Interior Designer Tips and Tricks

Decorating secrets from professional designers.

Interior designers know all the tricks. Like all of them. It’s what they do day in and day out and even when you’ve got that artistic eye or have become a master at navigating Pinterest for ideas, getting a professional interior designer’s point of view can reveal things about styling your home that you may not have thought of on your own.

Small Space, Big Ideas

Most of us have probably had to deal with decorating or putting together a smaller living space at some point in our lives, and despite the limited size it doesn’t have to be restricting. There are ways to create the feeling of more space and these tips will help get you there. How to make a small room look bigger? It’s truly all about versatility.

We got the chance to sit down with a few of those creative minds at Rooms To Go and gathered some great interior designer tips to share.

Whether you’re looking to brighten up a low-light room or make a small room feel more spacious, with a little bit of organization and some key pieces of furniture, you’ll be designing in no time.

All about glass

Using glass-topped dining and coffee tables can really help open up your space. Since glass reflects light and allows the eye to see past the piece, it really gives the feeling that the room has opened up by removing visual barriers.

Try a glass coffee table when you've got a larger sofa. It can virtually disappear, creating the illusion of a bigger space, while remaining fully functional.

Smaller glass dining tables can work hard for your space defying efforts by reducing visual barriers much in the same way as glass coffee tables. They also fit nicely into tiny spaces.

Versatile furniture pieces, like tables that are able to compress, are great assets in smaller sized spaces. The compact size allows for placement near other furniture, without feeling overcrowded. Try a table like this if you don’t have a designated dining room, it can work great as an addition to a family room or even right in the kitchen if you’ve got an empty corner or wall space.

Minimalism

Making a room feel larger can have a lot to do with the type of furniture you use to decorate with. Clean lines with a more minimal style can definitely give your space a gorgeous look, without making the room feel heavy or overdone.

Who says you can’t have a sectional?

Look for pieces that give you a lot of bang for your buck, both literally and in terms of space! With a smaller sectional you’ll get plenty of room to move around it and can still create the cozy vibe we all love without taking up too much of a footprint.

Many furniture pieces come in varying sizes, too. If you love a sofa but it’s too big for your space, keep an eye out for a smaller version or even a loveseat or apartment sofa that comes in the same style.

Low Ceilings

If you’ve got a room that has a lower height, adding short furniture can actually amplify the feeling that the ceiling is low. By using taller pieces, you help draw the eye up and it can make the room feel loftier when you’ve added some length up a wall.

Give me that bright light

One of the best tricks to open up a space is to bring more light in by using a mirror to reflect off an existing natural light source. Setting up a mirror that’s angled across from a window can create the illusion that there’s more space in the room than there actually is. Sources say that feeling good is all that matters, so even if you don’t have those massive windows, as long as you can use these kinds of tips to feel like the room is more open, then you’re headed in the right direction.

Let’s face it, we can’t all have floor-to-ceiling windows with unobstructed views (even though most of us would love that), but we can use what light source we do have to brighten up our space.

There you have it! Hopefully, a few of these tips will motivate you to think about a small space in a new way. Check back soon with Home Blog by Rooms To Go for more tips and ideas to inspire your inner designer.