When you live in an apartment or a smaller home, it can be easy to feel like you don’t have as much space as you’d like — especially in the bedroom. In reality, a lot of these feelings have more to do with how you perceive the size of the room than its actual square footage. By using a few simple tricks that help make a small bedroom look bigger, you don’t have to feel like you’re cramped for space. With the right decorating hacks, it will feel like you have plenty of room.Here are some of the best ways to make your small bedroom feel more spacious:
1. Hang Mirrors
Mirrors are one of the best ways to create the illusion of more space, thanks to their ability to enhance the room’s lighting and use reflections to visually expand the area. There are a wide variety of mirror options that work great with any bedroom, such as hanging large full-length dressing mirrors over a closet drawer or placing a small mirror above a dresser or bed. Some people even use mirror-coated home decor (such as lamps or furniture pieces) to further brighten the room and create the illusion of more space.
2. Cut Down the Clutter
The more stuff you have, the more cramped and crowded your bedroom is going to feel. And if you’re honest with yourself, you probably have a fair number of items that you don’t actually use or need. Rather than allowing your bedroom to become stuffed with clothing and other possessions, take the time to go through your closets and shelves so you can get rid of the things you no longer need. You might even find that you could do without one of your old furniture pieces! Reducing clutter won’t just help your bedroom feel larger — by selling unwanted items at a yard sale, you can also earn a little extra cash.
3. Choose a Light Palette
Color scheme plays a big role in how a bedroom looks and feels, which is of particular importance when decorating a small bedroom. This doesn’t mean that everything in the room needs to be completely white — however, by choosing the right color scheme, you will visually enlarge the space. For best results, use soft pastels or even a light gray, which blend well with a white background. “Cool” colors like blue, purple, or green are generally recommended over warm colors like orange or red — cool colors make a room feel larger, while warm colors typically make the area feel smaller and cozier.
4. Use Vertical Space
It may seem hard to make room for everything when you have limited floor space, but keep in mind that you also have plenty of vertical space available. Making use of your walls not only makes it easier to store important items; it also visually enlarges the room by naturally drawing the eyes toward the ceiling. Tall bookshelves and shelving units are a great way to accomplish this. If you don’t have enough floor space to add these furniture items, you can also make use of individual wall shelves to achieve a similar effect.
5. Space-Wise Furniture
The type of furniture you use to decorate your small bedroom will ultimately have a huge impact. Naturally, you should avoid placing oversized furniture in a smaller than average bedroom, but this is far from the only way you can make a difference. Many homeowners use multifunction furniture (such as a bed frame with built in bookshelves) to get more out of each furniture piece. After all, in a small bedroom, less is more. Even something as simple as using furniture with taller legs helps to utilize more vertical space in a way that results in a more open feel for the room.