Written by Kirstin Stokes Smith | Whether it’s your first bachelor apartment, a small bedroom, or a small home, decorating for a small space isn’t easy. If you’ve tried, or are in the process of doing it, you know exactly what I mean. One of the biggest challenges (no pun intended), is finding furniture designed for small spaces. Sometime in the 1980s people started creating open spaces with fewer walls, creating room for larger pieces of furniture. Oversized chairs and couches really hit their peak in popularity in the 1990s, and the trend hasn’t lost favor with consumers.

But what do you do when you’re tasked with finding furniture for your small living space? And how can you make your small space look and feel, roomier? The key to optimizing your small space is choosing the right color scheme, using appropriate storage, and finding flexible furniture.

1. Choose smaller pieces of furniture.

Choosing smaller pieces of furniture, or a few larger multifunctional pieces, like an ottoman that can be used for storage or a coffee table, can help to optimize a small space.  Cutting clutter opens things up remarkably too. Knick knacks are cute, and leaving mail and paperwork handy on tables is tempting, but everything that takes up space, distracts from clean lines, and can contribute to a more closed in space. Armoires and other storage systems greatly reduce the appearance of a cluttered space, and they help keep you organized to boot!

2. Match your draperies to your walls.

Choosing draperies the same shade as your walls will create unified, unbroken lines. Using draperies that offset the color of your walls breaks the line of walls and chops your room into small visual chunks.

3. Let the outside in.

And if you’re fortunate enough to have large windows, try bringing colors from outside, inside your home to “unify the outside world with the inside.” This effect, according to interior designer Kerry Kelly, will expand the look of your space.

4. Harmonize colors and textures.

And when you’re choosing colors for your walls as well as flooring, it’s important to consider uniform colors and textures as you move from space to space. Dramatic changes in colors and textures can compartmentalize spaces, making the overall effect look and feel more compact.

5. Opt for raised furniture.

As far as furniture goes, home decorators should stick with sofas and armchairs that are raised on legs, increasing the light and space in the room.

6. Use natural lighting to your advantage.

Lighting is important throughout your space too. Allowing natural light into your space and giving it the freedom to flow freely inside your rooms, helps to open up spaces.

7. Mirror tactfully.

Using well-positioned mirrors to reflect light will give the appearance of more space, and creative use of recessed lighting can trick the eye into seeing more space.

8. All in all, simplify!

The common theme in increasing the look of a small living space seems to be simplification. If you want your small home, apartment, or office to look bigger, you need to plan, organize, and use the minimalist approach. When you use less, you get more space accessible to you, and you have the look and feel of more space too!


Kirstin Stokes Smith is a web copywriter, blogger, and born-again yoga enthusiast. Connect with her on Twitter @K_Stokes_Smith. She can also be found at: MOMmentary on Games,Snacking after Midnight, MyShakyBodhi, Do You Yoga, and Digital Journal.