There are a number of effective design techniques that allow you to visually expand the space in a small apartment. But some objects or finishes work in the opposite way: they literally hide the area of the room or the height of the ceilings, make the house uncomfortable. Such things should be categorically avoided during interior decoration, because they can spoil all the efforts of the designer.
- Dark walls
- Wallpaper with a large pattern and imitation stone
- Dark furnishings
- Oriental rugs
- Many patterns
- Central furniture arrangement
- Medium Cabinets
- Open shelving
- Heavy textile
- High table
- Volumetric and long chandelier
- Multicolor in the design
- Central lighting
- Tiered ceiling
- Massive doors
- Bulky furniture
- Contrast flooring
- Partitions
- Big pictures
- A lot of decor
Dark walls
When carrying out finishing work in a small apartment, you can apply a variety of materials: paint, decorative plaster, wallpaper. Nevertheless, with small dimensions of the rooms it is worth using light, pastel shades, because a too dark coating will visually reduce the space. Even under bright conditions, gloomy walls take up to 40% of the rays, so the room will still seem darkened. Similar rules apply to other large surfaces: textiles, fitted wardrobes, and ceilings should also be light. Weightless, translucent and transparent materials in the decoration are welcome.
Wallpaper with a large pattern and imitation stone
The decor of a large size in a small apartment is not completely excluded, but its use should be accented. The ideal option is a single strip of wallpaper, a panel, an insert of photo wallpaper that will look interesting and attractive. If you glue a small room with wallpaper with a volumetric ornament completely, it will visually crush the room, reduce it, and focus on the insufficient dimensions of the house. Also, too embossed coatings, including those imitating stone, are not suitable for such apartments. They look hard, which is unacceptable in a small space.
Dark furnishings
Furniture in dark colors is also not suitable for a small apartment. Usually it takes up a lot of space (especially cabinets for the ceiling, headsets, sofas), so it creates the impression of a large dark spot in the room. In the same way, furniture with a large pattern “works”. In a small space, you should give preference to light objects of furniture, or to get dark, but elegant, small-sized furniture and combine it with a light finish on the walls and floor.
Oriental rugs
Too bright a carpet with a traditional oriental ornament immediately attracts attention, literally attracts the eye. If the room has another catchy accent, it will greatly overload it and become difficult to perceive. For a small apartment, monophonic light carpets or products with a modest pattern are well suited: a frame, a single image of flowers, etc.Among other things, the oriental carpet practically does not fit into the most popular styles and is suitable only for ethno-direction.
Many patterns
If the dimensions of the house are modest, do not use too much patterned materials for decoration. The best option is to use 1-2 items with drawings (for example, curtains and decorative pillows). With an oversaturation of patterned products, a feeling of fragmentation of space will arise.
Central furniture arrangement
Often dimensional furniture is placed in the center of the room - this is a famous design technique. Usually this is done with upholstered furniture or a table and chairs, armchairs. In large rooms, this arrangement will help in zoning, and in small ones it will only provoke clutter of the territory. It is best to place furniture near the walls so that they do not interfere either real or visually.
Medium Cabinets
Built-in or conventional cabinets with a height of up to the ceiling can visually lengthen the walls, push the boundaries of space. Small pieces of furniture, as it were, expand the dimensions of the room. But medium-height cabinets act in the opposite way - they “cut off” the walls and squeeze a small room without it. Among other things, they do not bear the practical value that high furniture can provide.
Open shelving
Shelves with open shelves themselves are capable of visually expanding the space, giving it airiness. Unfortunately, in a small apartment they rarely remain empty and most often play the role of a storage place for drawers, books, vases, and sometimes household appliances and electronics.
As a result, the wall becomes colorful, multi-colored, even cluttered, which for a small room is a fatal mistake. Therefore, if you want to decorate the house with shelves, you need to use them in a minimal amount next to the closed furniture, so that they perform a purely decorative role.
