22 Small Apartment Decorating Ideas to Make Rooms Seem Bigger

If your room is too small, just look up. Chances are you’re underutilizing the upper half of your room. Start with these ideas:

44 Styling Tricks That Make a Small Living Room Feel Bigger

If your living room, family room, or sitting room feels cramped and cluttered, the last thing you’ll want to do is spend time in it. Let’s change that! Because no matter how small a space is, there are designer strategies to make it feel much bigger than it appears to be. It’s not magic; it’s just smart styling and layout problem-solving. Get ready to bookmark all these tips and transform your small living room into a comfortable, stylish oasis for you and your household to hang out in. With these designer examples and decorating ideas to guide the way, you’ll love the space so much that you’ll never want to leave it.

📝 You love finding new design tricks. So do we. Let us share the best of them.

Work In Twos

Read McKendree

Sometimes smaller spaces actually allow for bolder color and pattern experiments. Here, Katie Rosenfeld worked in pairs. She used the same floral pattern for the sofa and drapes, corresponding (and wilder!) cheetah prints on the carpet and throw pillow, and then coupled the springy green paint with the striped ottoman. If you love this look but prefer something a touch more modern, try this formula but then swap in the traditional prints for edgy, modern photography or an abstract painting.

Separate Zones With Lighting

Gieves Anderson

David Frazier carved out both a formal sitting and dining room within the same small space. A statement pendant over the pedestal table helps separate the dining zone, and stackable dining chairs can also double as extra sitting in the living room. Pops of dark yellow speak to the warm antique wood pieces and break up the monochromatic color scheme, and a ceiling-high curtain rod adds depth.

Orient for Visits

Avery Cox

Ditch the sofa altogether if you’d rather use the living room as a place to catch up and chat with others as opposed to lounging horizontally. Four blue-painted rattan chairs are oriented towards each other for visits, but they’re comfy enough to recline and stretch out on during life’s quieter moments in this fun small living room designed by Avery Cox.

22 Small Apartment Decorating Ideas to Make Rooms Seem Bigger

Spoiler: Metallics have a way of brightening tiny living spaces.

Stephanie researches and reports on solutions for cleaning, organizing, and decorating challenges.

Living in a place with small rooms—whether it’s a cramped studio apartment, tiny house, or century-old manor with a closed floor plan—presents a decorating challenge. But you don’t need to sacrifice good design when things are extra tight.

Peruse these clever small apartment decorating ideas that make small rooms seem more spacious. You may just find what you need to transform your home from cramped to comfy.

Use Light Paint Colors

Use light colors on the walls and floor because softer hues make a small apartment feel bigger and brighter. The reflective nature of light colors gives space an open, airy feel and maximizes the effect of natural light. Conversely, dark colors absorb light, making a room look smaller.

Hang a Mirror

When you place a mirror opposite a window, it bounces natural light around the room, making the space feel airier. The bigger the mirror, the better. At night, a mirror doubles the soft, warm glow given off by the room’s lighting fixtures, making this one of the most effective space-enhancing, small-room tricks.

Let the Light In

Loads of natural light make a room feel airy and less claustrophobic, but in a small space, abundant natural light is often an advantage you haven’t been dealt. Nevertheless, maximize the light you have by keeping windows open and clear of furniture that is taller than the sill.

Perhaps the view out your window is not worth viewing—say, a brick wall or your neighbor’s window—or you prefer the public not have a front-row seat into your window. In these cases, let the light in while blocking the view by going with sheers instead of heavy drapery, or look into shades that provide privacy while letting light filter through.

Sprinkle in Some Metallics

A shimmery lamp, light fixture, or other metallic object can brighten up a space, similar to the way a mirror does. Try these tips for making a space seem bigger using metallics:

• With cooler color palettes—gray, white, or blue—accessorize with metals that appear silver, white, or black.
• Avoid using too many different metal types and colors, which can leave a room looking messy and visually unpleasant.
• Besides fixtures and tchotchkes, consider incorporating metallic paint on your walls, metallic screens as room dividers, and furniture with metallic accents.

Install Floating Shelves

Floating shelves and nightstands offer storage space without the bulkiness of chests, bookcases, and armoires. They also keep the floor clear of obstacles, making the room seem less cluttered.

Use this trick for lighting, too. Instead of floor lamps, opt for wall-mounted and hanging lights.

Think Vertically

If your room is too small, just look up. Chances are you’re underutilizing the upper half of your room. Start with these ideas:

• Add vertical storage, such as a vintage ladder for storing a throw blanket, towels, placemats, or quilts.
• Use the tops of bookcases, hutches, and doorways to lean frames, add lighting, or display treasures.
• Enlist a palm tree into your décor that draws the eye upward.

Make Use of Corners

This often-overlooked area can be a great spot to squeeze in an extra accent chair or a corner bookshelf, making a studio apartment or small room more livable. Consider these other ideas:

• Tuck a cozy chair with a throw blanket in a corner to create an instant reading nook.
• Add a plant and grow light to a dark corner to make the space come alive, literally.
• Install an eye-catching floor lamp or dramatic hanging lamp that doubles as a piece of art.

