Apartment renovation tips to make small space look bigger

cozy green living room with lots of wall art

So, you plan on remodeling your home to make it appear larger than it currently is. Many people find it difficult to imagine how they can do that without making large structural changes in their home. However, there are a few apartment renovation tips to make a small space look bigger without investing too much money into elaborate changes of your living space. Read on to find out how to do this easily. 

Room flow is one of the most effective apartment renovation tips to make small space look bigger

Essentially, you need to think about your living space in terms of occupied and free space. Although this can be challenging if the rooms in your apartment are rather small, it is far from impossible to find an adequate solution for your furniture placement. This is important because the way you walk in, out, and through the rooms significantly influences the overall impression you get from spending time in the given space. 

You will feel better about your interior design if you enable your space to breathe, so to speak. One way to achieve this is to simply declutter your living space from unnecessary things that you had gotten so used to you do not even take notice of its cluttering effect. 

For example, once you get rid of such belongings, you might be able to achieve a smooth room flow by buying a smaller and more ‘space-friendly’ dresser that does not take up as much space as an old, clunky wardrobe might.

Avoid swerving to make small space look bigger

If possible, always place furniture and large appliances away from doorways. This works towards maintaining an unobstructed movement through the rooms. Likewise, be sure to place furniture against the walls – even armchairs, chairs, and smaller tables such as bedside and glass tables.

Define boundaries in your living space

Smaller spaces can be visually broken up with the help of rugs, carpets, or flooring to create an illusion of two independent and distinct wholes. So, with clever rug placement, you can clearly designate where one part of the room is supposed to be. This also helps create a clear boundary of occupied and free room space, that is, a clear room flow.  

Create a Path

As with creating boundaries, creating a clear path from one doorway to the other allows the eye to scan the room as an ordered, chunked space. Accordingly, make sure to get rid of roadblocks from the path that ruin the balance of room flow. 

a bright room with white armchairs table sofa
Always try to have the passage through the room unobstructed with unnecessary things.

Create smaller, focused, and usable areas

At first sight, dividing your room into smaller visual compartments might sound contradictory since your goal is to make the small space appear larger. However, if you are using the room for two or three particular purposes, it makes sense to focus the items that you use to do the activity into a single corner or part of the room. 

So, if you are using a single room as an office, leisure room, and a dining room, then it makes sense to place larger pieces of furniture such as your desk at the opposite side of the sofa and TV. If the room flow allows it, then you can place a small table and chairs next to a wall in the middle of the room. This clever sectioning of different activities keeps your living space focused, the room flow clear and thus, makes the entire room appear larger. 

a study room with a filing cabinet and a sofa
There are ways to make the room multifunctional and uncluttered at the same time.

If you are doing major remodeling, we suggest you consult a reputable moving team on how to achieve the best effects with smart furniture placement. We recommend hiring a moving company such as Ample Moving NJ, since they have ample experience with placing furniture and appliances into all kinds of apartment types and sizes.

Use wall art, lighting, and paint to enlarge the space

Another way to additionally section parts of the room is to add decoration to signal the imaginary lines of separation. Wall art and focused lighting in one part of the room can let the visitor observe the space as a distinct area, which mentally contributes to the feeling of spaciousness. The same goes for paint – you can play around with bright and neutral paint colors to achieve an effect of depth contrasted with light. 

During your apartment renovation, applying wall art, lighting, and paint to make a small space look bigger should make the process as affordable as possible since you do not have to invest in buying new, sleek furniture to replace your old furniture.

Appropriate wall paint and lighting is crucial

Most interior designers vouch that professional interior painting is a must when it comes to creating a clean, tidy, and spacious surrounding. Another benefit of investing in good wall paint is the fact that it can bring an entirely fresh and new feel into the room. There are two common ways you can refresh your small space and make it appear larger.

Firstly, white, off-white, or any other neutral nuance of white optically makes the room feel open, large, and fresh. Also, it is the best color to make the room feel less cramped, since it does not clash with other colors, especially when accompanied with good lighting with white, quality light bulbs.

a white room with grey carpet and plants
Neutrals are good for creating an easy, bright vibe.

In fact, the importance of lighting when it comes to making small spaces visually larger cannot be stressed enough. Remember that nice lighting goes a long way, no matter the size of the room.

Another way to achieve an interesting effect is to add depth to your all neutral walls. Painting one wall inside the room into a bold, well-pigmented color is among old apartment renovation tips to make small space look bigger.