How to visually make a rectangular room look square. Expanding the space, or how to visually enlarge a room

The problem of narrow rooms is familiar firsthand to many owners of Soviet-style apartments. However, with the right approach to the design of such premises, this drawback can be well hidden. Of course, a lot depends on the arrangement of furniture, lighting and other things, but one of the most important points is this.

General information

A living room or bedroom may have this disadvantage, however, in this case the term “narrow room” is relative. It would be more correct to say - a room with an unfavorable ratio of length and width.

The most “narrowed” ones, most often, are the corridors. But even they can be made more attractive. Of course, the traditional solution in the form of plain wallpaper is not suitable in this case, since the “carriage” effect will be felt.

Therefore, such premises require a special approach. In particular, the use of various color effects and the correct selection of patterns will help to “push apart” the walls.

In the photo - photo wallpaper in the interior narrow room

Wallpaper options for a narrow room

General rules

There are several effective techniques that will always help expand the room:

• Using a more saturated color on short walls than on long walls. You can also use tone-on-tone materials, but on short walls use a coating with a pronounced pattern. This technique allows you to make the desired accent, and thereby slightly hide the lack of space.
• Another very effective technique is the use of photo wallpaper.. Moreover, they can be used to cover any wall of the room, the main thing is to choose the right image. So narrow photo wallpaper on the wall should have a picture with limited space.

If you decide to decorate a wide wall in this way, then the image, on the contrary, should be in perspective. For example, a canyon or plain expands the room horizontally. Accordingly, such photo wallpapers well level out the disproportionality of the room.

• The classic technique is to cover a long wall with a material with a vertical pattern.. You can even use fabrics with solid stripes. For a short wall, canvases with horizontal stripes are suitable.

Advice! A short wall can be decorated with drapery, curtains or drapes. This will visually hide the lack of space due to the large thickness of the folds.

Corridor

For a narrow corridor, it is advisable to use light wallpaper with a vertical image. In this case, you should avoid using gray materials.

Also, when deciding what wallpaper to choose for a narrow corridor, you can opt for photo wallpaper, which, as in other rooms, will help correct the situation with the disproportion of the room. However, in this case, proper lighting should be provided.

Advice! The long corridor can be divided into zones. This will not be difficult to do with the help of wallpaper with different patterns, and arches made with your own hands from plasterboard.

Hallway

Often, apartment owners puzzle over what wallpaper to choose for a narrow hallway? The best option in this case is to decorate the room in contrasting colors.

For the lower part of the hallway, you can use dark-colored material, and for the upper part, light-colored material. You can connect the canvases harmoniously using a panel glued along the joint.

Advice! To expand the hallway, you can hang a large mirror on a long wall.

Bedroom

Choosing wallpaper for narrow bedroom, you can be guided by almost everyone general rules which are given above.

In addition, some other design techniques will help solve the problem:

1. Two long walls It is advisable to cover rooms with wallpaper with large patterns, and narrow rooms with canvases with small patterns.
2. Finish colors should be pastel tones.

For example, you can use the following colors:

• beige;
• peach;
• lime;
• baby blue.

It should be borne in mind that you cannot create contrast, as this will narrow the room even more, and you cannot use very bright and dark colors.

Advice! It is best to give preference to those that best hide the disproportionality of the room.

Living room

The instructions for decorating the walls of the living room are the same as for the bedroom. In particular, one of best options is the use of photo wallpaper.

You can also pay attention to the drawing in the op art style, in this case it consists of lines that change the shape of space as a result of optical illusions. True, such a solution will not look good in every interior. In addition, such wallpapers are quite rare on sale, and their price is quite high.

Of course, you should avoid paintings in dark and very bright colors. However, you can make bright accents, for example, highlight the middle of the wall with printed wallpaper.

Here, perhaps, are all the moments of expanding space through wallpaper. The rest depends on the interior itself.

In particular, do not forget that the best “friend” for visually increasing the volume of a room is light. Therefore, it is necessary to pay no less attention to the lighting of the room than to the design of the decoration.

Conclusion

Correct use of wallpaper will significantly change the visual perception of a narrow room. Moreover, in some cases the result can exceed all expectations; for example, photo wallpaper can have an even greater expansion effect than even mirrors ().

Therefore, based on the above rules and experimenting with design, you can forget about such a problem as the visual unattractiveness of narrow rooms in the apartment. For more information on this topic, watch the video in this article.

