7 Interior Design Mistakes That Make Your Home Feel Smaller
Smaller rooms can sometimes feel overwhelming to design due to their lack of space. However, a small space doesn’t mean you can’t create a beautiful, practical design. Plus, whether you live in an apartment or a house, everyone wishes they had more space. It’s in our nature. Increasing the sense of space in smaller rooms is one design issue every homeowner and designer wishes to solve. But in our desire to solve this issue, we sometimes make it worse. But that’s okay. Today we will show you some interior design mistakes that make your home feel smaller, so you can avoid making them in the future.
Smaller rooms can sometimes feel overwhelming to design due to their lack of space
Increasing the sense of space in smaller rooms is one issue every homeowner wishes to solve
In this article
Interior Design Mistakes That Make Your Home Feel Smaller
A small home can be very cozy and practical. If you manage to design it in such a manner. But to create an effective and aesthetic design, you must first understand what not to do. Small spaces don’t need to look tiny and claustrophobic. There are a ton of tips and tricks on making your home look bigger – from playing with mirrors to the color scheme. However, we rarely see the design mistakes that are making your home look smaller rather than bigger.
A small home can be very cozy and practical
Small spaces don’t need to look tiny and claustrophobic
#Too much furniture
It is very easy to overcrowd a small room with furniture, which instantly makes the room feel tiny and makes it super hard to navigate throughout. But of course, that doesn’t mean you should devoid your space of any furniture. Like with everything else in life, balance is key. When working with a smaller space, it is important to carefully reevaluate what you want the space to look like, what you will need, and how much of it. Make sure you create a focal point, as this can help give depth and volume to the room. And also make sure to think about how you plan to use the room. How will you be moving around most of the time? Plan efficiently and accordingly. For a living room, you can create a focal point by framing it with inward-facing armchairs. You can also curate certain essential pieces through the addition of a beautiful rug.
It is very easy to overcrowd a small room with furniture
#No Storage
Clutter creates the feeling that a space is way smaller. That’s why you need storage. Having a place to put everything, really helps create a clean, calm, spacious atmosphere. And when designing a small space it’s a great idea to incorporate pieces that look good, fit into your aesthetic, and double as storage. For example, you can get an ottoman that doubles as a secret storage space. Or a coffee table with drawers. There are a ton of ways to create storage space. Built-in cabinetry is also a great choice. It depends on what you are going for. Either way, just make sure you have plenty of storage and keep clutter down to a minimum.
Clutter creates the feeling that a space is way smaller
#Too many ceiling lights
We’ve all heard that if you make the room brighter, it will look bigger. Yes, this is true. However, you can easily go overboard with this. Too many overhead lights will really strain the eyes and rob the space of any dimension and atmosphere. If you want more light in the room, you can easily do that while still adding atmosphere and dimension, by adding different levels of controlled lighting. Low level – lamps on side tables, next level – lamps on console or mantle, next – floor lamps and wall lamps, etc. Position your ceiling lamps angled away from the center of the room.
Too many overhead lights will really strain the eyes
#Wrong size furniture
Your furniture size really matters when it comes to designing a small space. While you may want to prioritize comfort over anything and get a huge couch or bed, you will be doing yourself disfavor. When furnishing a small space you need to think critically about both the comfort and size of the pieces. You don’t need huge pieces that aren’t practical and take up a lot of floor space. Look for comfy furniture that has a sleek silhouette. Small rooms benefit from long, clear lines, so a furniture with a sleek silhouette can help create plenty of negative space and lines to make the room seem bigger.
Your furniture size really matters when it comes to designing a small space
#Blank walls
It may seem logical that not over-cluttering your walls will give the room a more spacious feeling, but this isn’t quite true. White, blank slate-style walls will not make the home feel airy. Rather such flat, empty, light-colored walls will only draw attention to the room’s size. And it will also remove any personality from the room, making it feel less cozy and personal. It will also give it a sterile vibe. Don’t be afraid to add art pieces to the wall – big and small. Rooms are all about proportion and scale, so keep in mind, that the size of your art should follow the same rules. Make sure you don’t use art that is too big or too small.
White, blank slate-style walls will not make the home feel airy, rather they will feel sterile
#Heavy, long curtains
Long, heavy curtains may look good on paper, but once put into practice in a small room are just not it. Big curtains can dwarf the room, block out natural light, and create a feeling of heaviness. They do not achieve the same luxurious look that they do in big spaces. Curtain length is very important for small rooms, you don’t need your drapes to be taking up space on the floor when there isn’t much space, to begin with. Keep your curtains at floor length max or better a little above the floor. If you have curtains that don’t reach the floor, then they should end at the windowsill.
Long, heavy curtains may look good on paper, but once put into practice in a small room are just not it
#Furniture against the wall
While it may seem logical to push all the furniture against the walls in order to create a bigger open space in the center of the room, it actually does quite the opposite. Doing this actually visually shrinks the space, as you are defining its limitations with the furniture. Instead, you should be taking your furniture at least three inches away from the wall. This creates a shadow and gives off the illusion of depth, which helps the room feel much bigger and more spacious.
Pushing all the furniture against the walls visually shrinks the space
These were some interior design mistakes that make your home feel smaller. We hope you found this article useful. Now you know these common mistakes you can easily avoid them or fix them. Then your home will start to feel nice, and spacious.
These were some interior design mistakes that make your home feel smaller
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