Designer Tricks To Make Any Space Look More Open
Posted on February 27, 2020
Paint can be used to make a room feel cool and collected or warm and refined. It can make ceilings look higher or doors stand out. Many homeowners look for ways to make their rooms feel bigger, higher, and tied together. Here are some designer tricks to make any space look more open.
Light Ceilings
Dark rooms provide a coziness but can make it feel cramped or uninviting. For this reason, make sure you use lighter color on your ceilings. It will open up the top of the room and even give a faux vaulted ceiling look to the room. To get this breathing space, use a light color of white or barely there tint.
Floors that are Light
Dark colors on the floor give the walls a chance to encroach upon the room. They also will show dirt and dust more easily. Work with a lighter colored tile, carpet or wood to give a border to the room. Your brain reads this sectioning off as the room being larger than the square footage.
Match Colors
Paint your walls and trim the same color so the walls are not broken into sections. Your eye sees a sea of the contiguous color. Seamless walls make the room feel bigger than it is.
Matchy-matchy
Pairing colors that match in furniture and walls will make sofas and desks seem to disappear into the wallscape. Your brain will mentally read the room bigger without the color breaks throughout. Working within this method, colors don’t need to be perfectly matched. Keeping them close or within a similar scheme will give you the same outcome.
Don’t shy away from dark
While dark colors have the reputation of shrinking a room’s size, that doesn’t mean they cannot be successfully used. If you want the feel and hominess of a dark room, go for it. Prepare to use light furniture and a white or off white ceiling to counteract the dark feeling in the room. This will give you an opened up room that is whimsical and fun.
Utilize built-ins
Built ins on the wall can seem like they take up space. By attacking the units and walls with the same color, you’ll create a uniform look that seems bigger. This same approach can work for bookshelves or wall units. This will turn out just as luxurious as the expensive custom built ins for a fraction of the cost.
Not sure how color will help your room? Try our color visualizer or talk to our pros for a free in-home estimate.
