How to make a small room look bigger

There’s no need to resort to waving a magic wand to make a small space look bigger, nor is there a need to push out walls to create a room with a bigger footprint.

There are various tricks and tips to accomplish this. Paint colour is one of the easiest and most cost-effective solutions for making space appear larger than it is.

However, it is important to recognise that light colours behave differently than dark colours, just as warm colours behave differently to cool colours. Different colour choices will do different things for ceilings, walls and floors as all these factors can completely transform and open up a small space.

Almost like magic, but without the wand.

Generally speaking – and there are exceptions – dark colours tend to make a room look smaller, making the walls seem closer than they actually are. Try a light paint colour with cool undertones to make it seem bigger.

Resene Colour Expert Carolyn Atkinson recommends Resene Black White, Resene Quarter White Pointer, Resene Half Rice Cake and Resene Wan White as popular options, but encourages looking at colours beyond basic whites. Blues or blue/greens are some of the best choices, she says – particularly paler tomid-toned varieties.

They work especially well because they recede from your vision, making spaces appear further away and therefore much bigger. ReseneRemember Me, Resene Slipstream, Resene Half Dusted Blue, Resene Breathless, Resene Breeze or Resene Eskimo are some of the most approachable options.

Adding stripes is another trick suggested by Mount Maunganui painter John Murphy. He recommends horizontal stripes on walls to help visuallyexpand your space: “Pick one - maybe two walls – to give the striped look and they’ll look elongated. Use contrasting colours to create the illusion of depth.”

Light vs dark

Light colours have higher Light Reflectance Values (LRV’s), reflecting more light than dark colours. So they help small spaces feel more alive, bright and airy. Light colours visually open up spaces that might otherwise feel cramped, helping to reflect artificial and naturallight.

It may sound counter-intuitive but some colour experts suggest that, while cool and light colours are popular, a dark feature wall – even a black one – can actually make a space feel larger.

While the main purpose of a fresh coat of white or light paint in a small room may make the room appear larger, a dark colour can do the same thing — although in a different way. By absorbing the light, the walls of the room are less clearly marked and can give an illusion of more space. Help is at hand at Resene ColorShops if you need convincing.

Though it may seemcounter-intuitive, dark paint colours with a cool undertone such as ReseneBunting can actually make a space feel larger. Photo / Supplied

Cool v warm

Cool colours are receding colours and help a space look larger by visually pushing walls farther away. So, when you combine light and cool, you are getting the best of both worlds.

Warm colours advance and cool colours recede, affecting the perception of depth. The eye adjusts when focusing on colours of different wavelengths.Red light waves have a longer wavelength than blue ones, for example.

Warm paint colours are generally red, orange and yellow; cool colours are green, blue and magenta. However, it’s smart to talk to a Resene Colour Expert as there are warm and cool greens, blues, red, yellows, earth colours, blacks and whites. They can show you options in any hue that can help to visually expand your space.

Light cool-toned blueslike Resene Duck Egg Blue, seen on the walls of this lounge, are a go-to colourfor visually expanding a small space. Photo / Supplied

Ceilings and trims

If walls/ceilings and trims are all painted the same pale white or off-white neutral colour, there is nothing in the way of definite colour to arrest the eye. This can make the space seem much bigger. And paint your ceiling a lighter colour than the rest of your space – and suddenly it will seem like you have extra-high ceilings. Look to Resene Black White, Resene Sea Fog or Resene Merino for the most popular off-whites.

Flesh out your floors

Painting the floors (along with walls, trim, and details) in different shades of the same colour family – such as pale grey or light blue – will make your space look larger. With a monochromatic space, you can go as neutral or as out-there as you want. It’s committing to the look that seals it.

The stripes in ReseneThunder Road and Resene Quarter Spanish White make an eye-catching statementthat visually expands the width of this child’s bedroom. Photo / Supplied

TOP TIPS

- Interior Designer Gael Garrett acknowledges paint is a key component but not the sole one. She offers the following suggestions for making a small room look larger:

- Bright white colours and deep dark colours create contrast – medium-value shades can make a room appear smaller.

- A few table lamps to spread light evenly instead of relying on overhead lighting

- Use a rug to define a space.

- Choose a large statement piece of furniture instead of small pieces. For example, have one large sofa and one accent chair or have a king-size bed in a bedroom instead of a queen.

- Place a large mirror on a dark wall to bounce light from windows.

- Curtains that hang from the ceiling, colour-matched to the walls make the ceiling look higher.

- Display a large piece of art. If you want to hang a gallery wall, limit it to one wall only

- Declutter, declutter, declutter. The fewer ‘things’ in a room, the more space left for you to enjoy it.

For more tips and advice for your projects, see the habitat by Resene website, www.habitatbyresene.co.nz or visit your Resene ColorShop.

This content has been created in partnership with Resene.