If your house suffers from small-room syndrome, don’t fret. There are lots of ways you can make a room look bigger, fit more into it without giving it a cramped look or even increase its size if you’re willing to do some remodeling.
Here are 10 ways to stretch a tight spot:
- Paint the walls a solid, light color. Avoid all-white. Make the room pop with darker accents, a single wall in a slightly darker hue or door and windows frames in a contrasting color.
- Look up for empty, usable wall space near the ceiling. Add a display shelf between the top of the door and the ceiling. Hang pots and pans from the kitchen ceiling.
- Slide shallow plastic storage boxes filled with off-season clothes, wrapping paper, holiday decorations or other seldom-needed items under the bed and out of sight.
- Buy small. Don’t buy full-sized furniture for an undersized room. Choose a love seat instead of a sofa. Get a narrower refrigerator. Look at dish “drawers,” which are a fraction of the size of a dishwasher.
- Keep a small room picked up. Clutter takes up space and makes a room look crowded.
- Find multiple ways to use everything in the room. Example: Replace a kitchen island with a dining table that doubles as a food-prep area. Choose a table with a shelf underneath for storage.
- Build bookshelves into the wall instead of placing them against the wall. You’ll save three to four inches of floor space if you tear into the drywall. A note: Get advice from a pro before modifying a wall; if it’s load-bearing, you’ll need to consider how the change will affect its performance as part of your home’s structure.
- Make every room functional. Turn a tiny, unused guest room into a laundry room or a too-small formal dining room into home gym.
- Add overhead light, remove heavy draperies and hang framed mirrors to lighten up a small room.
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