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So you bought your own apartment. It is small, but it is enough for you to live. This, of course, is not a sentence, but we all know that in a spacious space it is easier to breathe, and in general it is more comfortable. Or even you have bought it for rent, but you want it to be more comfortable for the future tenants, because a cozy apartment can be more expensive.

So what to do? In fact, even a small apartment or a separate room can be visually enlarged with the help of design tricks. And an experienced designer knows how to make even a studio apartment visually seem larger and more pleasant. You can go to a studio that will offer you turnkey design, and then you won’t have to waste your time and rack your brains. But if you’re on a tight budget, we’ll tell you how to expand space in a small room yourself. If you’re interested in this topic, read the article next.

Design secrets for enlarging a small space

Enlarging a small space is a common request that clients approach designers with. And over the decades, experts have come up with many ways in which a room will seem larger without major changes or remodeling.

Let’s start by choosing the style in which to do the interior. The styles best suited for small spaces are:

• scandinavian;
• retro;
• high-tech;
• minimalism;
• eco-style;
• loft;
• contemporary.

We recommend to look in Google, as this or that style looks like, choose which one you like more, and already from it start.

But in addition to the style of interior in general, you can visually increase the room or apartment with the help of individual interior elements. Let’s talk about each of them in detail.

Mirrors

One of the most famous ways, which is considered a cliché, but it still works, so let’s not exclude it. Also, everyone knows that mirrors expand space, but not everyone knows how to do it right.

To achieve maximum effect, it’s better to use horizontal mirrors that are more than a meter long. Keep in mind that a massive frame will take a part of the mirror and the effect will be not the same. So choose a mirror with a narrow and single-colored frame or without it at all.

You can also install mirrors on the ceiling, buy a mirrored cabinet or even make a mirror floor. All these elements will visually «deepen» the room.

Before installing a mirror, place it on an empty and well-lit wall. Ideally in front of a window. This will show you how much the wall will expand.

Color scheme

Don’t use too many colors in the interior — they will divide the space and thus clutter it up. If you have one wall in one color, the other in another, it will already bring chaos and no spaciousness is out of the question.

It is best to give preference to light pastel colors. Light coating reflects the sun’s rays well, and the room will look brighter.

If you have a stretch ceiling, make it a glossy material — the shiny surface makes the walls visually higher.

Should dark colors be eliminated completely? No, but you can use them only as accents, not as a base. One dark wall, a few interior details, maybe furniture or decorations, but do not get carried away.

The principle of one wall

If you still want to add color and variety to the interior, you can use one wall for this purpose. But only one wall!

You can paint it a dark color, decorate it with a picture, or put shelves with your collection of items on it. This way, the room will be more «alive», but it won’t be overpowering.

Lighting

Another well-known way about which you can write a separate article, but we’ll try to tell you briefly.

There are several ways how to visually enlarge a small room with lighting:

1. To make the ceiling taller, use upward-facing wall lighting. Or spot lighting distributed evenly.
2. If you need to widen a narrow hallway, place several sconces on the same wall. You can also install a number of lights on the ceiling, directing the light to the long walls.
3. For low ceilings, choose minimalist and light chandeliers.
4. If your ceiling is higher than 2.5 meters, you can take a massive chandelier and hang it as close to the ceiling as possible. A voluminous chandelier will visually raise the ceiling.
5. Floor lamp torches visually enlarge a small room and add comfort.
6. Do not leave dark corners in the room, the more light, the cozier the room.

Wallpaper

If you decide to put wallpaper on the walls, then choose the ones that will also contribute to the expansion of space.

Desirable colors for wallpaper:

• purple;
• blue;
• green;
• blue;
• pastel colors.

Choose wallpaper either solid and smooth, or with a small pattern. Large pattern can be used, but on separate walls.

If you want to elongate the room, decorate the two opposite walls in lighter colors than the adjoining ones.

To raise the ceiling, use wallpaper with vertical stripes. Horizontal stripes make the walls look wider.

Flooring

Many people will be surprised, but the design of the floor is also important in increasing the space. Here it is important to follow a few rules:

1. Shiny flooring, as we mentioned above, expands the room. So choose glossy laminate or parquet with a reflective surface.
2. Choose carpets carefully. Matte pile, large patterns and texture make the room more cluttered. It is better to choose a monochrome smooth carpet or a carpet with a small ornament.
3. Use stripes. For example, linoleum with a striped print or a certain pattern of laying parquet and laminate.

In fact, there are many more ways to make a small room more spacious. We told you the simplest ones that everyone can try, even without a design education and «flair».

Of course, nothing will give the same effect as the help of a designer, who can ask for at least a design sketch, and then act on the ready-made plan. But if you want to try your hand, then take into consideration our recommendations, and you will see that even a small apartment can be made spacious, cozy and pleasant to live in.