Your home living space sets the stage for your life. Whether you’re working from home, planning to start a family, or relocating to a new city, your home is a place that provides you comfort and security.

While smaller spaces can sometimes feel uncomfortable and confining, it doesn’t mean you have to throw style out the window. In fact, smaller spaces are easier to decorate, keep clean, and organize — especially if you have a busy lifestyle in the Dayton and Miami Valley surrounding areas.

Whether you’re looking to make your whole house or a single room look bigger, there are a few subtle and effective solutions you can do without having to knock a wall down. The right color techniques, furniture selections, or lighting can make a huge difference and make your home seem larger.

Ready for some inspiration? Let’s dive into some creative solutions to make your house look bigger.

6 Best Practices to Make Your House Look Bigger

With over 81 million homeowners in the United States, the average single-family house is 2,301 square feet. However, you want your home to represent your lifestyle and vision. If you’re worried your house is too small to design with magazine-ready aesthetics — think again. Follow these simple tips to elevate your house:

1. Stay Organized

There’s nothing like making your house feel smaller than stuffing it full of clutter. To optimize your home, you need to think of creative ways to store things so your space feels more open and orderly. Embracing minimalism also goes for your décor and furniture – less is often more when it comes to small spaces. Consider the following methods:

• Invest in built-ins instead of clunky shelving
• Buy furniture that offers storage options like benches, sofa beds, or nesting tables
• Avoid hanging excessive wall items like shelves, racks, and accessories
• Hang one large painting instead of multiple

2. Choose Light Colors

Using light and contrasting colors presents an optical illusion that makes your house look more open and airy. Additionally, consider painting your trim and moldings a lighter color than your walls so they appear farther back. Reflective colors – white, off-white, blues, greens, etc. – also utilize your home’s natural lighting, which will create a brighter and bigger environment.

3. Decorate with Mirrors

Any small space décor needs to include mirrors. Mirrors create a greater sense of openness by reflecting light and to trick your eye into thinking the room is larger. To successfully design with mirrors, choose a focal point and angle your mirrors towards it to amplify the illusion. You can use mirrors on your walls, tables, cabinet doors, and more.

4. Select Proportional Furniture

In a small environment, your furniture needs to be proportional to the size. If a piece brushes up to the room’s boundaries, it’s too large and you need to downsize. You want to leave a little air between the walls and the sides of your furniture to create a sense of roominess. Additional furniture tips include:

• Avoid heavy furniture pieces that take up too much of the room
• Select low-profile, mid-century furniture to leave more space
• Choose furniture with longer legs to showcase the air around it
• Use solid-color upholstery and texture whenever possible

5. Make a Clear Pathway

When trying to make your house bigger, you might want to push all your furniture to the edges of your room to maximize space. However, this design often causes your pieces to bump against each other and create more of a claustrophobic feeling. Instead, it’s recommended to group furniture to one side of the room to create a clear pathway.

6. Remove Drapes and Rugs

Drapes and rugs simply add more “stuff” to a room that can distract your eye. Drapes also stop you from looking outside and can make your walls look shorter. If you’re set on a window treatment, consider using a cloth or lightweight mesh blinds. While certain rugs can add a cozy and minimalist feel, they can also shorten your room’s length. You want to invest in rugs that have a minimalist design and color to maximize your space.

Customize Your Dream Home to Fit Your Growing Needs

Small spaces allow you to embrace creativity and minimalism. Above all, small houses are all about editing your design, décor, and organization to avoid feeling cluttered. When you’re trying to make your house feel more comfortable and larger, be intentional about everything that goes into your space to ensure it fits your needs and gives off your intended vibe.

Find your dream home in the Dayton and surrounding Miami Valley cities with Oberer Homes.