Expanding horizons: how to visually make an apartment bigger

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Do you have a small apartment? Do not be upset! It can be done more without destroying the walls. You just need to know some interior design tricks that help to visually enlarge the space.

The repair cannot be completed. It can only be suspended.

Lifehacker told you about 10 amazing miniature apartments. Remember Christian Schallert's 24 sq. m.? And the apartments, similar to the monastery cell, are only 15 sq. m.?

If you also have a small apartment, this article is for you. We will tell you about some of the tricks that you can use to visually make your home look bigger.

Walls

Interior designers are magicians who can create optical illusions using color and light. We'll talk about light later, but for now there are three golden rules for working with color in small rooms:

1. You can not use dark colors (black, brown, dark blue, etc.) - they "eat up" up to 40% of the space. The brighter the room, the larger it appears.
2. It is worth avoiding bright contrasts: blue + orange, purple + yellow, etc. Such combinations enliven the interior, but make it visually smaller.
3. Pure white is also bad. Better to use cream, pastel shades (light green, sky blue, etc.). Cool colors give more space than warm colors.

For small apartments, designers recommend choosing wallpaper with a small (but not small!) Discreet ornament. Wallpaper with vertical stripes will make the room taller, and horizontally wider.

You can also use photowall-paper - on one wall, carefully choosing a picture. Excellent solutions - a spacious lawn, a road leading into the distance, a sunset at the sea.

As for the texture, embossed wallpapers and glitter wallpapers create a good play of light.

In addition, the visual illusion of space is created by the zoning of the room using a combination of different materials or wallpaper prints. Thanks to zoning, you can make several from one room. For example, separate the sleeping and working areas from each other. The main thing is to maintain the color scheme. The colors should be close to each other and harmoniously combined with each other.

Floor

The floor, like the walls, should be light. It is recommended to lay parquet and laminate flooring diagonally or in a herringbone pattern - this will not only visually expand the space, but also hide the incorrect geometry of the walls.

As for the carpet and linoleum: it is better if they are monochromatic or at least without large patterns. The same with carpets. Nothing pretentious and colorful. If you want to lay a carpet, then let it be light (to match the walls), plain or striped.

Ceiling

Needless to say, the ceilings in a small apartment should also be light? Ideally, they are snow-white. But, if you do not like pure white ceilings, remember the rule: the ceiling is 1-2 tones lighter than the walls.

Many divide the walls and ceiling with fillets and panels. But you shouldn't do this if you want to visually raise the ceiling. It is better when the walls and ceiling are of the same color and are not separated from each other by anything.

In addition, shiny glossy ceilings add volume. A good option is hinged structures. But remember: their installation will require a few centimeters from the height of the room. If the ceiling is so low that you cannot sacrifice even a centimeter, then it is better to abandon stretch ceilings.

Doors and windows

Swing doors eat up a lot of space. The furnishing of the room depends on their location (you can't put anything special next to the door). Interior designers recommend installing sliding doors in small apartments.

By the way, even such a trifle as door fittings can play a role in visually enlarging the room. Shiny handles and hinges reflect light and expand space.

The visual perception of the size of the apartment also depends on the windows. Large windows visually enlarge the space, small ones compress it. The more natural light, the more spacious the house appears. Therefore, you should not install window frames with sashes and vents. Frame color should be light.

Curtains, especially massive ones, made of dense fabric, with lambrequins, create the effect of tightness. If you are to hang curtains, then light, transparent (tulle, organza, etc.), slightly in the assembly.

There is another curtain trick. Nail the curtain and hang the curtains not directly above the window, but under the ceiling. In this case, the curtains should be long - to the floor. This will create the illusion that the room is taller than it actually is.

But in general, designers recommend completely abandoning curtains, replacing them with blinds, or, if the architecture of the house allows, make a sofa on the windowsill, and under it - storage boxes.

Light

As already mentioned, optical illusions in interior design are created using color and light. To visually expand the space, there must be a lot of light.

But that doesn't mean you have to buy a huge 16-light chandelier and hang it in the center of the room. On the contrary, bulky lamps should be discarded. Instead, it is better to use small LED bulbs around the entire perimeter of the room.

Don't forget about the walls: sconces add volume, and tall floor lamps accentuate vertical lines.

Furniture

The more objects in the room, the smaller it looks. Therefore, in the selection of furniture for a small apartment, the main principle is minimalism.

3 key tips:

1. Audit and throw away anything you don't need. Leave only really necessary pieces of furniture.
2. Use multifunctional furniture (convertible bed, sofa with drawers, etc.).
3. Buy light colored furniture. It is desirable to match the walls.

As for the style of furnishing, it is not recommended to force small rooms with furniture in the style of country, Empire, Rococo, Baroque and other "heavy" directions. It is more rational to dwell on classics or hi-tech.

An excellent solution is glass furniture (tables, cabinets with transparent inserts, etc.). It transmits light, which means it “creates” additional space.

It is better to choose upholstered furniture and cabinets on legs - they seem lighter and smaller.

Another life hack: if you want to visually raise the ceiling, arrange a tall, but not wide cabinet or rack along one of the walls - from the floor to the very top.

As for the arrangement of furniture, there is also a trick here. Arrangement of furniture along the walls is not always justified. Try to place large furniture in the background and small furniture closer to the exit.

Mirrors and decor

Mirrors also cleverly deceive our eyes. A room with a mirror appears brighter and more spacious. Therefore, designers strongly recommend - more mirrors and more mirrors!

A large rectangular mirror or mirrored cabinet looks good. In the first case, one should avoid massive frames and remember that a rectangular mirror hanging horizontally expands the room, and vertically lengthens it.

As for other decorative elements, here, as with furniture, it is worth sticking to minimalism. Less items means more space.

You should not hang large paintings in solid frames on the walls - family photos (no larger than A4) look much better in a small room. Don't buy large figurines, floor vases, and antiques. And remember: no arches, columns and stucco moldings!

As you can see, even a modest apartment can be turned into "mansions" if you know how to outwit the visual perception.