13 Clever Design Tips and Tricks For Small Spaces

So you have a small home, a tiny workspace or one of the rooms in your house is not as big you’d want it to be. That doesn’t have to be a deal breaker. There are plenty of really great ways in which you can design and decorate such a space so that it feels larger and less cluttered. Here are 13 such examples.

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Paint or wallpaper the ceiling. Even though the general belief is that the ceiling should stay plain and white in order to make a space look bigger, that’s not actually true. By painting the ceiling an interesting color or using patterned wallpaper on it you draw attention to it and turn it into a focal point thus making the fact that the room is small seem less important.

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Of course, you can also use a different strategy: light colors for the walls and floor. This approach will open up the room making it seem larger and brighter. You can add your choice of accent colors to this type of décor.

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Mount shelves near the ceiling to draw the eye up and to make the space seem larger and the ceiling seem higher. In addition to that, the shelves will also offer extra storage and display space for things like books or personal collections.

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Leave the windows uncovered. This way more natural light will get in during the day and this will make the room seem open, fresh and airy. In addition, no window treatments means a simplified décor overall.

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Opt for multipurpose items. Modular or multifunctional furniture allows you to save space without giving up comfort or practicality. For example, a stool that doubles as a side table or a sofa that turns into a bed are both really great options.

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Use glass or lucite furniture to let the eye travel through without any obstructions and to allow the room to seem less cluttered. You’d still get all the functionality but in a simplified and more transparent form.

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Strategically place mirrors in the room. They’ll reflect the light as well as other features found in the room and they’ll make the room seem larger, creating visual illusions.

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Use area rugs to separate a room into smaller spaces and to better delimitate functions. For example, you can use an area rug for a corner reading nook inside a bedroom or for a seating area in a social space.

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Get built-ins. This is a great idea for a lot of different spaces, including the kitchen. Built-in appliances, furniture and other elements allow a space to remain open by appearing to occupy less space and by actually allowing you to save space which could be used for something else.

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Use different shades of the same color to create unity in the room and to avoid discrepancies which may reveal or highlight the fact that space is limited. A cohesive and well-balanced décor prevails over size.

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Be creative with storage. Look for unusual and clever ways to hide things such as inside an ottoman, under a bench or above the door. Don’t waste any space and use every little nook in the room.

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Opt for furniture with exposed legs. Even though two sofas, for example, may have the same dimensions, if one has exposed legs and one doesn’t, they’ll appear to be really different. It’s merely an illusion but it does matter when the space is limited.

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Decorate with stripes. For example, use vertical stripes to make a ceiling look higher or use a striped rug to make it look like a room is more spacious. There are a lot of interesting and clever ways in which you can use stripes to trick the eye.