8 Ways to Make a Small Bedroom Feel Bigger

If you’ve ever looked at home design photos and wished you had a sprawling bedroom complete with a sitting area, gorgeous architecture, and towering walls, you’re not alone. However, as most people don’t have a home with a ton of square footage, the best thing to do is work with what you’ve got and employ some design tricks to make your small bedroom feel more spacious.

You’d be surprised at how easy it can be to open up a room, fool the eye into thinking the walls are higher than they are, and give your modestly sized space a stylish look. Best of all, you don’t have to spend a ton of money to open up your bedroom and you also don’t need to make any drastic alterations to your abode. Here are eight simple ways to make a small bedroom look bigger.

1. Use mirrored closet doors

Mirrors reflect light and make small spaces look like they’re not as closed in as they really are, which is why mirrored closet doors are ideal for a small bedroom. This is a time tested design strategy that’s been around for years, and replacing your closet doors is an easy project. If you’re a renter, you can hang long dressing mirrors on the front of your closet instead to get the same effect.

In this space the small room not only looks gorgeous, but gets a boost of brightness from a window opposite the closet. The combo of light and the reflective qualities of the mirror do wonders for making the room feel bigger.

2. Choose light paint colors

Just because you have a small bedroom doesn’t mean you can’t add some color to the walls, but you should be careful which shades you choose. Dark colors all over the walls or on the ceiling will make the space feel even smaller, so go with lighter shades whenever possible. Neutrals and whites look nice, but in this space a feature wall behind the bed is covered with a lovely shade of blue that’s not too dark and greatly accents the decor in the room.

3. Paint your ceiling

If you choose to paint all of the walls in your small bedroom the same color, extend the shade to the ceiling as well. Doing this will blur the line between where the wall ends and the ceiling begins, making it look higher. This bedroom isn’t very large, but its ceiling having the same color as most of the other walls in the room works well for making it appear taller. Even with a fairly dark accent wall the design trick works, and it would have an even greater effect without the accent wall.

4. Utilize wall shelving

When it comes to storing and displaying items, many people opt for bookcases or other furniture that takes up floor space. Square footage is at a premium in a small bedroom, so go vertical and choose wall shelving instead. The less furniture that you have on the floor, the more open the room will feel. Less heavy furniture also reduces the visual weight of a room, and in this design it’s easy to see the benefits of wall shelving in a smaller space. Floating shelves likes these storage cubes are practical and attractive, and you could even paint the shelving for a touch more color. Using short wall shelves in place of night stands is another great idea for making a bedroom feel more spacious.

5. Opt for pendant lights

Just as furniture placed on the floor adds visual weight to a small bedroom, lamps that are on the floor, have bulky bases, or take up significant table space have the same effect. A stylish and functional alternative is hanging pendant lights, especially on either side of your bed as replacements for table lamps. The black pendant lights in this design look refined and fashion forward, and they also add color and visual interest to the space.

6. Avoid cluttering your walls

Art can look fabulous in any room, but you don’t have to go overboard with it and plaster it all over your walls. In a small bedroom, doing so leads to a space looking more cluttered than anything else. Gallery walls are huge these days, but in a small bedroom it’s best to stick to a select few art prints or one very large piece. If you want to hang art over your bed, don’t make it larger than the width of the bed itself and place it about eight inches above your headboard. In this lovely design an art piece sits beside a bed rather than over it, but the placement still works as it’s the only piece of art hanging in the room.

7. Get space saving furniture, and don’t use too much of it

Anytime you can use compact or space saving furniture in your small bedroom, go for it. This could mean choosing a smaller bed size, opting for a Murphy bed, a slimmer chair, or a floating wall desk. Furniture that’s visually lightweight, such as the Lucite chair in this design, works especially well in smaller bedrooms.

With furniture in mind, don’t add in pieces that you don’t actually need. If you’re working with a small space and you don’t need a chair for working or studying, leave it out. There’s also no need to add in bulky pieces like benches and large ottomans just for style, as you can make your room look great without extra furniture that will make it appear smaller.

8. Go with a lower headboard

The big trend these days is towering upholstered headboards and statement headboards that are huge, distinctive, and much taller than the bed in a room. These pieces can definitely look luxurious and stylish, but it’s overwhelming in a small bedroom. No matter what material your headboard is made of, choose one that has a low profile to prevent the walls from looking shorter. If the headboard in this room was any taller, the walls wouldn’t look as elongated and the effect of having the same shade of white on the walls and ceiling would be lessened.

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