Your bedroom should be a sanctuary for relaxation, tranquility, and personal expression. But what if your bedroom feels cramped and cluttered, so it doesn’t give you a sense of peace at all? More like anxiety. Don’t worry; you’re not alone. Many people face the challenge of limited space in their bedrooms, but the good news is that there are simple and effective ways to create the sense of a larger, more airy room.
Use Light Colors
Choosing light, neutral colors for your walls and bedding can make a room feel more significant than it is. Light colors create an illusion of space because they reflect natural light and give off the appearance of more open space. Dark colors, in contrast, tend to make a room feel smaller and more cramped.
Utilize Vertical Space
Keeping furniture off the floor and making the most of the wall space in your bedroom can make your room feel more open. When you can see more of the floor space in your room, you’ll feel like you have more room to work with!
- Wall-Mounted Shelves: There are so many options when it comes to floating shelves and wall shelving units! They’re a great option to showcase books, plants, and decorative items or create a mini gallery wall with framed artwork. Plus, if you choose shelves in different sizes (or colors) and arrange them creatively, you can add depth and visual interest to your space.
- Hanging Wall Organizers: Hanging baskets, pockets, or corkboards are all great ways to keep small items organized and off the floor. You can store accessories, books, small plants, and more!
- Vertical Bookshelves: When you opt for tall, vertical books shelves, you’re maximizing the available wall space while providing ample storage!
- Wall-Mounted Mirrors: Every small bedroom should have a mounted mirror. Mirrors can help create the illusion of more space and reflect light around the room. Get the most out of every ray of natural light you can get to make the room feel spacious!
Declutter Your Space
Start by removing any unnecessary items from your bedroom. Whether it’s small items that need a new place to be stored (out of sight, out of mind) or it’s removing any bulky furniture (oversized chairs, elaborate headboards, etc.), just taking them out of your room will give you a sense of having more space.
Maximize Natural Light
Allow as much natural light as possible into your bedroom – natural light makes spaces feel more spacious! When you walk into someone’s home, where the entryway is small and dark, you probably feel claustrophobic. But if you walk into a well-lit entry, you probably feel like you just entered a mansion. The same is true for your bedroom! Keep your window treatments light and consider adding a mirror to reflect light (also helpful in creating the illusion of a larger space).
Use Curtains To Create Depth
Did you know that how you choose to hang your curtains can have a major influence on how your brain perceives the room? If you hang your curtains higher than the window frame, closer to the ceiling, you’ll create an illusion of a higher ceiling and a larger overall space. If you hang the curtains wider than the actual window frame, you allow the maximum amount of natural light to come in. Plus, if you hang wider than the window (and longer than the window), it makes the room feel more open and continuous because you aren’t creating a barrier around the window.
It’s recommended that you choose light, sheer fabrics to allow more light to pass through and create a soft, ethereal, bright ambiance. Additionally, using a light-colored curtain (whites, pastels, creams, etc.) reflects more light and creates a more open feeling.
Just like with dark-colored walls, dark and heavy curtains can absorb light and make the room feel more enclosed.
Choose a Minimalistic Design
When looking for bedroom furniture, you’ll want to focus on choosing pieces with a minimalistic, streamlined design. Minimalistic furniture reduces visual clutter and creates a sense of openness in a room. This style of furniture often incorporates smart storage solutions – such as a bed with drawers underneath or bookshelves within the headboard – and makes the need for multiple furniture pieces nonexistent. Plus, this design is available in light-colored materials (whites, neutrals, oak, etc.), which, just like choosing light paint colors and decor, will reflect light making the room brighter and airier.
It’s also important to choose furniture that is proportionate to the room’s size, ensuring that they don’t overpower the space.
Opt For Multifunctional Furniture
Ottomans that have storage (and are also a chair!), vanities with a bench that can slide right underneath, bedside tables with built-in drawers (or small bookshelves), and shelves that can store baskets and remove the need for extra furniture. The possibilities here are endless – but the goal is to find furniture pieces that serve more than one purpose in your bedroom. The less furniture you need, the more open your room will appear.
Pick The Right Rug
If you add a rug to your bedroom, look for one with diagonal patterns. Diagonal lines introduce a dynamic and directional flow into the room, so instead of what traditional horizontal/vertical lines do, the diagonal provides a sense of movement and energy. This visual movement tricks the mind into seeing a longer path, which can make a room feel bigger than it is.
With just a few adjustments to your decor, bedroom furniture, and storage options, you’ll feel like you’re in a brand-new room! Finally, you can feel that sense of relaxation you’ve been searching for. And we’ll be here for you every step along the way.