Are you trying to sell a house that can only be described as “cozy?” Maybe it’s bigger than you think.
With these cheap and easy tips, you can make your little house feel a whole lot bigger, which should make your sale price a little bigger as well.
Add More Light
Natural light is the easiest and best way to make a room feel light and airy. Opening a window essentially brings the outside world in, which, unless your windows face a brick wall, can make a room seem much larger.
If you don’t have enough natural light, add some lamps to brighten up any dark corners. Your eyes will be drawn to the corners of a room if they are well lit.
Use Pale Paint
There’s a reason almost every wall in every house you’ve ever seen has been the same color. White walls reflect light, which makes them seem like they are farther away than they actually are.
But if white is too bland for you, there are a myriad of other pale colors and shades that you can use. In fact, painting a whole room the same shade of white can make it feel flat, which will make it feel small. Try painting the ceiling a lighter shade than the walls to give the room a sense of depth.
Add Some Mirrors
Mirrors can make things appear larger than they are, which is why designers often use them in small rooms. Not only do mirrors reflect light and color, they also add depth to a room. Placing a mirror opposite a window is a good way to increase the amount of light in a room.
Add Some Stripes
Adding stripes can elongate aspects of a room if they are aligned properly. For instance: adding curtains with vertical stripes can make a room seem taller, and adding a rug with stripes that go the length of the room will make it look longer.
Or, if you want to make a bigger fashion statement, you can paint stripes on the walls, ceilings, and even floors. However, you can achieve a similar effect simply by aligning your floorboards or tiles parallel to the longest wall in a room.
Arrange The Furniture
Nothing makes a room feel more cluttered than badly-arranged furniture. It is important to think about what pieces a room actually needs. Figure out where the largest pieces of furniture fit best and then add smaller pieces around them.
Think about where the traffic will flow in a room. Make sure furniture is not blocking any entryways, and allow a lot of room for footpaths through rooms. As a general rule: the more floor you can see, the better.
To directly contradict the last point, pulling the couch away from the wall and adding a narrow gap of 2-4 inches will actually make a room feel larger. Having a space behind the couch creates a shadow that will add depth and make it feel further away from the wall than it actually is.
Use See-Through Furniture
A coffee table normally takes up a lot of real estate in the living room, but it doesn’t have to feel that way. Using see-through furniture pieces, such as an acrylic coffee table, a glass desk, or a mesh office chair, gives you all the functionality without feeling like they take up as much space.
You can also trade in your big, bulky leather chairs and couches for ones that have raised legs. The space underneath them will simultaneously create shadows that add depth, and allow more light to bounce around the room.
Also, consider trading your old shower curtain in for a clear one. You’ll probably have to clean your shower more often, but it could easily make your bathroom feel more spacious.