How to Make Your House Look and Feel More Spacious

Have you ever been to an Ikea and seen how they can fit so much functionality into a tiny room? I have done some research to find out how they have done it. Ikea is a Swedish company.

Most homes in Sweden are very small compared to the homes in the United States. I looked to the experts to see how they do it. Some of the tips include: decluttering, lightening the space and having functional, smaller furniture.

If you have never visited an Ikea store, they are huge. They are filled with small functional furniture, furnishings and utensils. They have everything from utensil hooks to bedroom furniture for you to purchase. They even showcase how they would decorate a 300 square foot apartment with everything you would need. I come out wondering why I need so much space in my house.

Follow these 7 simple steps that follow to give the illusion of a larger room!

Get rid of anything you don't need or that does not belong in that room. If you have tons of knicknacks, only keep a few sentimental ones.

If you have tons of books stacked up, buy a vertical bookcase. Show as much of your floor as possible. Get rid of rugs to show off the floor below.

My favorite book for decluttering is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.

Use light, bright colors. Darker colors will make a room look smaller and cozier, but if you are trying to make a room look larger, light, bright colors will do the trick.

Try not to put too many things on the wall. Put a special picture on the wall, but do not fill it with pictures. It will clutter up the room and make it look smaller. Use smaller pictures or wall hangings to create the illusion of a larger wall space.

Get rid of large, clunky, mono-functional furniture. Do you have a large, horizontal dresser or book case? Trade it in for a lighter, vertical one. Do you have large, bulky furniture? Replace it with smaller, more functional furniture.

When I am talking about the functionality of furniture, I mean to say that it has more than one function. A coffee table that has storage space. A small couch that pulls out into a sleeper bed.

A storage shelf that can hold books and can hold canvas baskets to hold other small items. These are all great ideas for making more than one use out of your furniture.

The brighter the room is, the larger it will look. Try to get as much light into the room that you want to make look larger.

Some of the ways you can do this are by making sure you windows are not blocked by furniture. Keep windows coverings open during the day to let sunlight in.

If you don't have a ceiling light, buy some small table lights to put in the dark corners.

Put mirrors up on the walls. They reflect light to create more spaciousness. Find areas of the room where the light hits the wall and try to put the mirrors up there to reflect the most light.

Arrange larger furniture against walls to make more room in the middle of the room.

Make sure there is a walking path from the doorway to the other end of the room.

Try to keep the middle of the room free of furniture.

Instead of putting up horizontal shelves, use vertical shelves. It draws the eyes upward which creates the illusion of a larger room.

Put items that you don't use as often on the top shelves if they are hard to reach. Put items that are used more often within your reach.

If you have a tall bookcase that you use for shelving, consider using a wall anchor on the back just in case a small child has the urge to try to climb it.

Use light and airy fabrics around the room to brighten and make the perception of more space.

Get rid of heavy curtains and replace them with curtains made with a lighter fabric. Use bright or neutral colors and stay away from heavy patterns.