Walking through the house and thinking of projects we would like to do is done all the time. Walking through the department or home store, or even another person’s home adds to that list. Time, budget, and sanity makes us trim that list to reasonable and prioritized projects. The simple truth is we often think of far more than is needed to make the improvements we want.
A few buckets of paint, some new window treatments, and perhaps some wall paper or fabric will make as much difference as new and moved walls often. This is even more true when the remodel being considered is basically for image and to make the home more aesthetically pleasing to ourselves or to impress guests.
Colours
If you wish you had bigger rooms in your home there are three ways to achieve that. Tens of thousands to be sent putting an exterior addition on your home. Thousands spent on moving interior walls so some rooms can be larger while others are smaller or disappear entirely. A couple hundred to change colours and window treatments to make the room look and feel larger.
As a rule of thumb lighter colours will make a room look and feel larger. That in no way means you need to paint all white and eggshell. In fact, use of light shade terra cotta style colours and wall coverings will give the desired effect while adding the latest trend in home design. To amplify the effect use a lighter tone on 2 or three walls and a slightly darker on the others. This gives the illusion of the room pushing further away from the darker colour.
Window Treatments
Get rid of the heavy draperies. Aside from the fact they went out of style 15 years or more ago, drapery rods typically extend 4”-6” into the room. Add to that another 4”-6” of space between the draperies and furnishings or even floor space where standing and you have shrunk your room dimensions by a full foot. If it is a corner dining room or living room you have done that to two walls and genuinely made the room smaller.
Inset roman style blinds and valances are far trendier now. They take up none of the floor space in a room, give more lighting choices based on how open or closed you set them, and add texture and interest to otherwise boring flat wall space. Valances are a great way to add the illusion of height. Most rooms are filled with long straight lines and corners. Use a rounded or sculpted valance to break the pattern and prevent the eye into lowering the ceiling to a lower common height.
Experiment with more interesting materials on window blinds. Bamboo and rattan are popular choices that add interest and depth to a room with a natural look. It adds for more creative flexibility and unique style than simple vinyl in some rooms. Planter boxes on the outside of windows act to extend the room out past the walls when looked at from the inside.
Open Floor Space
Minimalist design is the current hottest trend. This lends itself well to making rooms appear larger as they are simply less crowded. Take a look around at the furnishings and decide if they are actually needed or used. Typically there are chairs and shelves filling many rooms that really are never used. Opening up that floor space makes rooms less crowded with a more relaxed feel.
Placement of furniture can add floor space. Instead of a sofa dominating the whole room wall and corner placements can add open area in even relatively small rooms that is useful for gatherings without reducing actual seating space. Looking over the variety of corner sofas for sale can give you an idea of versatility to fit the set up in your room. This will make use of space typically lost in typical furniture design and placement.
These relatively simple changes in room look will make your home brighter, feel larger, and bring it into touch with the current style trends without breaking the budget. Perhaps even better, an easy weekend will be ample time for doing a complete new look and feel to your room.
