by Shelly Mcrae

Created on: June 13, 2009

Visually opening up a space requires a balance of color and light, a precise arrangement of furnishings and a calculated placement of accessories.

If you want to make your small space look larger, first consider the source of natural light. If the room has one small window that brings in weak afternoon light, you need to create a wash of brilliance in the room. This can be achieved with a mix of overhead cam lights, up-lights and table lamps.

Use up-lights in two opposite corners to create a balance of overhead lighting. Arrange the table lamps so they form a triangle of lighting. The overhead can lights can be used for tasking and highlighting artwork.

Though you may have heard numerous times that white or cream colors make a room seem larger, this is only true if the furniture is also white or cream colored. Bouncing light off white walls doesn't make a room look larger. It just makes it look whiter.

Instead, paint your walls a brilliant, bold color. Choose a color from your artwork or fabrics and paint your walls using that color. Leave a ten-inch gap at the top of the walls. Paint your ceiling one or two shades lighter than your wall color and bring that color down the wall to fill that gap. This adds visual height and length to a room.

The artificial lighting and the colorful walls will provide a visual depth to the room. You can add to this illusion by placing your furniture to create a seamless traffic flow.

In a small room, furniture is placed against the wall simply because there isn't room enough space to bring it out to the center. But you needn't line it up around the walls as if the pieces were all wallflowers at a dance.

Create one central grouping in the room. Place the couch against the wall farthest from the entrance and flank it with side tables, each with a lamp. To each side, facing opposite each other, set out the chairs. Place a small coffee table in front of the couch. Balance this classic u-shape with a television, bookcase or writing desk (depending on what the room is used for) placed on the opposite wall. Make sure you have a table lamp, or if necessary, a floor lamp, on that opposite wall to form your lighting triangle.

Whether the room is for socializing or a bedroom, creating a two-wall balance will create a sense of space in the room because there are two separate furniture groupings. The traffic pattern is through the middle of the room, reinforcing this impression of multi-purposing.

The accessories you choose for your small room should be few, but distinctive. A large painting or a group of three paintings on the wall behind the couch makes for a bold focal point when entering the room. Use the small window as an accessory and dress it with brightly patterned curtains that reflect the color and textures in the room.

Place a small table beneath the window and create a vignette of books, photos or mementos.

A large ceramic pot in a corner adds visual interest. Add tall dried grasses or silk flowers to the pot for color and drama.

Choose accessories that compliment the colors and textures of your fabrics. Your wall color, your furnishings and fabrics, and your accessories should all share similar shades and textures. This gives the room a precise and concise cohesiveness. This cohesion creates a strong sense of flow in the room, and nothing opens up a room up like flowing color.

Learn more about this author, Shelly Mcrae.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.