Heavy textile
Heavy fabrics for curtains, wraps, canopies visually take away free space, make the finish heavier. If they are also dark, they are perceived as gloomy wallpaper or paint. Drapery is also inconvenient from a practical point of view, because it regularly collects dust and reduces the level of lighting in the house.
For a small apartment, an ideal option would be light tulle, organza, other translucent fabrics for windows or wraps. Using textile in bright colors, you can visually expand the room, give it grace.
High table
Often in the living room or bedroom set coffee tables that are designed to be read, stored or used as decor. If the room is small, such furniture should be as low as possible. Too high a table “attracts” the ceiling to itself, visually making it low. Moreover, even a small in area, but with long legs table is perceived as too massive, heavy.
Volumetric and long chandelier
Expensive, massive chandeliers look great in large rooms with high ceilings, especially if the apartment is decorated in a classic style. They look bright, immediately attract attention, and also provide an excellent level of illumination. But such aristocratic furnishings are poorly suited for rooms of a small area. From their use, housing will look even closer, more modest.
Long chandeliers with pendants can be uncomfortable for residents. They interfere with normal movement, cause an unpleasant feeling of touching the head. It is better to distribute the lighting system throughout the room to visually expand the space.Huge lamps should be left for large rooms, where they will not violate the natural proportions and really become a beautiful component of the interior.
Multicolor in the design
If the room is small, you should not use more than three colors of the range when decorating it. When there are too many shades, there is an unnecessary motley that looks too heavy, overloads the design, splits the whole room into tiny parts.
Central lighting
A chandelier in the center of the ceiling is a traditional solution for any apartment. Nevertheless, the low level of illumination in a small apartment can ruin all the efforts of the designer to visually expand the boundaries. In addition to the central chandelier, it is worthwhile to place here perimeter lamps, sconces, floor lamps or other types of suitable lighting.
Multilevel lighting will distract from the assessment of the size of the room, make it easier. In addition, the lamps can play the role of beautiful accessories and really decorate the house.
Tiered ceiling
Drywall strips at several levels have already gone out of fashion, therefore, recently almost never used by designers. For a small apartment, they are generally not suitable, since they divide the already limited space into tiny zones and greatly reduce the height of the walls.
Massive doors
Like furniture, dark, dimensional door leafs cut the room into parts, visually overload it. They literally emphasize the boundaries of the room, make them more clear. It is better to buy sliding doors or "accordions", or completely refuse to close the doorway and leave it empty.
Bulky furniture
Huge kitchen sets, massive sofas with armchairs and dining tables are perfect for country houses that are large enough. For standard apartments, they are practically not suitable, because the height of the ceilings here is rarely significant. For small rooms, it is worth buying light furniture on legs, compact or folding models. An interesting option would be hanging furniture - cabinets, tables and shelves mounted on the walls.
Contrast flooring
In order not to spoil the design of the room and not cause its fragmentation into zones, you should not paint the floor with bright paint, lay a multi-colored or too dark laminate, carpet. With contrasting solutions in a small apartment, you generally need to be careful because they hurt your eyes. It is better to use one coating for the entire house so that there are no visible interior passages.
Partitions
In a one- or two-room apartment of a standard layout, it is not practical to use partitions. Usually this is done only out of acute practical necessity, for example, to highlight a children's zone. In other cases, the option with partitions should be left to the studio apartments, because they cut the space. It would be more correct to use furniture that gently emphasizes a particular area without provoking crowding.
Big pictures
Vibrant paintings and large panels look the same as wallpaper with a large pattern. You need to admire them from afar, but in a small room this is impossible. It is worth placing on the wall a set of several small paintings, photo frames that will look fresh and stylish.
A lot of decor
As in the case of paintings, overloading decor in small housing is unacceptable. It is better to choose a couple of bright accents against the backdrop of a neutral finish, put a minimum amount of really beautiful and elegant interior items. This will help strengthen the stylistic orientation and will not steal the already limited space.
Following these tips, you can even use interesting design techniques in a small room without causing a reduction in free space. In addition, the recommendations will improve the functionality of the apartment without blocking it and make the housing modern and comfortable.
