral Colors
  4. Use Mirrors
  5. Use Multiple Light Sources
  6. Choose the Right Fabrics
  7. Choose Bright Flooring
  8. Paint Your Walls in a Light Color Palette
  9. Use Hidden Storage Spaces
  10. Keep Your Room Neat & Tidy

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