Fake Bigger Windows

Installing curtain rods a few inches below the ceiling (instead of right above the window frame) draws the eye upward to make windows seem taller. The same trick works to visually expand a window’s width if you hang the rods a few inches beyond the sides of the panes. To make this trick work best, choose curtains that are about twice the width of the windows.

Match Your Curtain Color to Your Walls

Hanging curtains that blend with the walls creates an unbroken line, which makes a room feel larger. But don’t stop there:

• Opt for a curtain material that lets the sunshine in, especially if the curtains are usually kept closed.
• Choose curtains with a vertical pattern or weave to make the room seem taller.
• Avoid mid-length or window-sized curtains that chop up the look of a room and accentuate space limitations.
• Install a decorative curtain rod to draw the eye upward.

Choose Scaled-Down Furniture

For a cramped apartment, opt for furniture that suits a smaller space, like a petite table. Even traditionally bulky pieces—such as upholstered club chairs—come in narrower widths these days, so you can get the same look without cramming your furnishings.

Go Big With a Chandelier

Don’t be afraid to go big with your small room lighting choice. A chandelier or oversized pendant lighting is a surprising option for small spaces. It offers a focal point that draws the eye up, providing vertical interest and balance to a small room.

If you decide to go with big lighting, make sure the rest of the room’s décor is muted so the room doesn’t feel crowded. The other rule to consider is the light’s height: It should hang no lower than 7 feet from the floor.

Opt for Airy Pieces

Furniture selection goes a long way in determining how spacious or cramped a room looks:

• In general, streamlined pieces with sleek, straight silhouettes look cleaner and fit into small spaces more easily than those with curves.
• Instead of a solid-wood coffee table, which can weigh down a space, choose a see-through acrylic one or a table with an open metal base.
• When choosing a sofa or chair for a small space, look for armless pieces, which don’t take up as much space.

Decorate With Double-Duty Finds

When shopping for furniture for a small space, you can’t afford for a piece to serve only one purpose. Look for items that have more than one function, such as these:

• A garden stool that serves as an end table and a spot to perch
• An ottoman with a tray to hold your TV remote that transforms into extra seating
• A bench that displays books when not used for seating
• A light fixture that doubles as a piece of art

Sneak in Some Storage

An easy way to keep a small room from becoming cluttered is to choose furniture with space to store objects, like these:

• A double-tiered coffee table
• A bench with bins underneath
• An ottoman with a removable top and empty space inside

Overcome a Low Ceiling

A low ceiling can make a small room feel even smaller, and it’s usually something we’re stuck with, but never fear. You can overcome a low ceiling with these styling tricks:

• Vertical stripes or patterns on the walls or drapes can make a low ceiling feel higher.
• Install a bold rug to draw your attention away from the ceiling.
• Mount artwork on a wall at different levels, to create a perception of height.
• Incorporate lighting that blends into the ceiling, like glass or monochromatic fixtures.

Make Your Furniture Mobile

Buying furniture on casters (or outfitting it with casters yourself) allows you to easily rearrange pieces as needed. You can push a chair, table, plant, or kitchen island out of the way, or roll a futon into position to comfortably set up for overnight guests.

To free up even more floor space, consider selecting furniture you can fold up when not in use. Look for a folding desk, table and chairs, or room-dividing screens.

Use Clustered Lighting

Darkness makes a room feel small, so the more lighting a room has, the more spacious it feels. With this in mind, instead of a large lamp, try clustering a few small ones to add impact to a corner desk or mantelpiece. By the same token, positioning a handful of small pendant lampshades over a coffee table makes a bigger visual effect—and more light—than just one.

Bring in a Plant

Greenery makes even the smallest space feel fresher and lighter. An indoor tree adds vertical interest to a room and attracts attention upward. If you don’t have room on the floor, place a houseplant atop a high bookcase or shelf, or try a hanging one.

Control Clutter

Getting rid of clutter is great advice for any sized room, but it is even more important for small ones. A minimalistic approach to décor makes a small room seem bigger, lighter, and airier. Easier said than done? Yes, so start small, one corner at a time.

Use Walls as Displays

Turn your prized collection—or just everyday objects—into wall art:

• To clear out valuable drawer space in the bedroom, hang up your jewelry and put it on display.
• In the kitchen, make a wall display out of pretty cutting boards, trivets, or cookware.
• Bring fancy hats out of the closet to hang proudly as a gallery wall.

Pull Furniture Away From the Walls

When air and space visually circulate around furniture, it makes a small room or studio apartment seem bigger. Move a couch a few inches away from the wall, for example, to make the living room look more open. This tactic avoids leaving a weird, wasted space in the middle of a room.

Incorporate Some Black Paint

It seems counterintuitive but, when used correctly, black can work wonders for elongating a space. Using black for a ceiling and walls creates a visual void, tricking the eye into believing there’s more space. The key to pulling off this look is lots of natural light, which prevents a small room from seeming closed off and dark.