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Depending on where you live, it can be expensive to shell out enough cash each month for a spacious apartment. And in those cases, you have to make do with what you have, which is easy to do when you know about these hacks to make your tiny apartment look bigger. If there’s nothing you can do about the size of your apartment, then the next best thing is making your space look bigger or more comfortable simply by incorporating certain furniture pieces or arranging them in a specific way.
Something as simple as painting your walls a certain shade can make a world of difference. But honestly, it goes well beyond even that. There are plenty of little tricks you can do to make your apartment look bigger than it is and to, in turn, feel more comfortable in your personal space. You don’t have to live in a huge apartment to feel at home and to be happy. But it can help a little to feel like you have more space than you actually might.
Of course, the ideal situation would be to move into a larger place or to be able to afford a larger apartment like the apartments for rent in Washington. But when you can’t swing that, which is totally understandable, these hacks for your small apartment are the way to go.
1. Use Lighter Paint Colors
Lighter tones on your walls will help make your home feel brighter and, therefore, larger. Darker paint colors on the walls can make a room feel more closed in. This is especially important in rooms with no windows or just one window. When natural light isn’t an option or is very scarce, painting your walls in lighter or more neutral colors can give the illusion of a bigger room.
2. Open The Curtains
If lighter colored walls brighten a room, then it should come as no surprise that opening the curtains can make a world of difference too. Whether you have blinds or curtains covering your walls, keeping them open allows for optimum light filtering and can make a room feel more open and bigger than it actually is.
3. Ditch The Smaller Decorations For Bigger Ones
Smaller nick knacks on end tables or bookshelves can make a room feel crowded. If you use larger decorative items, it can help your space feel more open and airy. Clutter is never a good idea regardless of the size of your living space and when you have less square footage to go around, it’s a good idea to keep the clutter to a minimum wherever possible.
4. Use Floor To Ceiling Curtains
Even if you have short windows that don’t quite reach the floor, you can install floor to ceiling curtains to give the appearance of taller windows. When the curtains are closed, this gives off the appearance of larger windows and can give the visual of an elongated wall.
5. Don’t Push Furniture Against The Walls
If possible, keep some space between your couch and a wall. When you push furniture up against the walls in a room, it can make the room feel smaller. By having a few pieces of floating furniture, so to speak, a room can feel larger with little added effort.
6. Use Area Rugs
Not only can area rugs feel better on your feet than hardwood, but they can help pull a room together. And by showing a potentially large portion of the floor covered by the rug, the resulting look can give off the appearance of a bigger room.
7. Rely On Mirrors In Common Areas
If you don’t have a lot of natural light or a lot of windows in the common areas of your home, a few well-placed mirrors on the walls can pick up the slack. Mirrors can help reflect some of the light that does filter in different spaces. Plus, they offer an easy hanging decoration where you might not want to clutter the wall with framed photos or paintings.
When trying to make your small apartment look bigger than it is, the key is relying on optical illusions, in a way. With tricks related to things like rugs, furniture placement, and wall colors, you can make your tiny apartment look bigger without making huge lifestyle changes.