by Joseph Malek

Created on: June 20, 2009   Last Updated: November 16, 2011

For those of you who live within relatively small rooms, in your total living space, you should be aware of the fact that light colors applied to the walls of each of those small rooms have the effect of making those small rooms appear larger than they truly are. Then again, if you avoid filling each room with a whole lot of furniture doing so will make each room appear to be larger than it is. It should go without saying that the entry way to each room should be clear of obstacles that a person can trip over or otherwise block entry the room.

On the other hand, dark colors make large rooms appear to be smaller then they actually are. The amount of light that a particular large or small room receives is also an important consideration. Contrasting dark colors of natural woodwork and the furniture within a small room balance the overall effect of the room being larger than its actual square footage.

The use of vibrant colors, applied to the walls, is something that you should never do. Such vibrant colors are hard on the eyes and one does not want to be shocked by such colors each time that one enters the room in question. The color or colors should provide a sense of comfort and security, nor should one paint designs on the walls that are crude and appear to be nothing more than graffiti.

If there is not much room to freely walk around that particular room that room will provide a feeling to you of being contained within a little box. The application of light pastel paint to the walls of even a large room will have little effect if the walls are covered with a whole lot of pictures or blocked by furniture that is clearly too large for the space in which you put that furniture.

Floor to ceiling display cabinets, high boy dressers, book shelves, Victorian style desks and extra long sofas are items of large furniture that can block a good portion of your wall space.

Then again, the dark or contrasting natural woodwork, if the moldings and door and window frames are excessively wide, does cause a room to appear smaller than it is. In that regard, it is wise to paint that natural woodwork with the same color of the walls within that room. That much is particularly true within buildings that were constructed prior to the beginning of the 20th Century.

For example, President Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois has a huge parlor wherein he accepted the terms for his nomination as President of the United States of America. Due to its dark and dreary environment that room appears to be much smaller than it actually is. On the other hand, the truly small bedrooms within his home were made to appear larger because light colored paints were applied to the walls of those truly small bedrooms.

As a matter of fact, the huge bed that President Lincoln and his wife shared left about a 15 inch wide walk space in which to get into and out of the bed and/or remove items that were stored within the lone dresser, which was the only other item of furniture that was in that particular room. Then again, such a home was considered to be a mansion during the time of Abraham Lincoln.

How many square feet are contained within each of the rooms within your home? The use of light colored paints truly can make the size of each room seem to be larger than it is.

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