How to make rooms look larger

We all crave the feeling of space.

However, if large living rooms and generous bedrooms are a little out of reach in your current house, look to the clever use of colour to create a sense of space.

Here are a few ways to make a small space feel larger with the use of paint and wallpaper.

A united front: Make walls seem longer with subtle tonal variations

Painting walls and woodwork in the same colour, or slight tonal variations of the same hue, creates a monochromatic scheme that seamlessly stretches the look of the walls from the floor and ceiling.

Continue the same colour across doors, door frames and cornices to further create an uninterrupted feel to a room.

Look at the Colour Scales collection for 48 sophisticated neutrals, organised into 12 families. Each family has four shades with colours stepped in strength to achieve a harmonious colour combination when used together.

Or look to the new Green collection, in association with the National Trust for an uplifting palette.

Work with the light: Choose light reflecting paint colours

Step back and examine your room.

Which walls have direct, natural light on them from the windows?

How does the light move across the room during the day?

Each Little Greene colour has a Light Reflective Value (LRV) and this describes how much light will be reflected by the paint colour.

Space-expanding whites, like Loft White (LRV 92), pale blues, like Echo (LRV 77), and cool greys, like Flint (LRV 66), do the job of reflecting light back into the room exceptionally well and create a sense of increased space.

Also consider painting kitchen cupboards, skirting boards, window frames and bannisters in a gloss finish.

Use Intelligent Gloss or Traditional Oil Gloss, to reflect light in otherwise matt schemes and darker corners.

Pearl Colour Kitchen: LRV 62

Browse Pearl Colour 100

French Grey Living Room: LRV 55

Browse French Grey 113

Grey Bathroom using Shallows: LRV 76

Browse Shallows 223

French Grey Living Space, with French Grey Pale: LRV 73

Browse French Grey Pale

Don't be afraid of the dark: Use dark paint colours to make walls seem further away

Dark colours might instinctively be colours to avoid if you are looking to create a feeling of space, as people fear making their room look smaller.

But, conversely, very rich blues (like Hick’s Blue), dark greys (like Dark Lead Colour) and fathomless greens (like Jewel Beetle) have an almost bottomless depth that our eyes find hard to focus on – and thus create a sense of a wall being further away than it actually is.

This works especially well on walls at the far end of rectangular living spaces, or behind headboards in smaller bedrooms.

Emphasise the vertical: Introduce vertical stripes to create the illusion of height

If your ceilings feel too low, elongate the feeling of the height of your walls using vertical stripes, forcing your eye to look upwards along the stripe.

Combine striped wallpapers with fresh white ceilings for an uplifting look to make small spaces feel bigger.

Painted tongue and groove panels have the same effect and provide a smart yet casual look for all rooms of the house.

Or, alternatively, use paint to create wide vertical stripes on uninterrupted walls.

Tented Stripe: Rubine Ash

Browse Tented Stripe - Rubine Ashes

Sage Green Woodwork

Browse Sage Green

Pale Lime Wooden Stripes

Browse Pale Lime 70

Salix Bathroom Walls & Ceiling

Browse Salix 99

Focus on flooring: Paint floorboards to elongate a room

Painted floorboards instantly create longer looking rooms because of their ‘in-built stripe’, which draws the eye along the room’s longest length.

All the paint colours on the Little Greene chart are available in our two hard-wearing paint finishes suitable for flooring. Choose the original oil-based Floor Paint for a tough mid-sheen result. Or use Intelligent Floor Paint, a water-based alternative, for a slightly lower sheen and a drying time of just two hours.

Look for light reflective colours to enhance this vital feature of the room and make a small room look bigger.

Explore our guide on how to incorporate floor paint in your scheme.

Light up the room:

Use lighter colours closer to the ceiling

In small spaces, stick to the dark-to-light rule:

Keep the darkest colours towards the floor, disappearing to white by the time the colours reach the ceiling.

This gives an open and airy, cloud-like feel to the room where colours disappear to almost nothing.

The dark-to-light rule gives an instant sense of space in an otherwise tiny room.

(Pictured Shelving (Top to bottom): Down 242, Rubine Ashes 243, Dash of Soot 244, Perennial Grey 245, Dolphin 246, Knightsbridge 215, Chimney Brick 247)

For bespoke interior design advice on how to make a small room feel bigger, contact our expert Colour Consultants or visit your nearest showroom.