How to make your small space look bigger | 9 design hacks

I’m going to be sharing with you some interior design tricks that you can use in your small space to make it look and feel larger. If you’re living in a small apt, a small home, or even a shared space, these tricks will help maximize the space that you do have and really make the most of it. Let’s go ahead and jump right into it.

1- Maximize Small Spaces with High Gloss Paints

One thing I think a lot of people forget about is their paint finish and what that can do to their small space. If you like using bold dark colors, which are very on-trend right now, then you should consider using a high gloss paint. High gloss paints are reflective and they almost act like a mirror in some ways, and they don’t absorb as much light. So, they’re really going to bounce light around your room and make your space look larger.

High gloss paint is one of the most durable paint options you can choose because it’s so easy to clean. So, that’s perfect for small rooms like small mudrooms, small entryways, small powder rooms, and small kitchens. If there’s any splatter or mess, everything can be cleaned up very easily. Usually, painting is a very DIY-friendly thing that you can do. But high gloss paint is a little bit harder to work with and it accentuates any details or flaws. It is perfect if you have crown molding and trim work that you really want to bring out. But if you have any bumps in your wall or anything that’s a little bit of a flaw and I would definitely go the professional route.

So, if you have any small spaces around your home that just feels a little bit closed in, just changing that paint finish will make a huge difference. It’s going to bounce light, it’s going to expand the look of your walls, it’s going to make that space look dramatic and fun. And I think it’s such a great design move you can make this year. Let me know down below if you would ever consider a high gloss finish or if you think it might be a little bit too bold for you.

Related: How to Save Space in Your Home: 8 Space-Saving Organizing Hacks

2 – Folding Furniture Options for Small Spaces

Now, when it comes to furniture, I think always try and opt for some kind of folding option. There’re so many great folding ottomans that double as seating for your living room, and you can close them up and put them away in your closet and save some space in your home. You can also do the same with fold-out dining tables, fold-out dining chairs, and you can actually hang them on your walls and keep that floor space. So, this is especially useful for any small apartment or studio space where you really need every square inch of that place.

These don’t have to be those fold-out plastic tables or lawn chairs. You can find gorgeous fold-out pieces now, it has just become such a popular thing. And there are so many great options now, so any piece that can flatten and collapse is going to be perfect for a small space. I really love the use of fold-out desks or any kind of fold-out surface because if you work from home, sometimes you don’t need your stuff out all the time taking up space, and cluttering your space. So, secretary desks that fold away and act as a nice storage element in your space are a great option. I think IKEA does a great job with all of their small home elements that fold away, tuck away, and take up very minimal space. You don’t have to sacrifice style for functionality.

3 – Accentuate Your Vertical Space

Now, no matter what size your space is, I think you should always do one thing that is going to accentuate the height of your space. If you can’t create more floor space, create the look of extra height in your space. It’s just going to bring the eye up, make the space feel larger, and you can do this in many ways. I like using large plants in small spaces to accentuate the height of the space. That brings life and color upward, and it just gives you more to look at. So, plants and trees with height are really going be a great place to start.

You can also do wall-mounted lighting sconces with long arms that will accentuate the height of your space. They’re going to add light, functionality, and create a very striking design element. Also, you can do this with wall art.

If you have a small space, don’t get small artwork; go bigger. Go bigger with your gallery walls, go bigger with your wall art size. It’s just going to make your space look larger, instantly. So always play with height it is such an easy thing that makes a really big difference in a small space.

4 – Functional Room Dividers: Ceiling-Mounted Curtains

Now, I noticed that a lot of small apartments, small spaces, or shared spaces use a lot of room dividers, and room dividers in my opinion, just take up more floor space. And they’re not as functional as you were imagining them to be. So, I think a better option would be to mount your curtains to your ceiling and use them as a room divider. I think they look beautiful, they’re effective for dividing spaces, and they can add some more functionality to your home. IKEA has a great track system called the “VIDGA” system, and it’s great. It can mount right on the ceiling, it’s very minimal; you don’t see the rod, and it creates a floor-to-ceiling curtain effect.

