Tips and tricks to make small rooms and sloped ceilings appear larger
Small rooms, smaller apartments, and sloped ceilings are more the rule than the exception today, especially in times of housing shortages, rising rents, and growing cities. Of course, small rooms and sloped ceilings also have their charm.
However, you should consider a few things so that the limited space doesn't feel oppressive.
Some important tips can be found in this article.
Light ceilings and walls
It is best to use light colors for ceilings, floors, and walls. This makes them visually recede. This makes the room appear more open and airy.
For furniture, you should rather avoid light colors. They make the piece of furniture appear larger than it is, which can quickly make it feel overwhelming. Therefore, it makes sense to combine light walls with dark furnishings in small rooms.
For very small rooms, it makes sense to choose a uniform color for the wall and the furniture placed against the wall. This visually pushes cabinets and shelves into the background and makes them feel less constricting.
Hanging furniture is ideal. Because if the floor is clear, the room appears more spacious. The same tip applies to radiators. Painted in the same color as the wall, they become less conspicuous and visually disappear.
Nevertheless, you don't have to do without your favorite color even in small rooms. Feel free to choose several nuances of a color tone to make the overall picture more varied and fresh. However, stay within a related color scale, otherwise, the whole thing will quickly become restless. Cool colors with a higher blue content are ideal for small rooms, as they visually recede and thus create more openness.
For low ceilings, you should also use low furniture. This makes the ceiling appear higher. You should always paint the ceiling white in low rooms, as this visually opens the room upwards. In rooms with sloped ceilings, you should also opt for light colors. It is best to paint the slope white so that it visually recedes into the background.
If you want more atmosphere, you can also deliberately highlight the sloped wall in a strong color. This creates a kind of tent that provides a rustic cave atmosphere.
Bright colors should be used sparingly in apartments with sloped ceilings. For example, a colorful sofa or a bright rug is allowed – but please no colorful chaos. Limit yourself to one or two colors and consider which areas of the room should be highlighted.
The lighter your color choice, the more open and spacious the room will appear. If you value comfort and warmth, the sparingly used color tones can also be a little darker.
Consistent flooring across several small rooms
If you can use a consistent flooring for several rooms, you should do so. With open doors, the rooms appear larger. The flooring should then have the same color and consist of a uniform material and be darker than the wall color. A neutral gray leaves all possibilities open for other color tones and gives you freedom for further color design. In addition, it is relatively insensitive to stains.
Making the kitchen and dining room larger
Small kitchens appear larger if you use minimalistic, dark base cabinets. They should be significantly darker than the upper wall cabinets and the countertop. This makes the kitchen open and airy upwards. The cabinets should also be as closed as possible so that the eye is not distracted by many details. Metallic and shiny fronts also visually enlarge the space.
If you are lucky enough to be able to furnish a dining room, you should definitely do so. A small table with an area of 120 x 80 cm and 4 not too bulky chairs are completely sufficient here. To match, it is best to choose a striking and bright pendant lamp directly above the dining table. It attracts all attention and thus distracts from the cramped space.
Light curtains and lighting against dark small rooms
If at all possible, ensure plenty of natural light in the living room. Light, semi-transparent curtains with a subtle pattern are ideal here. They protect from curious glances and still let sunlight into the room. The curtain color should ideally match the wall color and not appear obtrusive.
In rooms with sloped ceilings, natural light is often scarce. Many direct and indirect light sources then provide sufficient artificial light under the sloped ceiling. You create optical depth with two lighting levels. One light source provides sufficient light throughout the room, while other luminaires create light islands for very special accents, for example in the reading corner, in the work area, and near the sofa. In this way, the room appears much larger and more harmonious.
In rooms with sloped ceilings, stay away from pendant lights and uplighters. In rooms with sloped walls, they cannot adequately illuminate many areas, creating dark corners that appear menacing and narrow.
No large-format and extremely colorful patterns
You should rather avoid graphic patterns, especially large-format and very colorful ones, in small rooms. They overwhelm the space and make the room appear cluttered. More suitable are uniform, calm motifs on cushions, curtains, and wallpaper – they create an inviting atmosphere. The same applies to a sloped ceiling: In any case, avoid overly conspicuous patterns such as stripes or dots here.
Sloped ceilings: Avoid large furnishings
Sloped ceilings are cozy, but they can easily feel confining. By opting for flat and low furniture, the existing height is emphasized as much as possible. For example, coffee tables, low sideboards, flat sofas, and futon beds are well suited. Due to the low furniture, rooms with sloped ceilings appear visually larger and airier.
If the sloped ceiling extends to the floor or there is a knee wall, this is the ideal place for shallow shelves and sideboards. Less is more: Only place furniture in the room that is truly necessary. Otherwise, rooms with sloped ceilings quickly feel overwhelming. It is better to place several low and small pieces of furniture than large, bulky furnishings.
Image Large sofa in small room: AndreyPopov, 1322052306, IStock
