The 3 mistakes that instantly make your home look tiny – you need the right colours first of all, says interior designer
AN INTERIOR designer has exposed the three design mistakes making your home feel smaller and how you can stop it from happening.
Phoenix Grey understands that “we don’t all live in mansions” but shared that you can “expand” a titchy living room or bedroom with a few simple adjustments.
Professionally going by Design Daddy, his first bit of advice was to have a complementing and simple colour palette.
“Having a claustrophobic colour palette really compacts the space,” Grey explained.
“Having too many colours makes the space feel like it’s busier than it needs to be, therefore making it appear smaller.
“Having a consistent palette, that generally has three to four complementing colours, can expand the space, while still creating details throughout.”
Grey’s palette theory also applies to matching patterns with each other.
“If there’s too many competing features, it brings in the room instead of expanding it,” he explained.
The expert also advised homemakers to make the most of vertical spaces, namely walls.
Items that “lengthen the room”, such as tall mirrors or a bookcase, supposedly draw the eyes upwards.
“Accentuate those wall spaces that have nothing on them that really direct your eyes to look up,” Grey said.
“That includes your curtains and having a statement light as well.”
According to the interior designer, the most important thing to making a room feel bigger is to have an “anchoring point”.
He said it is the biggest interior design mistake that people make.
“If your eyes don’t have somewhere to rest in a space, you are constantly looking around and it doesn’t feel at ease,” he said.
“This, in essence, makes it visually busy.
“An anchoring point can be anything in the space, in terms of colour or style, making sure that it draws your attention, like a large piece of artwork, a chandelier or even a sofa.
“You want something for your eyes to be attracted to in the room.”
An anchoring point is said to make a room “feel more at ease and calming”, according to Grey.