So, if you have a studio apartment and you really want to create a divide between your bedroom and your kitchen or something like that, a wall-mounted curtain system would be super effective because you can close it when you need it and open it up. And it doesn’t take up any floor space. This is really effective for any size space, maybe you have kids, and you want to divide that space up for a play space. You can create a divide with the curtain panel, and it’s just going to hide away some of that clutter that you might not want to see all the time. It is going to create a visual divide, sometimes even a noise divide if you get a thicker curtain, and it’s just going to help you create functional spaces around your home.

Always make sure to measure your floor-to-ceiling height so you can pick the perfect height panel because you don’t want a weird gap underneath. You really want that panel to go floor to ceiling, so make sure you do that, and I think it will be perfect.

5 – Space-Saving Organization

Now, I always think that an organized small space will always look and feel bigger than a cluttered small space. One specific type of organization that I think works wonders is magnetized organization, an organization product that attaches magnetically to your fridge or appliance. I think these add extra storage space, extra usability, and they actually allow you to keep your surfaces clear. So, these magnetic pieces really work with your vertical height that you have and allow you to free up your surface space.

6- Using Multi-Purpose Pieces

I think the key and the most clever way to really make the most of your small space is to highlight multi-purpose, and multifunctional pieces. Anything that can do more than just one purpose is going to work wonders in a small space. Choose a sofa that is also a sleeper sofa, something that you can pull out and turn into a bed. I’ve also seen sleeper chairs and sleeper ottomans, so you don’t need a large sofa to create a bed, you can create a bed out of a very small piece. Also, coffee tables that lift up and can turn into desks or dining space, that way you can eat dinner, you can work there, it just creates this multi-purpose effect.

7 – Optimizing Living Room Space

Now, another fun way to make your living room in particular feel larger, is to play around with alternative coffee table options. You don’t always need to just get a coffee table just ’cause it’s your living room. There are no rules when it comes to that. If you want to save space in your living room, opt for nesting tables. Or even a skinny bench. Skinny benches are the best way to really maximize your space if you have a narrow living room.

Coffee tables do take up a large space in your living room, and you might want to use that for something else. So, think about what’s really important for you in that space and maximize that. I would maximize my sofa and really get a comfortable, large sofa as opposed to a large coffee table. I think it’ll just add a huge amount of space to your most used room and really make the most of it without sacrificing functionality and design.

8 – Doubling Space with Mirrors

A very effective way of tricking the eye into thinking you have double the amount of space is using large-scale mirrors. Floor mirrors, wall-to-wall mirrors, floor-to-ceiling mirrors, large mirrors will really trick the eye into thinking that your space extends into the next room. It is so effective, and it’s a great way of doubling your views as well. I always recommend using mirrors on opposite wall windows or walls right beside windows because that light will reflect so well, and it’ll actually double your view. It IS going to make it look like you have more windows than you actually have, even if your space is small.

Get the largest mirror that you can because it’s going to make your small space feel larger instantly. You can do this at the end of hallways; you can create the look of a larger hallway; you can add width to your space by really bouncing light from one wall to another with mirrors, and you can really lengthen any room with tall mirrors. If you love the look of your room or you love the look of your view, it’s gonna really just add to your space; cause it’s gonna give you more of that. So, if you’re struggling to find wall art, maybe opt for a large-scale mirror; it’s actually going to do more for your space than you expected.

9 – Scale Matters: Finding Balance in Furniture Choices

Lastly, when it comes to furniture and décor for your small space, don’t think just because your space is small you need small-scale pieces. Because sometimes getting too many small products makes your space look cluttered and overcrowded. Instead, work with large and small pieces, really doing a mix of large-scale items and small is going to work to your advantage. Sometimes when you walk into a small space and everything is tiny, it just makes everything look smaller than it really needs.

I think you can have full-sized pieces as long as you mix them with smaller scale pieces, and really allowing you to have your most important things be the largest. It is going to work wonders as long as you do a good mix, and your space will look balanced.

Alright, so that’s it and I hope this gave you some ideas that you can start implement into your small space.