5 Designer Tips To Make Your Bedroom Appear More Spacious

Tip #1: Consider Furniture Scale

Having furniture that is properly scaled to the size of your room can make all the difference in the finished design. Even when accounting for storage needs, properly scaled furniture can still accommodate proper storage when planned thoughtfully.

Here’s how to tackle scale issues:

• Start with the bed. Just because a bed might fit in the room, that doesn’t mean it’s properly proportioned to the space. When the bed is in place, you should still have plenty of room to walk around the bed without banging into other furniture. If you can’t, it’s likely too big for the space.
• Check your dressers. A really long dresser on a short wall, although it might just barely fit measurement-wise, often doesn’t fit right proportionately. Maybe a narrow or tall dresser could take its place. Also, don’t forget to check the depth of dresser pieces. A dresser that’s too deep can jut out into the space, prohibiting proper movement throughout the room.
• Evaluate end tables. They should be proportionate to the size and height of the bed and the width of the room. In some bedroom spaces, the size of the bed won’t allow for a nightstand on each side of the bed, and that’s alright. Nightstands don’t need to match if you’re tight on space on one side of the bed. Consider a narrower option, but keep the heights the same for each nightstand.
• Limit extra pieces. Resist the urge to add a lot of small additional pieces of furniture to the bedroom, such as extra chairs, side tables, or castoffs from other rooms. These pieces are great if the scale of the room is large, and they can be grouped and arranged properly. However, if the room is not large, keep these smaller pieces to a minimum.

Tip #2: Think About Furniture Placement

The placement of your furniture is just as important as the scale. Always aim for the bed to be the focal point when you enter the space.

There are two main ways to do this:

• Ideally, place the bed on the wall opposite the doorway. Depending on the size of the wall and the window configuration, that’s not always possible.
• If not, let design do the work. Even without the ideal placement, you can still make the bed the focal point through its style, bedding, fabrics, or linens. Your eye should go to the bed first, then move naturally around the room to the other design elements that relate to the bed.

It’s always more visually pleasing to have the bed be the center of attention. If not by placement, then through design choices.

Tip #3: Use Color and Pattern

The use of color and pattern in a space can help to create the illusion of a more spacious and peaceful environment. This doesn’t mean avoiding color or using only light shades. It’s the mix of color and pattern together, and where it’s placed, that can help a room appear more spacious.

For example, even a darker, more saturated color can make the room appear more spacious if everything is painted the same color. In contrast, using multiple colors can actually make the room feel smaller.

Color and pattern are some of the strongest tools in a designer’s toolbox. Choosing colors and fabrics that share a harmonious thread can create the illusion of more space.

Tip #4: Use Art and Accessories

These finishing touches are essential for pulling the room together, and they should be chosen strategically.

For example, a few large accessories grouped together can make the room appear more spacious and peaceful compared with a dresser full of small, unrelated knick-knacks. Depending on the style of the room and the amount of available wall and surface area, it is better to use a few larger pieces of art and accessories than numerous small ones.

Tip #5: Leverage Lighting

Lighting also impacts the way a room feels. Taking advantage of as much natural light as possible will help the room to appear more spacious. This can be accomplished by using properly designed window treatments. Some tips you should consider:

• Be thoughtful about how window treatments are installed or designed, so you can take full advantage of daylight.
• Design your custom window treatments so that they allow a full view of your windows during the day. This helps the room appear larger, especially if the room doubles as a workspace.
• Properly designed window treatments will allow the flexibility of revealing natural light easily and then light blocking and filtering during the evening hours.

It is also important that a room have an overall lighting plan, which, depending on the space, would consist of overhead lighting, table lamps, accent lighting, task lighting, and other lighting elements that make sense for the specific room.

These are just a few tips to get you started on making your bedroom feel more spacious. By paying attention to furniture scale, placement, color, accessories, and lighting, you can transform even the smallest room into a peaceful retreat.

Until next time,

Gia