If you have small rooms in your home, there are a number of decorating tips and tricks that will help to add the illusion of more space. When properly decorated, a small living space can not only look great, but have a more functionality added to it as well.

Staying Organized
One of the most important things you can do in a small room to create the illusion of more space is to reduce clutter wherever you can. Cluttered areas visually appear to be "busy", and as a result, make a room seem to be even smaller than it really is. Use a simple decorating style and avoid the temptation to use a lot of accessories, decorations and collections in the room. If you do have accessories or knick-knacks that you want to include, try grouping them together instead of spreading them throughout the room. Using furniture that provides hidden storage options such as a storage bench or ottoman is also a stylish and functional technique; baskets, bins and decorative boxes on shelving units also provide hidden storage space.

Maintain Wide Open Space
If your furniture is arranged in a way that requires you to weave your way through the room, it's going to look and feel smaller. Instead, keep furniture and accessories out of the walkways, and place them against the wall whenever possible, to help open up the room and make it seem bigger.

Color Schemes for Small Spaces
Sticking to a monochromatic color scheme often gives the illusion of making a room appear larger. Especially if you choose a similar shade for your furniture as you have for the walls, it makes the furniture appear to move back and blend visually into the walls, making the room seem more spacious. Light colors are also more effective than dark colors when trying to visually increase the size of a room. You should also stick to solid colors whenever possible. If you do use a pattern in the room, steer clear of larger patterns, as these are generally too busy for smaller rooms.

Using Light to Increase Space
Light has a way of making smaller spaces seem more open. To utilize this effect, use sheer window treatments, and let in as much natural light as possible. Have a good variety of artificial lighting in the room as well, including overhead lighting if possible, in addition to ambient lights scattered around the room. This will let you create a cozy effect if desired, or bathe the entire room in light if when you need to. Mirrors also tend to make a room look larger, partly because they reflect additional light within the room.

Choose Furniture Carefully
Although you don't want to fill a small room with oversized furniture, you also should avoid making the mistake of filling it with many smaller furniture pieces, when fewer large pieces would do the job just as well. Fewer items of furniture make the room feel less cluttered, thereby making the room feel larger and more spacious.

Jessica Ackerman, a publishing consultant for WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, is industry leader in defining new ways to nautical metal wall art with little or no wall pocket vases.

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