Design Tip Tuesday - Tips for Fooling the Eye and Making a Room Look Bigger - Part One, Colour

Hi guys! Sorry for missing the last ‘Design Tip Tuesday’ post - things have been humming around here lately! But I have a new tip for you this week which is actually part one in the series on the topic of small spaces!
For those of us living in Toronto, small rooms are all too common and one of the things clients discuss with me often is how to make them seem larger.
Well, as a decorator, I have a few tricks up my sleeve that help solve that problem without tearing down any walls. I utilize certain design concepts that fool the eye and make spaces seem much bigger and spacious. Things like colour techniques, furniture scale, reflective surfaces and lighting considerations can achieve the look of space.
These are too many techniques for one post, so what I’ve decided to do is create a three part series on this topic starting with colour.

Colour is important for any room, but especially for small rooms. Cream colours and icy blues are just a few of the colour combinations that can really open up a small space. Cool colours expand a space while warm colours tend to create a smaller, cozier feel to a room. Light and brightly coloured walls are more reflective making a space feel open and airy, which will help to maximize the effect created by natural light.
Continuing a single colour theme in two connecting rooms is a good way to help dissolve the lines between the two rooms and open them up to each other. This technique however, is only effective when used for adjoining rooms that fall in the same line of sight.
When deciding on colour for a room, contrast is an important factor to consider when trying to make a space feel larger. It’s more the contrast level in a room than the actual colour on the walls that can create the sense of space or lack thereof.
Contrast should be kept to a minimum in a small space. Ultimately it isn’t just about the colour on your walls, but also the pieces in the room. If furniture is darker than the walls, contrast will be created which will make a room feel smaller. By keeping contrast to a minimum, even a darker colour on the wall can enlarge a space as long as the pieces in that room are similar in tone and colour.
Hopefully this has brought you a bit of insight into creating a sense of space in a small room though the use of colour. But I have more tricks up my sleeve, so stay tuned for the next ‘Design Tip Tuesday’ post!
Happy Decorating!
Lenore

(Image: Elle Decor)