Design Lesson: Small is Beautiful

Up until recently, I previously resided in spaces that frequently received the comment, “How do you fit everything in this tiny little apartment?” I was constantly rearranging furniture, re-hanging art and painting in order to make my space look more spacious than it actually was. I could have used this design lesson a couple years back! Here are some helpful ideas for those of you who are trying to make less feel like more!

1 Photographs and paintings
They trick the eye into perceiving even small rooms as gallery-like and spacious by using wide mats and large frames, both of which are often associated with more important pieces of artwork. Use artwork to create focal points in a room, but surround each piece with visual breathing space rather than crowding them together.


2 Sculpture or pottery
Rather than hiding impressive pieces, create an arresting display by placing a sculpture or unique item of pottery on a plinth (a platform built to add height and prominence to displays).


3 Windows
Hang draperies outside window frames and as high as possible in order to stretch their perceived size. Keep draperies the same colour as the surrounding walls to increase the impact and make the wall appear larger. Using fabrics with vertical stripes can add height, too.


4 Small furniture
Accent with high-contrast detail. Take, for example, a small bergère upholstered in pale yellow; it will assume larger visual proportions if outlined in piping in a contrasting colour like black.

From Style at Home, written by Kimberly Seldon