Tips to Make Your Living Room Appear Bigger & Brighter

Easy ways to get small rooms in your home to look bigger

You might love your home or apartment, but you might also think the living room could be a little better for hosting guests if it was just a bit… more. You’re not alone – the median Mason City home has just 1,740 square feet of interior space, leaving many families often finding themselves wishing for a bit more room to move around.

But what if you’re not in the mood for a full-on home remodel, or you don’t have the cash to add on an extra room or square footage?

Even the smallest homes in Iowa can feel much more open with the right décor and lighting setup. Window type and size, paint color, and several other factors can affect whether your living room, dining room, or even your whole house feels cozy and crowded or spacious and inviting. With this in mind, let’s look at some ways you can make your living room look bigger and brighter without knocking down any walls.

Install new living room windows

You can easily brighten a living space in your home and make it feel more open by replacing your current windows and installing brand new windows. New windows of any type have an advantage over old ones since they'll lack the warping, fogging, or scratches that your current windows might have, causing them to feel boxed in or darker.

But for the best results, consider installing large picture windows or bay and bow windows to open up your space. Picture windows can stretch from floor to ceiling and can be designed in a variety of shapes to suit your home's aesthetic or your personal preference.

Bay windows and bow windows can truly transform your spaces and make a small living room look bigger by extending out from the wall. These window styles let in plenty of natural light and give you extra space to place decorations.

Skip the big curtains

Whichever windows you choose to install to expand your home, don’t hang thick or dark curtains around them. Heavy curtains can soak up that new natural light you want to fill the room. If you want control over how much light gets in, opt for thinner, sleeker curtains or window shades in light colors like cream, peach, or white.

Exterior cleanup

Take a look outside of your new windows and determine whether or not you can see bushes, twigs, or branches. If the answer is "yes," take some shears and get to trimming! Clearing out exterior clutter like overgrown bushes or tree branches can further open up your windows and let in even more natural light. The more light you bring in from the outside, the better.

Brighten up the room with a fresh coat of paint

Choosing to paint an interior space a light color rather than a darker one can make that space appear larger than it actually is. Light, bright colors like white, soft blues and greens, and cream shades can do wonders for maximizing the warmth and vibrancy of a room, even if you don’t do anything else to change its interior design or furniture setup.

Minimize wall decorations

With this being said, what you hang on those freshly painted walls will also certainly affect how breezy or big a room feels.

Here’s an interior design rule of thumb: the more you have on the walls, the more crowded they seem, and the tighter the space feels. If you want to make your living room look bigger and brighter, opt for hanging less rather than more decorations and pictures on the walls.

A few lightly colored artworks or shelves with knickknacks and potted plants are perfect for maximizing a space’s energy.

Hang a few mirrors

There’s one exception to the rule above: mirrors. Hanging mirrors reflect the natural light from your new windows and elsewhere throughout the home. The more mirrors you hang up, the more that light bounces around.

By reflecting natural light and the surrounding scene, mirrors invariably create the illusion that there’s more to a room than there really is. A small living room with a big mirror reflecting the space will help the room to feel much larger than it actually is, making your home appear bigger and brighter.

Pick the right furniture

The furniture you choose to decorate a space can have a big impact on its look, feel, and comfort. To make your living room or home office feel more spacious, go for minimalist furniture like tables and chairs with thin or open-leg designs.

Glass or Lucite tabletop furniture, like coffee tables or desks, is also ideal for opening up a room simply by letting you see more of it. Keep this in mind as you shop for the perfect pieces. If the furniture in question expands your line of sight as much as possible, it’s a great fit for a soon-to-be brighter room.

If you choose furniture with fabric, like a couch or reclining chair, aim for lighter fabrics if possible(in both weight and color). For example, linen sofas and chairs are great for smaller spaces that you want to feel larger.

Position furniture for a new perspective

You can also set your furniture in specific orientations or positions to brighten up a space. For the best results, try to position chairs and other furniture, not including tables, diagonally relative to the room’s walls. Do your best to avoid placing furniture next to the walls, which reinforces how small a room actually is.

Plus, setting up a chair, armoire, or table diagonally in the corner frees up a bit of extra storage space for you behind that furniture piece! These small and simple arrangements can help any room look bigger.

Tidy up and take out the clutter

Even the biggest spaces in your home can feel cramped and uncomfortable if you leave things lying around, especially on the floors. As a finishing touch to open up your living room, try to store or pack up anything you don’t use on a daily basis, including unnecessary throw pillows, games, movies, remotes, mugs, and more. Get into the habit of keeping your living room tidy, and it'll feel brighter and more open in no time.

Expand with an extra bedroom, nook, or dining room!

Of course, you can also opt for a pricier full renovation and add a room to your home. A home renovation project to add an extra bedroom or expand your living room won’t just give you more square footage to enjoy while you live there – it’ll also grant your house more resale value if you ever decide to move to a new abode!

In the end, though, you can do a lot to improve a room’s look and feel without undertaking a renovation. Our recommendation? Spend some time considering the tips above to see how you can maximize a space before committing to a remodeling project, and don’t forget to ask Window World in Mason City about any window installations that would be sure to brighten up and expand your home. You might just find that your living room is plenty big enough for you and your family with the right windows or décor!