Everyone knows that an apartment with large, bright rooms looks cozy, beautiful and spacious. And what could be better than a spacious, well-lit room? Obviously, in most apartments of the old type (“Khrushchev-era”), the size of the rooms and their fullness of light leaves much to be desired. Any family is faced with the question of expanding the space of a room during renovation, and in the least expensive and least labor-intensive way.

You can increase the size of rooms using visual effects, lighting or remodeling. It is clear that enlarging a room through reconstruction is a rather expensive and effort-consuming option. Redevelopment, of course, is a radical way to increase room footage, but it requires some effort: collecting necessary documents, coordination with certain authorities, large financial costs, and so on. But what should those who have neither time nor money do? There remain such ways of expanding rooms as visual ones.

Visual ways of expanding space are good because they do not require huge financial costs, paperwork, demolition of walls and partitions. So, what are these visual effects and how to increase space in a small room?

First way

Visual enhancement with the help of design colors. It should be remembered that a light color can increase when you choose wallpaper, flooring or special building mixtures for decorating walls (putty, paint, and so on). You should choose light, pastel colors that do not overload the interior with colorful, bright and large patterns. It’s better to stick with a single-color covering or, as is now very fashionable, choose a color for the plain wallpaper, decorative wallpaper (with a pattern) - wallpaper that increases the space of the room, and correctly combine them when wallpapering the room. In specialized stores, such wallpaper for a small room, which visually enlarges the space, is sold together. The main thing to remember is that a large pattern visually compresses the space, while a small one, on the contrary, expands it.

In terms of expanding the space, photo wallpapers with landscapes of paths, roads, rivers and so on “running into the distance” can be very helpful. A significant effect will be achieved when the interior and materials used to decorate the room match the landscape.

Second way

Magnification using mirrors. Increasing space using mirrors is a fairly well-known method. Mirrors reflect not only objects, but also light, which helps make the room more spacious with their help. By decorating one wall with a mirror (or by building in a mirrored cabinet), you can easily expand the dimensions of the room, but you need to remember that mirrors require careful care, because any speck on their surface is noticeable and can spoil even the most expressive interior.

Third way

Make the ceilings visually higher. When choosing a ceiling covering, pay attention to glossy ceilings: they allow you to make the room visually higher due to their ability to reflect. An ideal option for small rooms would be a classic white glossy ceiling. And, at this stage, it is necessary to take care of the ceiling skirting boards. It is advisable to opt for narrow ones; wide ones, loaded with elaborate stucco moldings, can reduce all efforts to nothing and make the ceiling low. Don’t forget about curtain rods, the higher they are hung to the ceiling, the higher the room will look.

Fourth method

Additional lighting. By adding additional lamps, sconces, and lighting, you can not only make the room brighter, but also increase the space. Create light zoning in the room, and your interior will be transformed. If you are afraid to experiment, leave this matter to the professionals, and you will be surprised how, with the help of a conventional lighting solution, your apartment will be transformed beyond recognition.

Fifth method

Using textiles and furniture. It would seem how you can change the size of a room with the help of banal curtains and furniture. However, by giving preference to light and weightless fabrics, you will make the interior more airy and light, which will fill the apartment with light and add the desired space. When choosing furniture, give preference to small, neat sofas and banquettes that match the overall color scheme. Large, massive objects will only weigh down the interior and make the space of the room small. Remember, the less furniture, and the neater it is, the more light and space in the room.

Sixth method

Bright decorative elements. By decorating a corner of the room with a bright accent, you can achieve the so-called “distant perspective effect.” The corner of the room will appear further away, which will actually allow the walls to be visually pushed back in perspective.

Seventh method

No small decorative or interior items. If you have accumulated a lot of souvenirs, cute little trinkets, figurines, it’s time to give them away. All these nice things, carefully placed on shelves, will create a feeling of clutter, and the desired space will be lost among these little things. Clean and crisp lines are the aspect to strive for.

Eighth method

Niches and artificial decorative waves made of plasterboard with lighting. A room decorated with a well-made niche can be transformed beyond recognition. This method of decoration visually moves the walls away, making the dimensions of the room larger. The main thing is that everything is done competently and tastefully.

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Each of us dreams of a comfortable, free home, but not everyone has such opportunities. No problem! Any home, even the smallest one, can be made cozy and visually enlarge the existing space. You just need to know some laws of the influence of color and texture of various surfaces on the visual formation of a spatial structure. If you are interested in how to visually enlarge a room, how to make the ceilings visually higher, which also affects the formation of space, then we offer you a selection of tips from designers and architects.

