Using Curtains To Make Small Rooms Appear Bigger

Not all rooms at home are created equal and you’re sure to have some parts of the house that are smaller than others. 

When it comes to interior design and decorating, both big and small rooms come with their own specific set of challenges, but there are little tricks of the trade you can employ that will help you make the most of the space you have to work with.

For small rooms, you can actually make these spaces seem significantly bigger than they are just by choosing your curtains and drapes carefully. 

Because your windows represent a significant proportion of any room, you can quickly and easily change the look and feel of your living rooms, so it’s always worth taking the time to give your window treatments due consideration.

For example, you could create the illusion of height in rooms with low ceilings by using beautifully elegant floor-length curtains.

Bringing in such statement curtains in smaller rooms might seem a bit strange at first, but it’s all about drawing the eye upwards, which helps to make rooms feel bigger. In contrast, if you opt for shorter or mid-length drapes, you can actually make them feel shorter, so don’t be afraid to go full length throughout the house.

Another tried-and-tested way to make rooms feel more expansive is to increase the amount of natural light that floods the space. Again, this is where your curtain choice becomes paramount, with voile and sheer fabrics working wonders at ensuring a level of privacy while letting light come in.

Colour is also important and you can make smaller rooms feel bigger by using lighter shades on your curtains and walls, ensuring that they complement each other to create a sense of continuity and flow.

Fabric is just as important as colour, however, and you would perhaps be wise to avoid using thicker, heavier materials like velvet if you are trying to make a room look bigger. These will add weight to the space, which can make it feel a little claustrophobic, whereas an alternative like linen will help keep everything looking and feeling light.

What you can do, however, is embrace pattern in smaller parts of the house. It’s often thought that using patterns in little spaces overwhelms them but if you find the right pattern for the room, you can certainly use them to great effect.

In the same way that floor-length curtains will create the illusion of height, so too will the use of stripes, but you don’t have to be afraid to feature other busier patterns in your rooms as long as you balance this out by avoiding clutter and following a neutral colour palette elsewhere.

Of course, these are only a few little suggestions and ideas as to what could be achieved at home. If you’d like to find out more about curtain use in interiors, get in touch with the Pret A Vivre team today.