8 Ideas on How to Make a Small Room Look Bigger

The struggle is real. Especially when you’re on a budget! You have a small house, or a small room and you just don’t know how to make a small room look bigger.

Well, I’m quite familiar with the struggle. Our bathroom is SMALL. I wish I was being dramatic. It’s a full bath, the only one in our house and it is one of the smallest bathrooms I have seen.

Our small bathroom is quite talented. It gives you the ability to pee, shower and wash your hands all at the same time. Okay, maybe now I’m being a little dramatic. But it is small. And I wanted to find ways to make it feel bigger.

I wanted to find ways to make any room feel bigger! So, these 8 ideas, or one might call them tricks, will help you figure out how to make a small room look bigger.

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8 Ideas on How to Make a Small Room Look Bigger

1. Paint Your Walls

Using light or neutral colors in a room will brighten it up and make it appear larger. Dark or bright colors tend to make the room look closed in. Even just painting the walls, adding a lighter colored rug or adding a light toned piece of furniture can make a huge difference in brightening up the room.

My favorite go-to neutral for walls is Dove by Behr paints.

Having neutral palettes will also make your home look more expensive. Check out 20 Budget-Friendly Home Decor Ideas- Update the Look of Your Home.

2. Update the Lighting

There aren’t many things that are better for a space than natural lighting. I like to open up all my curtains and blinds during the day to brighten up the room and let the natural light stream in. If you don’t have a lot of windows, add extra lamps or light fixtures with white bulbs. Yellow lights make a room feel softer, but if you’re looking to make the room feel bigger then you want light that will brighten the room up the most.

3. Open Up Spaces if Possible

One of the first things I did in our tiny bathroom was remove the shutter doors that were connected to the linen closet. Removing the doors and adding baskets and neutral colored decor made the room feel a bit bigger. Having open shelving draws eyes further into the space rather than stopping at the closet/cupboard door.

These are the baskets I have all over my home. They come in different shapes and sizes and I absolutely love the color.

4. Organize and Reduce Clutter

Having the open shelving is great, but make sure to keep it organized. Even a little clutter will close up a room and make it feel small. Try to keep the whole room looking clutter-free and organized. Use larger decor items rather than small ones and use baskets or multipurpose furniture to store items.

If you need help creating organized and functional spaces, check out 7 Tips to Organize Your Home – And Stay Organized!

5. Incorporate the Right Decor

Mirrors reflect the room and lighting making the room appear larger. Use a large mirror on an accent or empty wall to make the room feel more open.

One like this one is trendy and large enough that it will help the space if placed just right.

6. Hang Curtains Correctly

How you hang your curtains can have a huge impact on the appearance of a room. Hanging them floor to ceiling will draw your eyes higher and make the ceilings feel taller. You might not be able to do this in a small bathroom or kitchen, but it would make a huge statement in a bedroom or living room.

7. Clear Furniture

This one kind of depends on your style, but if your home has a more modern look then you could get away with adding some clear furniture. Since you can see through it, you’ll be able to see more of the room making it appear larger.

Target has a few really good options for trendy, clear furniture. Like this chair, this gorgeous desk, and this cute coffee table.

8. Furniture with Legs

Furniture with legs has a similar effect that the clear furniture does- you can see more of the room because of how it’s built. Seeing the legs will also allow your eyes to see more of the floor and makes the furniture appear like it’s sitting higher than if it didn’t have legs making the floor to ceiling height appear greater.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, figuring out how to make a small room look bigger is kind of like a puzzle. You have to move things around to see what fits and what works. Every space is different and not every tip or trick will work in every space.

Try some of these ideas out and hopefully some of them make you love the space you’re in!