2 Great Tips to Make Your Lounge Look Bigger

In the UK, it's fair to say that most of us are strapped for space. We are tiny island with a massive population and space is becoming increasingly precious. 

One area where we can really feel this need for space is in our living room. I don't know about you, but my living room is tiny. It is actually the tiniest room in our house. 

I live in a Victorian Terrace and I think it's quite common for this style of house to have a small lounge -  I guessed the Victorians didn't spend a lot of time at home relaxing, what with all the workhouse activities and such.

Fortunately, there are many things that you can do to make a room feel bigger. You don't have to make any serious modifications.  You just need to know how to create the illusion of space. 

That's what I'm going to teach you now with these 2 fantastic tips to help you maximize the space in your living room:

Tip 1: Where Possible, Buy Furniture with a Greater Vertical than Horizontal Plane

If you're into fashion, then you probably already know that wearing horizontal stripes makes you look fatter and wearing vertical stripes makes you look thinner. When you look thinner, you also look taller. The same is true with interior design.  

Vertical-ness (for want of a better word), will make the room appear larger. Horizontal-ness will make the room appear shorter and squatter.

There are a few ways that you can bring vertical-ness to your living space.  Here are a few ideas:

1. Install vertical radiators. They function the same as horizontal radiators but they take up less space and they look great too.

2. Buy taller furniture. For example, if you're buying a side table to go next to your sofa choose one that is slimmer and taller than you typically would buy.

3. Use an accent wall to install vertical patterned wallpaper.  You should not decorate the entire room in vertical stripes and less you're using a very light colour. Otherwise, the darkness of the colour will minimise the impact of the strikes and you are affected me cancelling out any of these optical illusions effects.

Tip 2: Increase the Amount of Light in the Room

Light is a fantastic way to bring space to a room. There are so many different ways that you can do this in your living room. Here are a few ideas:

1. Use a light reflecting paint on the walls. These paints have special particles that reflect the light around the room and create a brighter, more open, space.

2. Choose a light coloured paint. The lighter the colour, the larger the room will feel. The best colours are warm whites, which are both cosy and illuminating. If you do want to go with a more interesting colour, such as green, mix it with a white so that it is pale.

3. Increase the number of mirrors in the room. A mirror will add a lot of light to your room, making it feel much larger. You can also buy furniture with mirrored surfaces, such as with your vertical radiators or your coffee table.

You might not believe it because it seems so simple, but these two tricks can swiftly transform your space and make it feel much larger.