7 Ways to Make A Small Home Feel Bigger

Whether you live in a cosy studio flat by yourself, or a modest two bedroom apartment with a friend, it’s easy to feel a little claustrophobic when you start to run out of storage space. From de-cluttering your living room to decorating more strategically, there are plenty of ways to make a small home feel more spacious – keep reading for some of our top tips below.

1. White walls for an airy feel

If you don’t mind picking up a paintbrush, this is a quick and affordable fix. Bold walls can look super stylish in a big room, but dark colours generally absorb light, making the space feel smaller. Stick to light and airy hues like white, magnolia or duck egg blue, and you’ll find that your space feels more expansive straight away. Still keen to incorporate a darker colour? Choose a specific alcove in your home to paint a bolder shade – this will add a sense of depth.

2. Make the most of light with mirrors

Mirrors are a foolproof way to make a small space feel more generous – but there are some tactical things you can do with them to really make a difference. Place the largest mirrors you have opposite a source of natural light – so the view out of your window is reflected on the other side of the room.
If natural light is in short supply, you can also place mirrors adjacent to lamps in your home, to open up dark corners.

3. Clever curtains to elongate space

As well as making a room look wider, there are also several things you can do to make it appear taller. Swapping out shorter curtains for full length drapes is a great way to do this – the ceiling in your room will look higher, and the window itself will also appear larger. If you’re especially short on space, you might also consider investing in slat or rolling blinds, as these take up less space altogether, whilst still letting in maximum light.

4. Minimise your clutter

This may sound obvious, but it’s surprising how much clutter you can accumulate in the course of a year or two, especially if you’ve been living in the same place for a long time. To free up some extra storage, plan a regular clear-out of your clothes, books and other bric-à-brac. You could easily donate anything you haven’t used in a while to local charity shops or Freecycle; you might even make some extra spending money by selling it on an online marketplace like eBay.

5. Choose big paintings or prints

A gallery wall is always tempting, but opting to hang lots of small or medium sized pictures can cause a small space to feel cramped and chaotic. Instead invest in a couple of largescale paintings or prints with subtle frames – this should keep your walls looking stylish and minimal, especially if the tones in your pictures coordinate with the other colours in your home.

6. Find savvy storage solutions

While de-cluttering is a great first step to take, implementing smart storage solutions for small bedrooms is a brilliant way to save space. Slotting shelves into alcoves, or adding them above head height will easily make room for all your books, while in the kitchen you could install sliding corner cupboards
to utilise every available square inch. If you’ve got furniture you simply don’t have room for, but want to hold onto until you upsize, why not consider hiring a storage unit? At Space Station, our temperature-controlled household storage units come in huge range of sizes, and are available on both long and short term contracts.

7. Lamps, not overhead lights

Overhead lamps are the most straightforward way to light your home, but they can also make a room feel boxy, shooting light up into the corners and highlighting the small parameters of a space. Alternatively, opting for lamps with warm bulbs will provide softer lighting in your home; try placing a standing
or table lamp in each corner of your living room to cast a glow around the room – you’ll never switch the main light on again!

These household hacks for making a home feel more spacious are sure to help – but if you simply need access to more space, check out our Self Storage Calculator to see what kind of unit could work for you.