Visually raising the ceiling

There are several effective ways in which you can create the visual illusion of, if not infinity, then a high ceiling. This feeling can be evoked using various techniques.

• A ceiling with a glossy surface appears visually higher. In order to “raise” a low ceiling, it can be painted with glossy paint. It’s even better to install a glossy stretch ceiling, which will have built-in spotlights. In a room with low ceilings, large chandeliers eat up space.
• You can make a multi-level plasterboard ceiling structure, in which the recess should be darker than the rest of the ceiling. This design creates the illusion of a higher ceiling.
• In order to visually increase the height of the ceiling, for example, in the living room, in neighboring rooms, for example, in the hallway and in the kitchen, the ceilings need to be made a little lower. Then, when looking from the hallway into the living room, the impression of greater volume and height of space will be created.
• Well, the most radical and at the same time win-win option for increasing the height of the room is to cover the ceiling with a mirror surface. This method gives the complete illusion of a rising ceiling.

Color effect

With the help of different colors you can effectively solve problems of limited space. Designers advise using light colors in small rooms - beige, light pink, soft blue, pale green, etc. In a word, it should be any pastel palette that does not irritate the eyes. In small rooms, you should carefully use flashy colors, bright contrasts, and heavy dark colors.

Different colors create different visual sensations. It is known, for example, that blue color visually removes objects somewhat. And warm colors, such as orange, on the contrary, visually bring them closer. Therefore, if you need to create the impression of more space without losing the feeling of coziness, you will have to abandon bright and warm colors. In addition, large drawings on the walls should be avoided.

If you have chosen wallpaper as the decor for your walls, then you need to know how to correctly combine their different colors and patterns:

• A large pattern on the wallpaper narrows the space very noticeably.
• Plain wallpaper with vertical stripes or a vertical pattern visually makes the room narrower and taller.
• Wallpaper of different colors, separated by a border, will make the room smaller and narrower.
• A border along the top edge and multi-colored wallpaper will lower the height and make the room smaller.
• Wallpaper with a small pattern or plain light wallpaper visually enlarges a small room.
• If you use wallpaper with a larger pattern on one wall than on other walls, the space will visually expand.
• In order to liven up a dark room, you need to cover the least lit wall with wallpaper of the same color as the rest of the walls, but a shade lighter.

If you are interested in how to visually enlarge a children's room, then you should keep in mind that delicate pastel colors - pale green, soft pink, light blue - soothe and relax, setting you up for a sweet dream. That is why they are very appropriate in a nursery.

Warm shades such as beige, yellow, apricot, creamy green create coziness. They look good in the dining room and living room. Bright colors and fiery paints, for example, burgundy and orange, drive away fatigue and charge you with energy. Designers recommend using them in a home gym or office.

Mirrors and spaces

Many people wonder how to visually enlarge a small room. A proven way to expand any room is to use mirrors on the walls. This technique always gives the expected effect, but requires special caution. Of course, you can decorate one of the walls with large mirror sheets. But in this case, your room will resemble a dance hall, which only lacks a ballet barre.

Therefore, when planning to use mirrors in room decor, you should consult with a designer. He will recommend how to decorate a mirrored wall, how to soften it with fabric to create a feeling of transition to the next room. Keep in mind that you will have to get used to your guests constantly being distracted by their reflection.

By the way, you can “move aside” the wall not only with the help of mirrors, but also using a false niche. It doesn't have to be deep. The depth of the niche itself can be increased with the help of lighting directed towards the wall, which is located along the contour. This will give your niche volume, thereby visually increasing the space of the room.

Gender issue

You can also increase the space of a small room using the floor. The same laws that we considered for walls apply here: a dark floor visually reduces the space, and vice versa. You can visually lengthen a room through the longitudinal arrangement of floorboards or parquet. If you want to expand your kitchen, use glossy light tiles. The light reflected in it will fill the room with air, making the kitchen lighter and brighter.

On varnished light parquet there is no need to lay a massive carpet that covers the entire floor. In this case, it is better to use a small rug of a delicate color. The combination of light walls, ceiling and floor will make the room visually larger. Moreover, with the help of lower lighting it can be illuminated, which will add spaciousness to the room.

Accessories and furniture for a small room

In such a room, you should not separate furniture from the general interior. In this case, it is better if it blends in with the curtains and walls. Being a bright spot, it will “eat up” the space. You should choose a modest shape of furniture, and upholstered furniture - without armrests. Instead of armchairs, you can generally use comfortable ottomans, and refuse armchairs.

