A few simple tricks can create the illusion of space.
Although a small room can feel cozy, it can also make you feel closed in. Your eyes gravitate to the same focal points and objects, making you feel locked in and immobile -- perhaps even unmotivated and depressed. If you can't afford to pack up and move from your tiny rooms to an expansive mansion, there are ways to use paint to make the rooms look bigger.
Instructions
1. Purchase cool paint colors, such as blue-green, blue, green or blue-violet. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, warm colors give the illusion of advancing (moving towards you), while cool colors give the illusion of receding (moving away from you). Painting your room in cool colors will make it appear as if the walls are fading back, giving the room a more spacious feel.
2. Choose a focal point in the room, such as the television, bed, particular art piece or table. Whatever wall the focal point is on, paint that wall a deep, bold color and paint the surrounding walls a lighter, complementary color. Paint the trim the lighter color as well. This will make the eye separate the wall with the focal point from the rest of the room, thus making the room seem bigger.
3. Paint the wall and the ceiling in various shades of complementary neutral colors, such as light blue, beige and white, to create the feel of being outside on the beach. This will generate the illusion of being outside in a spacious, calming environment.
4. If you have two rooms meeting one another in the same line of sight, paint them both the same cool color. This will serve to eliminate any feeling of separation between the rooms, thus lengthening the appearance of each room and making the flow of the space feel continuous.
5. Whatever color your walls may be, paint thin, vertical stripes (3 to 5 inches wide) around the perimeter of the room. Vertical stripes serve to make a room seem taller and wider, and enhance the illusion of spaciousness.
6. Keep the paint simple. Painting patterns, or textured painting techniques, serve to make the walls feel as if they have more depth, which creates the illusion they are closing in.
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