Five Ways to Make a Small Space Seem Larger

A design issue that I am addressing today is one many folks ask as they are decorating - how do I make a small room feel larger and more spacious? There are several ways to achieve this, all you need a bit of planning and a few tricks that help fool the eye.

1. Choosing a Paint Color

Light and/or bright paint colors reflect light in a room. Dark colors absorb the light making the space seem smaller. This theory applies to furniture and cabinetry too. A light, white kitchen with white cabinets appears more spacious than a kitchen filled with heavy and dark stained cabinetry.

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2. Think Vertically

 

Taking advantage of any vertical space you have, draws the eye upward making a space feel larger. For example replacing a long buffet style television cabinet with a tall armoire will give you the storage you need while taking up less floor space.

 

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3. Furniture and Flooring Options

When decorating a small space one must consider scale. Choosing sofas with tailored arms as opposed to overstuffed, bulky ones and/or exposed legs on furniture to create the impression of airiness. While you are at it, make your furniture work double duty for you. A trunk can be used as a coffee table and a great place for storage. Nesting tables are a great option for side tables, or use skirted tables that you can store small items out of sight and out of the way. Do you have a large area rug in the room? The more floor that is exposed the larger the space feels, so get rid of the over sized area rug in lieu of a smaller rug or none at all.

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4. Mirrors, Glass and Natural Light

Mirrors and glass reflect any light in a room be it artificial light from lamps or natural light from windows, therefore creating the illusion of a larger space. By placing a mirror near a window to reflect the outdoors or even adding mirror or glass to a few of your kitchen cabinet doors are very effective ways to create the illusion of a larger space. Use light or sheer window coverings that you can pull back on both sides of the window to maximise any natural light your space has.

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5. Organized, Clean and Clutter Free

An often overlooked way we make a space feel smaller is by having lots of clutter and knickknacks everywhere. Keep similar things displayed together in one area. It provides more impact and appears less cluttered. The more organized, neat and clutter free a space is, the more spacious it feels.

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Do you have any tips or tricks you use to make your space feel larger? It is a long weekend here so we are headed to the lake for a few days. I can't wait to close up shop here and get out in the fresh air! How are you spending your weekend?

Noteable Quotables

"Strength shows not only in the ability to persist, but the ability to start over."

Anonymous

Spice Drawer Revamp

Hello Friends! Thanks for stopping by, I hope your weekend was an enjoyable one. We mowed the lawn, and added mulch to most of the garden beds before the rain arrived in all its glory.

I tackled a project that I have been putting off for quite some time now and that was cleaning out my spice drawer. Because I enjoy cooking, and I cook most of our meals at home, I like to have spices to add to our food for seasoning and flavor. Keeping that spice drawer neat and orderly has been a bit of a challenge.

Last time I was in the city running errands, I picked up a few of these glass spice containers at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

If you are planning on organizing your spice drawer and decanting some or all of your spices, ensure that the containers you use are food safe. If you are not sure, ask a sales associate - they should know. I also stopped at Staples and picked up some label tape for my Brother P-touch labeller. I love how neatly printed and cohesive everything looks when I slap a label on it :)

Generally, whole spices last 4 years, ground spices 2-3 years and dried herbs 1-3 years. If you rub the spice in your hand and it smells or taste weak it is time to toss it. Spices are supposed to have vibrant color - if yours are pale it may be time to toss as well.

After I cleaned all the spilled spices out of the drawer, I decanted all the spices that were not expired and past their prime. I sanitized the glass spice jars prior to filling them, let them dry then labeled each jar immediately after filling it.

I am so happy with the results. Each spice is easy locate and clearly labelled. Because the spices are in glass jars I can see when I am getting low on a particular spice and add it to my grocery list.

Have you started any spring cleaning or organizing around your home?

Happy Mothers Day!

Just a quick post this morning to wish all you Mamas out there a wonderful Mothers Day.