Regarding placement, it is better to place furniture in corners or along walls. A piece of furniture installed in the middle of the room will divide the space into parts, which is not desirable in a small room. It is good to order built-in wardrobes with mirrored doors. For books, it is better to use open shelving that can go all the way to the ceiling. They can also be replaced with shelves, freeing up space on the floor. This will make the room bigger.

For the children's room, choose a set of furniture that consists of a bed with a wardrobe, and under it - a table. If the children's room is designed for two, then it is better to buy a bunk bed. Again, instead of a sofa and armchairs, it is better to put toys-pillows and ottomans.

If, when equipping your room, you are going to buy a new TV, then without a doubt, buy a flat-screen TV. And no cabinets. Wall mounting only. The same goes for the computer. Buy yourself a laptop. Although it costs a little more, as in the case of a TV, you do not need to purchase additional furniture for it.

You can decorate a medium-sized wall with a painting. A nice addition would be an elaborate tapestry that matches the color of your walls. It will attract the attention it deserves, adding coziness to the room. In the farthest corner of the room, designers advise placing a bright, beautiful object. It could be an antique vase or unusual flower. Such an item will immediately attract the attention of guests, and they will have the impression of great prospects.

Coffee tables - mirrored or glass, glass shelves, as well as frosted glass doors will help make the room visually more open. Hidden local lighting, spot lighting, installed professionally, will create additional light and shades, reflected in glass surfaces and mirrors. You will have to abandon the overhead central lighting. The softness of the room will be given by the light that will come from the floor lamp standing on the floor.

It is better not to clutter open shelves with trinkets. And in general, it is better to use vertical cabinets for storing things, which stretch the space upward. Hide unnecessary items in bedside tables and cabinets, remove household appliances and dishes from the kitchen surface.

Curtains and drapes in a small room

To make a small room seem larger visually, you need to illuminate it, let daylight into it. Therefore, it is better to decorate windows with airy, light curtains. By using extra long curtains that spread beautifully on the floor underneath, you will not only brighten up the room, but also make it feel taller.

If you need to visually expand the space of the room, then hang the curtains so that they also cover part of the wall. Roman blinds “eat up” much less space than full-wall curtains. Keep in mind when choosing fabrics for curtains that a vertical pattern makes the room taller, while a horizontal pattern visually expands and reduces the space.

Using all these tips that experts give, using techniques that work in a small room, remember the main law of designers: despite everything, do not be afraid to experiment, play with different shades, and sometimes combine incompatible materials. The main thing you must achieve is that in the space created by your imagination you are not bored, comfortable and cozy.

We had to deal with the problem of visually expanding the space. As a rule, a way out is found by using mirrors, choosing transformable furniture, and light colors in interior design. But there are many more ways to push the boundaries of walls and ceilings. If you use them to the maximum, the result can exceed all expectations. We offer you a choice of several simple techniques that will help your apartment visually appear larger.

The simplest and most sufficient effective method- in pale, light shades. You can also use wallpaper with a small pattern, which will visually make the room wider and taller.

If the ceiling height allows, you can use glossy stretch ceilings. This type has a mirror effect. They will reflect the entire room, which will make it look much more voluminous.

If you add a large mirror to the wall in a small room, the effect will be doubled.

Lines or patterns on the walls: transverse stripes - the ceiling becomes lower, but the walls move away from each other, longitudinal stripes - the ceiling “rises”, the walls, accordingly, stretch upward.

For small rooms, you can choose the color for the floor and decorative elements in the same color scheme, and the walls should be decorated in a less bright tone.

It is also advisable to select large furniture that will be located along the walls that is similar in color to the walls, this way the furniture does not attract unnecessary attention and the room is visually smoothed out.

The best thing for a small space is to use furniture (shelves, tables), souvenirs made of glass or plastic, because transparency gives a feeling of some freedom.

A fairly traditional way is to use transformable multifunctional furniture, built-in plasterboard cabinets instead of ready-made sets.

If there is a need to lengthen the room, then the flooring pattern should be located along the entire length of the floor. Today, a new product is .

You can “pull” the walls and “raise” the ceiling using cool colors in the interior.

What about windows? The larger it is, the larger the space seems. A good addition to a window that is not overloaded with sash lines would be light tulle and airy curtains on a wide cornice.

For limited space, the lighting system needs to be thought out especially carefully. Obligatory overhead lighting with cold light is recommended. The requirement for additional light sources is to illuminate the room to the maximum, without leaving dark corners or any unlit space.

