Unlocking Space: Strategies to Enhance the Spaciousness of Your Home

Many times, the draw towards a residential renovation or remodel is to increase the square footage of the home. This can be due to lifestyle changes such as an expanding family or simply the desire for a larger home. Sometimes this is accomplished by actually increasing the square footage, which can be expensive, and other times using creative more affordable techniques to simulate the addition of square footage. Consider some of the following methods we have used in the past which have proven successful in creating spaces that project a more open and expansive aesthetic.

Connection of Spaces/Dual Use of Spaces:

If you live in an older home, it’s likely that the floor plan is broken down into many small rooms. This format is not usually in line with the lifestyle of the modern family as togetherness and interaction are a major part of day-to-day life. A quick fix to create a more open floor plan is simply to take down walls between rooms. The increased sight lines throughout the home naturally give the home an expanded feel.  Once this is accomplished, by the layout of the furniture and area rugs, these open areas can be defined into separate “rooms” giving definition to the space and allowing family members to be in their own area while still being together. Another option when dealing with rooms is to give currently defined spaces dual functions. Examples of this would be a home office doubling as an art studio or a nursery being used secondly as a guest bedroom.  Utilizing proper furniture in a simple manner allows for the seamlessness of these split roles.

1. Windows

Visually opening the walls to the outside dramatically increases the feeling of space. Adding additional windows to the home or enlarging existing windows accomplishes this task. The windows will draw in natural light almost creating a hybrid space that seems to expand the inside area.  Clear the exterior regions close to the window of brush and shrubbery.  This will give the illusion of a larger interior by removing the line-of-sight barrier.  Finally, a window only conveys these feelings by how clean they are. If possible, invest in regularly cleaning your windows to maximize their effectiveness of keeping sight lines clear and bringing in light.

2. Inside Lighting

As outside natural light will not always be available due to weather or time of day, ensuring the artificial light within the home is sufficient is a must. Diversity is the key in laying out lighting as you want to be able to customize how a room is lit based on the natural light coming in. This customization can help maximize the spaciousness that the room is conveying at that moment. A combination of recess lights, pendant lights, wall sconces, and lamps will allow you to create the perfect lighting scenario for any circumstance.

3. Ceiling Height

The ceiling of rooms, sometimes known as the fifth wall, is notoriously overlooked when making decisions about design. It is an ideal element though when trying to increase the spatial perception of a room.  Physically, creating a vaulted ceiling makes a huge difference, yet this can be expensive and not always possible due to the existing constraints of the structure. In the design phase of a project, look to have ceiling heights change between spaces. For instance, having the height of the ceiling change between a hall and its connecting room improves the perception of the room's size. There are also plenty of cosmetic changes that also can be used in order to gain a similar result. Paint the ceiling in a light accent color or use wallpaper which can create the illusion of continuing space. Finally, by incorporating vertical lines into the walls of your project can also naturally draw the eye up creating the sense of a heightened ceiling.

4. Creative Storage/Declutter

As much as you can do to maximize open floor space in a room obviously makes that space more functional and free-flowing. To accomplish this, move storage spaces to walls or hidden locations so the center of the space is occupied simply by scaled well-suited furniture.  Floor-to-ceiling built-ins or a storage space hidden within a bench will help to keep clutter at a minimum. Equally effective are built-in transitions over a doorway which naturally draw the curious eye up. Crucially, use of these storage spaces should be thoughtful. Don’t over-crowd the shelves with objects as this will defeat the purpose of them helping make the room feel uncluttered. Think about which personal items are going to truly contribute to the style of the room and others that could find a home somewhere else or in storage. The statement “less is more” has never been more relevant.

5. Paint Colors

Color and light directly play off each and there is nothing that sets the mood and feeling of a room more than color. When choosing the color for a small space, there are some set rules which will cause the space to seem larger than it truly is. Intuitively, lighter shades of neutral colors will reflect light and make the area seem more expansive and open. A second-best practice is to keep the color scheme of the room similar as having different colors on different surfaces will clearly differentiate the boundaries of the room giving it a finite closed-in impression.

6. Deliberate Mirror Placement

Mirrors are fantastic at simulating an external window on an internal wall. Ideally, a mirror should be placed opposite a window allowing it to reflect that light and brighten the room. Additional mirrors placed on the same surface can create a statement wall that keeps the eye interested in a room with smaller square footage. In a hallway that may not have windows to the outside, a mirror placed at the end of the corridor can create the illusion that the space continues farther than it does. This not only increases the feeling of that space but illudes that the entire structure continues farther than it actually does.

Want more insight into how RessaBuilt can help you transform your home? Check out the informative articles on our blog, or contact us to get your own home remodeling project started.