"To the world you might just be one person, but to one person you might just be the world." Anonymous

 



Welcome Back Gold

Gold is back in a huge way in home decor and accessories. We see gold used in smaller doses such as with toss cushions or lamps, but it is also used in bolder applications such as with furniture or wallpaper. 

Personally, I prefer muted tones of gold over the flashy tones. My all time favorite combination is gold with green however gold and black look very sharp as well. Gold seems to be one of those metals that plays well with others.

As is the case many times in home decor although we love the look, how do we incorporate it into our spaces in a tasteful, understated way? I've gathered a few examples of spaces that I feel have succeeded in doing just that.

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Mixed metals such as the combination seen here work because the metals are repeated in the space. Notice the gold pendant over the island and the gold tone repeated in the roman shade on the window.

 

 



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Great combination of pink and gold. The nesting tables and lamp balance the height of the bookshelf wonderfully.

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In both of the above photos, gold is incorporated in subtle ways with gold frames and small accessories.

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The gold office desk and chair combination as well as the detailing on the wallpaper really adds a sense of glamour and opulence to the space.

How do you feel about the resurgence of gold in decor? How have you decorated with gold tones?



Take me Fishing

Abigail is four now and this year the Easter Bunny brought her a fishing pole. She was so excited and couldn't wait to try it out.

We went to our local store and purchased some hooks, sinkers, bobbers, etc. for her first fishing adventure. I thought you simply put a hook on the end of the line and a worm on the hook - not so. There is a lot of gizmos and gadgets need to hook those fish! My daughter is now the proud owner of her own tackle box filled to the brim with all kinds of things to catch the big one.

She even dug for worms.

She didn't catch anything this time around but she really enjoyed it, I told her we can try again next weekend.

While sitting on the bank Abigail looked at me and said:

"Do you know my favorite thing about fishing?"

I looked at her and replied: "No, what is it?"

"The Quiet", she said.

Work It Macgyver

This is Macgyver.

Macgyver is our family dog. He is a six year old Chesapeake Bay retriever and we love him to pieces. He loves to swim, run, sleep and eat - not necessarily in that order.

During hunting season I always tie a piece of hunter orange fabric around his neck at the camp for safety purposes. I always think how cute the bandanna looks on him, and for years I have wanted to make a proper one for him - this week I did.

I found a bandanna style that I liked here. I especially liked the button detail but I couldn't find any large buttons that I liked so I decided just to make a basic style.

See how cute he is wearing it? Notice the pose? What a ham.

I am not an expert on sewing. In fact I haven't even hemmed pants. I have sewn a couple of buttons on shirts and that is the extent of my sewing repertoire. Here goes nothing...

To make this bandanna I went to Walmart and purchased an 18" x 42" piece of fabric, the name of the fabric is Chill by Fabric Palette. At Walmart there were two sizes of pre-cut fabric. I chose the largest of the two because Macgyver is a large dog and I wanted the bandanna to be proportionate to his size. After I measured Macgyver's neck size I had about 12 inches left over for scrap so, if your dog is smaller, the smaller size fabric will do just fine.

Because all sides of the fabric had raw edges I decided to sew each one with a basic straight stitch by hand. I figured if I didn't sew the raw edges, the fabric would pull away and in a day or so there would be no bandanna left. I measured an inch around the perimeter to ensure it was even all around. I would definitely mark a straight line to follow with my needle next time to ensure I keep the stitches straighter.

After all four sides were sewn, I folded the short ends toward each other to form a triangle and used fabric glue to adhere them and then ironed any wrinkles out. I am not sure if the glue will work - I am new to this sewing thing and quite frankly this was an experiment so only time will tell.

This project was very inexpensive to complete:

Fabric: $ 2.50
Thread and Needle: already owned (ya know from my button sewing days)
Doggy : Priceless

Have you sewn anything recently? What was your first sewing project?


I am linking this project on Young House Love as part of their Spring Pinterest challenge with Bower Power, Sparkle Meets Pop, and Red Bird Blue.