Jillian's Wellness Team
Margaret Moore is a residential designer whose firm, MPM Design, is based in Los Angeles, with projects nationwide. She believes that an integral part of healthy living is maintaining an organized, clutter-free, and comfortable home and is committed to using eco-conscious materials and practices.
How to Make a Small Room Feel Larger
Have you ever wondered how certain small rooms actually feel roomy? There are several tricks you can use to camouflage cramped spaces. First, let’s start with color. Light colors make rooms feel larger; dark colors make rooms cozier. To give an illusion of height, you can paint horizontal stripes on your walls; start with the darkest color on the bottom, and gradually go lighter until you reach the top. Keep your ceilings light; I often paint ceilings a very light blue, green or pink for just a hint of color and to deviate from the old stand-by of white.
Use your walls as much as possible! If you don’t have room or the budget for built-in cabinetry, hang as much as you can. Pots and pans, floating shelves or ledges for books and artwork and bedside lighting (you can either use hard-wired sconces or sconces with a cord and cover; sconces allow for more space on your bedside table or eliminate the need for a bedside table altogether) can all be hung beautifully from your walls. Freestanding bookcases are great for organizing your things; lined up against a wall, they almost give the appearance of built-in storage!
Keep your window treatments simple: no heavy drapery! I prefer woven shades, clean, simple curtains or a flat roman shade in a small room. A large mirror hung on the wall works wonders in a small space, and if possible, choose a rug without a lot of pattern. Finally, conceal storage behind curtains or a skirt. You can hide a lot under an end table and it’s easy to cover with a tablecloth or a gathered skirt.