How to paint to make a room look larger
With prices of homes going up all over the country, it is no wonder you want to know how to make a smaller room look larger. It seems like these days you get less home for your money. But do not despair, you can make even a tiny room look larger and airy through using some simple paint techniques. Did you know that with just a touch of color, you can perform visual miracles? It is true, small spaces can be expanded by using paint. Ceilings can be made to look higher, and more.
The following are some tips on how to paint to make a room look larger:
- Making small spaces look larger through using pale colors. If you paint a large room a warm color, it looks cozier. The same principle holds true for small space. Paint it in a warm color, it will look smaller, but paint it in a cool color, and it will look larger. Cool colors such as blues, greens and purples appear to recede, making small spaces visually appear more open and spacious. Also, pale colors tend to recede visually, which means that they move away from you. So, the lighter the color you choose for your walls and your floor, the larger your space will appear. Keep that in mind when painting your small spaces, and your space spaces will appear much larger.
- Shiny surfaces reflect light and make a room look larger.
Knowing that shiny surfaces make a room look larger can help you expand space even more, if you remember this fact when selecting paint sheens. The sheen of your paint can help expand, or contract your room visually. So, when trying to make your small spaces look larger, use a semi-gloss sheen to visually expand a small kitchen or bathroom. Use a softer sheen, such as satin or eggshell, in bedrooms and living areas to offer a more subtle finish but still get the expanding effect. - Consider trim, and molding.
Trim, molding and even furniture placed at various heights can affect our perceptions of space. So, hold your moldings up to the wall, move them up and down, and see what it does for the space. In most cases, if you move it up higher on the walls, it looks smaller, lower on the walls, it looks larger. You may also want to consider installing crown molding around the perimeter of the ceiling, and paint it in a darker color than the ceiling. It will help to draw the eye upwards, and give the room a larger feel. - Use the same color palette throughout the house.
This is a trick used to make smaller homes appear larger on the interior. To make a small apartment or home seem larger, use the same palette of colors throughout, but vary how you use it. For example, if using two different colors for your walls and trim, try repeating the colors in the connecting room, but use the trim color on the walls, and the wall color on the trim. Also consider the fact that contrasting colors tend to break up a space. Pieces of furniture are less interrupting and tend to blend with the space if they're colored to match the wall color. So, if your goal is to make a room look larger, do not use contrasting colors all over it. - Consider the ceiling as well.
If you have a ceiling that's too low for comfort, try painting it a shade or two lighter than the walls. This will give it a lighter, higher feel, and make the space appear larger.
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Tags: paint room small large visual tricks paint to look larger
