How to make a small room feel bigger

Just because a room is small does not mean that you can't make it appear bigger. There are many design and decor tricks that can be applied to make an area look more spacious. Using vinyl decals is just one of the tricks available. Before you can get it to work for you, there are a few steps you need to first consider:

Evaluate the room At a glance, determine the actual size of the room. This includes measuring the floor diameter, wall space, size of windows and doorways, and height of the ceiling to floor. This will tell you how much space you have to work with. You are not going to change structural aspects of the room but you could incorporate doors, windows or corners into your decal design to create an illusion of more space.

A second consideration is the shape of the room. If it is long and narrow, you could use this to your advantage by bringing an element of perspective into the design. A room that is an odd shape such as a dogleg or one that has nooks and crannies poses more of a challenge but there are still creative ways in which you can make this work for you.

Define the Room Space Each room has a function of sorts and this will affect the decor and design style that you choose. It will also largely decide how much space you really have to work with. A lounge or dining room lends itself to all kinds of creativity but you also need to keep in mind that these types of rooms tend to have large pieces of furniture which already take up a lot of space. In an already small room, this will limit your decal design choices.

Clearing the Way to Make a Small Room Look Bigger Before you start selecting and working on your design, try to create as much physical space as possible. A simple way to do this is to clear away the clutter. If you have piles of magazines lying around, try to put them away in a box or cupboard. If you have lots of small ornaments, select those that you can successfully incorporate into you design and group them together. For the rest, find a space in a cupboard or move them to another room. It's best if you can give away items you don't need. Some items may be sentimental but if you don't really want to display them in your home, you have to question if they are worth keeping.

Also, look at your furniture. A room that has a lot of furniture, especially large pieces of furniture will appear smaller than it really is. A good way to create space is to rearrange the furniture so that doorways and windows are open. Also be selective about the pieces of furniture that you want in the room. An occasional chair may work better in a bedroom or hallway than cluttering up your lounge.

Be Clever in Your Decal Selection One of the best ways to create space is to introduce more light. This could be natural or artificial light, or it could simply mean having a light color scheme on your walls. Rather than going for strongly contrasting colors that break up a space, use monochromatic tones that will blend together.

Decal designs with circles of varying sizes and shape are good ways to create an illusion of more space. Kaleida dots are particularly effective because they draw the eye in and create a sense of spiraling movement. This creates an illusion of the space continuing beyond the wall and as a result, can make a room look bigger.

If you have a room with a low ceiling then you should consider vertical designs. If you opt for a candy-stripe type decal, choose light earthier tones so that you can take advantage of the element of light. Other designs could be a series of tall flowers grouped together, or bird silhouettes at varying heights. In your design choice, think of how you can create more height in the room as that will make it appear more spacious.

Keep it Simple An important aspect of creating space in a small room is to keep it simple. Choose one theme, a handful of contrasting colors that will blend well together, and structure the design around feature areas in the room. Bringing in more than one design or theme will close the room in and make it appear even smaller. In terms of colors, you'll want to have one or two neutral shade as your main color base. You can then introduce contrasting or brighter colors as part of the features.