Big, spacious floor plans are all the rage right now, but not every house was built with an open-concept living area. That doesn’t mean you can’t make the rooms in your home look and feel bigger.
Professional home stagers and home staging services have tons of tips and tricks to make a room feel more spacious and highlight a home’s best features. Here are seven easy things to try in your home to make it feel bigger and brighter.
1. Get rid of the clutter
One of the easiest and most beneficial things you can do to make a room appear larger is to declutter. Start by removing items you barely use, and you’ll notice the room looks bigger almost instantly. Taking a minimalist approach to decorating will make the room feel airier.
2. Let there be light
Reflecting light instantly makes a room appear bigger, and there are many ways to get light bouncing off the walls in your room. Try hanging up a mirror, which will help reflect light around the room and create depth. Other reflective surfaces can help make rooms feel more spacious, like installing stainless steel appliances in your kitchen or using glossy surfaces in your bathroom. Also be sure to take advantage of any natural light you have coming into the room, so don’t block windows with big, bulky drapes or furniture (but more on that below).
3. Paint your walls
Light, neutral colors help reflect light to make a room feel more spacious and brighter, so grab a brush and get to work. When choosing a color, consider a monochromatic color scheme throughout the room (not just on the walls), which will make the room feel cohesive and open.
Also consider painting adjacent smaller spaces, such as hallways or entryways, in the same neutral tone to tie the rooms together, creating a living area that looks even bigger.
4. Strategically place your furniture
Several pieces of bulky furniture can make a room look at lot smaller, but don’t ditch that oversized sofa just yet. One piece of big furniture can make a small room look larger than if you have several small pieces of furniture. What really matters is where you place your furniture in a room. Pulling furniture out from the wall can make a room appear bigger (consider a behind-the-couch console if you go this route) and never place furniture where it blocks natural light because a bright room looks larger.
5. Large wall art
Just like one oversized piece of furniture can help make a room look bigger, so can one large painting or piece of art on the wall. One large item instead of several small ones will make the walls appear larger than they are. When you’re hanging that big, beautiful piece of art, be sure to hang it at average eye height, so there’s plenty of blank space above the piece; this will make the room appear taller.
6. Ditch heavy drapes
You already know natural light is key to making a room feel spacious and bright, so don’t cover up natural light sources with heavy drapes. Choose drapes that are transparent or are the same color as your wall. This will help the space look larger and won’t divide up a room as dark, heavy drapes could.
When you go to hang the drapes, hang them slightly higher and wider than the window edges. This will make the windows look bigger, too.
7. Keep it simple
Having too much going on in a room can make it look a lot smaller, and the same goes with flooring. If there are too many textures and/or patterns on your floor, it could make the room look dark and small. It’s best to stick to one type of flooring throughout the entire room to make it feel wider.
If you’re looking to spruce up your home to impress potential buyers, there’s no home staging company quite like Set To Show. We’ve been working in the Twin Cities for 13 years to help people sell their home faster and for more money. To learn more about how we can make your home seem bigger and brighter — or for any of our other home staging services — contact us at 952-224-2131.