One of the biggest challenges faced by interior designers in Seattle, or anywhere,  is dealing with small rooms. Knowing what to do with furniture and decorations is too much of a hassle when there isn’t enough room. If this is an issue that affects your interior design options, here is some good news: size doesn’t matter after all; creativity does. Here are four great tips that will give you the answers you need to solve your room size issues:

The Secret Behind Colors
Light, cool colors make a space feel open, airy, bigger, and brighter. Combining shades of cream and light blue is just one of the great color schemes that can open up a small room. It is all about illusion. You can paint your wall trim and moldings a lighter color than your wall which will make the wall appear further back, making the room, thus, seem bigger.

Clear up the Clutter
Too much stuff always makes a small space feel cramped. With things neatly arranged and out of sight, the space that is in view will feel orderly and open. Furniture poses yet another challenge. With furniture and accessories blocking the view into a room and out to open spaces, a room will look smaller. By moving furniture out and away from walkways, you’ll open up the space and make it feel larger, especially if you can see the floor. Setting your furniture at an angle works because the longest straight line in any given room is its diagonal. When you place your furniture at an angle, it leads the eye along the longer distance, rather than the shorter wall. You can even use the space behind the piece in the corner for additional storage.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Mirrors are one of the best tricks to make your room look larger. Use a focal point and angle your mirrors towards it, which will give the illusion of depth. Mirrors also reflect both natural and artificial light to make a room brighter during the day and night. They bounce light deep into the room, making it appear larger. This is especially effective near a window so the outdoors can be reflected. Mirrors on walls and glass tabletops will make it seem like there’s a more open flow.

Let There be Light!
Lighting is a key element in opening up a space. Any room will look larger if it’s well-lit, either by natural light or artificial lighting. If you have access to natural light, make full use of it. Bring it into your home through windows. Pull back window coverings or use sheer ones to bring more light in. Open up the windows to let the light of the outdoors into the space, as well. By letting the natural light flow into the room, it will open up the room and make it look larger. If you do not have a lot of natural light, you can add some lighting features to the room to make it look bigger. Don’t forget to use a bit of up lighting for dramatic effect and the creation of a false sense of space.

Scale
The size of the furnishings you place in a room also has an effect on the perception of size of the space.  You want to be sure not to use too many over scaled pieces in a small space.  Opt for more petite chairs with light visual lines and colors as opposed to heavy dark pieces that are chunky or overly large for the space.  It is the difference between the furnishings of baroque Europe and those of the directoire period: think visually light in most pieces.  You may need one or two heavier looking pieces to visually anchor the space and keep it from wanting to metaphorically float away, but in general lighter pieces will serve such a space much better.

You love your house or your apartment, the way it has been designed, its functionality, the location, the neighborhood, the whole package. Besides, it is really luminous, and there is lot of wood and other noble materials that make it very special, to you, and to the local house market. The only down side of the property is the rather limited space, and the fact that the rooms do not lend themselves to big or showy furniture. But, as interior designers in Seattle advise, there is always a way to disguise the not so positive features of a property, and enhance others, so that, in the total balance, there will be more pros than cons for the potential buyer. And even if you are planning to keep the house, learn how to make the most of it, accentuate the functional and positive aspects and produce a positive impact in your life, just by considering these few tricks provided here.

Definitely, drop strong color combination and shocking wallpaper patterns. No matter how big of a fan you are of strong carrot orange, for instance, leave it for small details, or other objects, not for the walls. White walls are always a classic. But, as any parent with small kids, or pet owner, knows, it is very hard to keep them spotless. And even so, plain white can sometimes get dreary. Light colors are to be preferred, and among these, cool colors over warm colors. A light blue, or a light green is to be preferred over pink or light orange.

As for wallpaper, it is to be avoided in small rooms. But if you insist and you definitely dig it, or because the walls are too damaged to just paint, and you need a thicker coating, choose a textured, light colored wallpaper, instead of one with strong patterns, such as flowers, arabesque designs, lines, or geometric figures.

Lose a few objects. There isn’t a more certain way to make a room look small than to have a huge collection of small items clutter shelves, chests, or mantelpieces. For instance, If you are a sucker for family photos, instead of keeping a multitude of small photo frames, try to make a digital collage of several, so as to keep them all in one frame, or put together a family album. Just face it; it is time to let go. Some of the ornaments must definitely go. But, don’t get rid of them, just save them for the time you get to move to a bigger house.

Choose your furniture wisely. Without necessarily having to resort to a minimalist style, choose light, modern, functional furniture. Leave the Louis XV style for another occasion, and prefer an aluminum and glass organizer, for instance, to keep your TV, sound system, and your DVD’s in one place. They are easier to clean, and they will not take up so much precious space, your most scarce asset. Also, arrange the furniture trying to propitiate easy circulation in the house. Try not to block areas close to doors and think about the way you usually walk around the house. Leave these areas free to facilitate fluid circulation.

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