

If your home, or even just a few rooms are a bit on the small side, the good news is that the human mind can be tricked.
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Simply by putting the right colours, finishes, furnishings and accessories in the right places, you can give the impression of extra space and light and visually open up any area.
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Here are my top 13 tips to help you do just that.
1
Choose a pale paint
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The paler your paint, the more white content it has and the more light it will reflect, which will maximise the feeling of space. That doesn’t mean you have to paint everything white, just go for a hint of the colour you want. And remember, although the paint may look washed out in a sample, once it’s on all the walls you’ll be amazed at how much colour you get from just a teeny whiff in the tin.
Click here for more on warm v cool colours.

2
Have a continuous wall colour
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It happens very quickly, but the human eye naturally scans vertically before horizontally, so the smoother you can make the visual journey from floor to ceiling, the ‘taller’ a room will feel.
So, get rid of borders and paint over dado and picture rails so they don’t ‘trip’ the eye, and have the skirting boards in a soft white eggshell, which will blend with the wall paint better than gloss.
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3
Have a smooth, pale ceiling
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Quite simply, you want the space above your head to be as unobtrusive as possible, so get rid of any texture and paint the ceiling white or another very pale neutral tint.

4
Use mirrors to add light and depth
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Mirrors will not only bounce light around the room, but they give the impression of depth and therefore extra space. In a narrow hallway, they can visually double the width, and the bigger the mirror, the greater the illusion. If you really want to open up a space, consider mirroring a whole wall.
5
Hang pictures and mirrors in portrait orientation to help create a feeling of height
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A greater focus on vertical lines encourages the eye/brain to perceive a space as taller than it is. Similarly, if you want to make a room feel wider, hang mirrors and pictures in a landscape orientation.

Credit: Houzz
6
Run storage from floor to ceiling
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Bookcases, cupboards and wardrobes that run the full height of the room will accentuate the vertical space – particularly if they’re painted in a pale colour.

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7
Think of the floor like the walls: one continuous finish
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To make the floorspace feel as big an area as possible, have the boards or carpet run wall to wall so the eye can travel quickly over the entire area. Forget rugs and runners.
If the room is narrow and you’re laying boards, run them horizontally to give the illusion of there being more width. And if you’re having a tiled floor, the bigger the tiles, the fewer visual ‘trips’ there will be and the more spacious the room will appear.
To make your whole home feel bigger, have the same flooring throughout on each level to help eliminate visual barriers between rooms.
8
Use the same colours to tie rooms together
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Keeping to the same basic colour palette across several rooms will give a sense of cohesion and help the flow of your home. This is particularly effective if you have a living room with an adjoining conservatory, or a kitchen-dining room, and works very well to maximise the feeling of space in smaller homes.
You can even extend that to the whole property, choosing different shades, tones and tints of the same colour palette to change the look of rooms.
9
Extend curtains and blinds beyond the window frame
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Make sure you’re benefitting from as much natural daylight as possible and not obscuring any of the glass. Install light-coloured blinds that can be retracted all the way up or have curtain poles that extend well beyond the window so that there’s space for the curtains to hang at the sides. And if you want to maximise the height of the room, have full-length curtains rather than ones that stop at the window sill.

Credit: House & Garden
10
Minimise visual barriers when arranging furniture
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Have a clear visual and physical path from the doorway into each room so your mind and body aren't blocked by sofa backs and tables that need to be walked around. This isn't a problem in huge rooms and stately homes, but for most of us it's well worth bearing in mind!
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Blocking and overcrowding can also indicate that your furniture is simply too big for the room, so be mindful of this, particularly when buying larger items.
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And if you have a small room and can afford to invest in new furniture, choose chairs and tables that aren’t entirely solid, so you can still see at least part of the room beyond them.

11
Allow furniture to breathe
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People are often tempted in smaller rooms to push furniture right to the edges – the idea being that the more space they leave in the middle, the bigger the room will feel. Nope. What you actually get is the impression that the room is too small to accommodate the things you need.
Of course, you expect to see bookcases, wardrobes, console tables and sofas nestled against walls. But when it comes to things like beds, dining tables and armchairs, if you can leave a space - even just a small one – between them and the wall, it allows the eye to travel beyond the item to the furthest point of the room.
12
Keep surfaces reasonably clear
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The more surface space that can be seen, the less chaotic the room will look and the more spacious it will feel. That doesn't mean you need to clear away all your possessions, but be selective and allow the piece of furniture or other surface they're sitting on to breathe.
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Kitchens often suffer from countertops and islands being overly cluttered, particularly if there aren't many storage cupboards. So make a concerted effort to only have out what's absolutely necessary and store items you don't use very often.
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See the 'Tidying and storage' page for how to organise effectively.
13
Have a focal point to draw the eye
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If you have a room that feels a bit small or cramped, pop an eye-catching picture, plant or other accessory at the farthest point from the door. Then when people walk in, they’ll naturally take in the full length of the room, instead of feeling ‘halted’ by furniture.
And if you have a small conservatory or room that has French doors, make sure there’s something attractive outside that will immediately capture people’s attention, drawing their eye (and mind) beyond the four walls.

Credit: Homes & Gardens