9 Ways to Make a Small House Look Bigger

The secret to enjoying a small house, irrespective of its size, is getting rid of the unnecessary items so you can enjoy the important ones. Many people prefer to construct a home that has more space than they need so that it can house all their belongings. Notwithstanding, there’s often still a shortage of space, and this is due to the accumulation of too many items which end up cluttering the whole place.

While there are benefits that come with living in a small house, several downsides exist as well. Now that the world is tending towards small homes, the pressure to manage space is on the increase. Thankfully, there are various ways to make a small home feel much more significant than it is. By merely tweaking certain aspects of the house, you can trick your eyes into believing that there is more space around you.

Why Choose a Small House in the First Place?

• Smaller Price Tag

When people opt for a smaller home, the chances are that they’re trying to not spend too much–either on buying cost or on utilities. Considering how rapidly the cost of living and energy bills are rising, small living seems to be the best way to live affordably. Purchase and utility costs aside, the taxes, insurance, heating, and cooling costs of a tiny house are not likely to be overwhelming

• They are More Manageable

If you’ve ever lived in a mansion and tried cleaning it before, then you know how tiring it is to manage a big home. In contrast, small houses are more manageable, and this is one of the reasons people choose them. By downsizing, people can save time, energy and effort and invest them into something else.

• They Offer Freedom

To an extent, our assets have a way of holding us down and controlling us sometimes. However, a small home, especially one of the famous tiny homes, is just the asset to help you feel free. The house is not likely to be such a huge commitment that it’ll hold you down. Tiny homes like RV units are so small and movable that they can be transported along with their owners.

Therefore, many adventurers and travel lovers find small houses to be ideal since they offer them the opportunity to explore all they want.

• More Uniqueness

When you combine the beautiful design with their coziness, simplicity, and movability, it won’t be hard to see how truly unique the small homes are. Besides, they’re not so common. Therefore, people often give up all the extra square footage and go for tiny homes to get a taste of the new and unique experience that they offer.

How to Make Your Small House Appear Bigger

Irrespective of whatever triggered you to move into a small house, you’ll surely find a reason or two to try and make your home look and feel bigger. There are various ways to go about it. You may have to make some compromises while decorating and play around with the lighting a little bit. Here are nine ways to make your house feel larger

1. Storage

The most worrying issue when dealing with a small house is storage. As humans, we acquire and accumulate belongings, and all these have to be stored somewhere. However, it is hard to do this when all you have is an 800 square feet home. So what is the way out?

There is a various tactic you can use to introduce extra storage into any room in your home. The best way to go about it is to get double-duty furniture. Your cushions can have a secret compartment for storing stuff. Besides, you can have built-ins and shelving’s installed all-around your small house. Though there are companies that specialize in designing spaces for maximum storage, you can also do it yourself. All you need do is buy some easy-to-assemble components from places like IKEA.

But before you go ahead and stuff everything away in storage, try to pick out the unnecessary items. Make sure only the useful and essential things are what’s left. Also, avoid filling your shelves up with too many books or other things. This will only make the room feel stuffy. Leave some spaces empty to make the room appear airy.

2. High Ceilings

A small room with high ceilings always appears larger. Most times, architects take advantage of this to enlarge the space in people’s eye. So, make sure to choose a dwelling that has high ceilings. If you’re already stuck with a standard height ceiling, painting it white will make a huge difference.

3. Avoid Large Furniture

Large furniture should be avoided wherever small homes are concerned. They only suck up the little space in a room and make it seem much smaller.

4. Lighting

Lighting plays a vital role in making a place feel and look larger.  Any room will appear bigger in as much as it’s adequately-lit, either by natural light or artificial light. However, the most ideal is natural lighting. Remove all heavy draperies, and open up the windows so light can flow in from the outdoors into the room.

Natural light, apart from making your home bigger, helps to reduce utility bills. It’ll help if you could incorporate a few reflective surfaces like a framed mirror in the house as this will give the illusion that the room is very open. You can also add more artificial lighting. Also, make sure to clean your windows as dirty windows can distract your eye and stop light from entering.

5. Get Rid of Drapes and Rugs

Drapes and rugs do not do a great job of tricking the eye into perceiving a room as big. By eliminating these items, you’ll keep your room spacious and straightforward. Shutter or lightweight mesh are better options.

6. Allow Access to the Outdoors

Another thing you could do when trying to make your small house feel bigger is to create a big opening that can lead to a deck or patio. What this does is that it gives the impression that the indoor spaces extend longer. But apart from this, it also allows natural light as well as ventilation into the room. One can also use the patio as a sitting or dining area, especially when the weather is warm, and it’s a little hot inside.

7. Use Bright Colours

No colour does a better job at making a room airier than the colour white. White has reflective abilities. As such, it effectively blurs the boundaries between walls and makes the ceiling seem much higher. White also simplifies a cluttered space.

When choosing furniture, go for soft furnishings, curtains, ornaments, and fittings. Choose different variants of a single colour. Different colours tend to overwhelm a space, thereby making it look claustrophobic.

8. Minimize Hallways

When building a small house, it is essential to avoid wasting space on hallways. A small home that is well designed should not have too many corridors; instead, every inch should be maximized on actual rooms. When this is done, the need to light up, heat or cold, unimportant areas will be eliminated.

9. Striped Floor

A striped Floor will make your room appear longer. This is a daring one, but you’ll be glad you tried it.

Living in a small home does require a lot of creativity and flexibility. However, once you get past the ordeal of making your small house feel larger, you’ll feel even more excited about living in it.