WITH space being a luxury these days, and living spaces
becoming smaller as the population grows bigger, many are looking into ways and
means to make undersized areas look and feel larger.
Especially with the scarcity of spacious
landed property and huge supply of "doll-house" high-rise living
spaces, it is becoming a Hobson's Choice.
Interior designer Lauren Lim has much to share
on this, small yet vital subject.
"Interior designers have long been faced
with the challenge of making a small room look bigger. The good news is, we
have come up with several tried and tested 'tricks' to achieve this," says
Lim.
From tall chairs to striped rugs, here are
Lim's favourite and affordable ways to make small a little or a lot bigger.
1.
Rug it
With the appropriate rug, you can make a small
room appear bigger by visually expanding the floor area. Avoid heavy patterns,
as these tend to make a room appear cluttered and even smaller.
Your best bet is to go for rugs with simple
horizontal or vertical lines, as this creates the illusion of additional length
and width.
To narrow in on the floor and achieve the best
"floor expansion" plan, the colour of the rug should be lighter than
the walls.
Additionally, keep in mind that the larger the
rug, the greater the illusion. To maximise the effect, the rug should at least
be half the size of the room.
2.
Mirror, mirror
Mirrors are the perfect way to create an
illusion of open flow and make a room look larger than it actually is.
You do not need an entire panelled mirrored
wall to achieve this, but neither is a small mirror going to be effective
either.
The best way to create this illusion is by
placing a substantially sized mirror against the main wall of the room (ideally
the wall you face when entering a room or the wall you are most likely to face
while sitting).
Ensure that the mirror is at least
three-quarters the width of the wall and one-quarter its length. This will
dramatically create depth and space to the room.
3.
Less is more
Generally, the less a floor is seen, the
smaller the area looks. So avoid sofas, tables and beds that completely hide
the floor area they are placed upon. Incorporate furniture with tall, skinny
legs or go for transparent acrylic or Lucite furniture.
Placement of furniture can also affect the
perceived size of a room as well. For example, a large piece of furniture, when
placed diagonally, will make the area look longer.
This is because our eyes tend to perceive
diagonal lines as longer compared to straight lines. Another tip from Lim's box
of tricks is to avoid placing furniture near doors.
The more the space between the door and the
furniture, the less cluttered the area around it will look. This gives the room
a more spacious and airy appearance.
4.
Light it up
Lighting can work wonders for a small room.
The better lit the room, the bigger it appears to be. So, bring in as much
natural light as possible.
If not, artificial lighting can do the trick.
A suggestion is to make use of the "wall washing" lighting method,
which is a technique that distributes light onto the entire wall instead of
just one spot.
Not only does this highlight the wall and make
it look quite cool and out of the ordinary, but when applied on all walls of a
room, it lights up the entire wall area and emphasises the vertical surfaces to
give the surrounding a more spacious appearance.
Lighting that works well and gives the most
beautiful effect with the "wall washing" method includes recessed
lighting and wall sconces lighting.
5.
Go vertical
Incorporate curtains that extend from the
ceiling to the floor. This will automatically influence the eyes to focus on
the height of the room.
When the attention is on the height, the lack
of width in the room becomes less apparent. If the ceiling-to-floor curtain
look is just not "you", try a ceiling-to-floor bookshelf or a tall,
decorative piece of furniture such as a high-back chair, pushed against the
wall.
Perhaps even an elongated artwork or vertical
mural on your wall. All these will work just as well in getting the perceived
additional height of the room into focus, through optical illusion.
What
to avoid when decorating a small room
» Dark furniture
Oak, rosewood and walnut furniture look beautiful but they are also
predominantly dark and make a room look smaller.
» Clutter
Too many things make smaller spaces over-crowded. Better to avoid stacks of old
magazines and unused stuff in the four corners of a room?
» Colours galore
Too many colours intersect a space and make it look smaller. Stick to
monochromatic colour schemes.
» Ornate furniture
One main piece is fine but too many intricate pieces and this will make it look
too busy. Stick to furniture with simple, clean lines that are less distracting
to
the eye.
DID YOU KNOW?
Light colours reflect light to give small rooms a larger look. However, that
does not mean that you have to stick to pale white shades and beige. Soft
colours like blue, pink and green also help to visually recede walls and give
it a larger sense of space.
