5 ways to make a small apartment feel bigger

Living in a small space can be difficult, especially if you’re a rental tenant without the luxury of breaking down walls or making structural changes. Here are 5 quick tips to instantly transform even the tiniest apartment into a light, airy-feeling space that you’ll look forward to coming home to every day.

1. Choose larger furniture pieces

A common misconception is that a small room needs small furniture, but smaller furniture pieces actually clutter the room and makes the space feel small. Designing your room around a sizeable statement furniture piece can make your room feel bigger than you think. Try choosing a big beautiful rug that covers half the room or a large modular sofa. Also, furniture that is lower to the ground can also help the ceiling look higher.

2. Draw attention to your ceilings

Envy luxurious apartments with sky-high ceilings? You can create the illusion of a higher room simply by decorating your ceilings with graphic decals, paint or textured wallpaper that will draw the eye towards the ceiling. Installing wall shelves closer to the ceiling can help to draw the eyes closer to the ceiling and make the room feel higher. Use them to store your decorative jars, wine bottles or any other memorabilia that you’ve been hoarding for years.

3. Light Colours + Sunlight = Bigger Room

To create the illusion of an airy room, an essential combo is light colours + lots and lots of sunlight. So open up those curtains, let the sun in and choose lighter colours to reflect the light, making the room feel much more spacious. If your apartment doesn’t get much sunlight, consider getting floor lamps and table lamps, instead of just ceiling lights. This helps to disperse the light around the room and draw the viewer’s eye around, creating the illusion of a bigger space!

4. Declutter

Have a million pairs of shoes and accessories? Make hidden storage your best friend by choosing storage furniture that is easily accessible and versatile. Out of sight can really be out of mind, so before you store those things away, get rid of things you don’t absolutely love! When it comes to decor, instead of having numerous small decorative pieces or artworks on the wall which crowd a room, go for the bigger ones to make your space feel bigger.

5. Use mirrors to reflect light

There’s no better way to visually expand the size of a room than with mirrors, whether full-length mirrors or statement wall mirrors that double as art pieces. Well-chosen, carefully-placed mirrors reflect light around a room (see tip no. 3), making it feel instantly more spacious and airy.

This article was contributed by HipVan,  Singapore’s #1 destination for furniture & home decor, inspiring people live better.