Playing with colors and curtains and rearranging furniture aren’t the only ways to make a small room feel more spacious. There’s several overlooked solutions that can work just as well, and here’s a few of them.
Planks, not strips: An over abundance of seams and grout lines will make the floor look busy which in turn will make the room feel even smaller. When choosing flooring for a small room you’ll want to pick planks (3” or larger) instead of strips and go with a larger tile for tiled flooring.
It’s all about the diamonds: In a room, it is natural for people to follow the lines of the floor and count how many planks are across and down. One way to trick the eye is by laying the flooring in a diagonal pattern. This forces the brain to process the space from a different perspective and won’t make the space seem as cramped.
Mix it up: Incorporate slightly differently shaped pieces of flooring. For example, squares and rectangles will break up the floor pattern keeping the eye from following direct lines across the room. This will expand the visual space and keep the room from seeming so small.
Don’t be afraid of the dark: It’s a myth that dark colors make a room feel small. Now don’t go crazy and paint a whole room black, but it’s OK to use a darker shade of flooring in a small room. The trick is to make sure it compliments the wall paint (cool colors recede, dark colors advance) and then pair the dark floor with a lighter crown molding. This will draw the eye up and away from the floor, creating a sense of expansiveness.
Go with the flow: If you’re flooring a small space, use that same material in the adjacent room. The continuation of the color and pattern will make the smaller room flow into the larger one. Using several different types of flooring will abruptly chop each room and restrict it to its specific area. If you need to switch up the type of flooring, make sure the new stuff is in the same color family.
With these tips and tricks, your small room doesn’t have to feel claustrophobic. You can also stop rearranging your furniture and painting your walls now.