Small flat– a problem for a large number of our compatriots. Today on the Beautiful and Successful website we will tell you how to deal with this. No, no, this article is not about how to add another balcony or take away the hallway and half of the stairwell from your neighbors using legal (or not so legal) methods. This article is about - of course, this will not solve the problem with footage, but it will make life more pleasant.

How to visually enlarge a room: the basics

How to visually enlarge a room? To do this you need to know basic design principles, namely:

• dark colors reduce space, light colors increase it;
• the more objects, the smaller the space seems;
• any line breaks space into parts;
• contrasting spots reduce space;
• large objects (even if there is only one) reduce space.

Based on these five principles, we have formulated a list of tips that will tell you how to visually expand a room of any size. About them below.

Dark and bright colors visually make the room smaller. Therefore, to visually increase space it is worth using light color scheme.

Experts say that pastel colors are best suited for this purpose: cream, white, light green, light blue, light pink.

It is better that these colors are warm - they will also help make the room cozy.

To the question of what kind of wallpaper visually enlarges a room, there is only one answer - light and with a small pattern!

The room will seem tiny if you can barely see it. Therefore, light is our everything. Large window and recessed lighting simply necessary for a small room.

It would be a good idea to install a floor lamp - the light from it will be reflected from the ceiling, expanding the space. It is best to use natural, daylight lamps.

Lots of light - and the room looks bigger and more elegant

The trick with mirrors is successfully used in various restaurants, cafes and shops. It seems that the hall is huge, but in reality it turns out that there is a mirror that covers the entire wall. Use this trick too!

We have an article about - useful!

Often during renovations, less attention is paid to the floor and ceiling than to the walls, and very wrongly: they are also, to some extent, walls.

How to visually enlarge a room with their help? Very simple: they should be light.

And if they are not only light, but also shiny (for example, using shiny tiles or a PVC stretch ceiling), then your room will become much more spacious!

Since light is our everything, nothing should block its path. The website does not encourage, of course, leaving the window without curtains, not at all!

Just don't cover the window with thick tulle, choose something more transparent and airy. Also pay attention to the curtains - they can be thick, but should not contrast with the walls, floor and ceiling.

An article about.

A small living room is visually enlarged by a large window

Any contrasting spot eats up part of the space. Therefore it is very important maintain color balance.

How to visually enlarge a room? Remove everything from it bright and dark spots, even if it's your great-grandmother's favorite red chair.

Try not to let anything stand out: not curtains, not upholstery, not your great-grandmother’s favorite chair :)

In a small room only one thing can be big - a window. Everything else is the same big size should move to larger rooms.

It is clear that a room will seem tiny if almost all of its space is occupied by a huge bed or some kind of wardrobe or table.

Extra things can make any room look small. Try to hide it out of sight unnecessary little things.

Try to ensure that nothing is lying or standing on the surfaces in the room - be it stationery, cups, trinkets or frames with photographs of your beloved great-grandmother.

Bedroom in a minimalist style - nothing superfluous

If you decide to “expand” the kitchen (and the problem of a small kitchen is familiar to almost everyone), be sure to remove all small household appliances and dishes in cabinets. If all this stuff is lying in a visible place, you will get the feeling that you simply have nowhere else to put it.

How to visually enlarge a room? Place correctly furniture! Try to ensure that there is enough space in the middle of the room, and all the furniture is pushed towards the wall.

It's better if the furniture will be rather low than tall (tall interior items divide the space into parts, and we already have not enough of this space).

In general, it’s good if the furniture “permeates air” - I mean carved openwork backs chairs, sofa handles, drawer doors. Blind surfaces eat up space. They will also help to visually enlarge the room. glass surfaces, such as countertops and cabinet doors.

Another simple tip on how to visually enlarge a room. Hang a large painting (or photograph) on the wall. The main thing is that it is beautiful and not too dark or contrasting.

When choosing furniture or wallpaper, choose simple monotonous drawing– he does not hold his gaze, visually expanding the space. Large and complex drawings do the opposite, making you “suffocate” in a small room.

Don't know how else to visually enlarge the room? Finally, we’ll tell you about a little design trick: attract attention to the farthest corner in the room.

Place a beautiful floor lamp, flower or figurine in it - this thing will immediately attract the attention of the person entering, forcing his gaze to go into the distance. And it will seem that the room is long!

A floor lamp, paintings and a window visually enlarge the living room

With this we come to the end of the article about . I hope you found something in it that will help you expand (albeit visually) own space.

This is important, because it is pleasant to live and be in a spacious room. Have a pleasant and spacious life!

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