To widen or to shorten: How colors affect a room’s size
Color is one vital design element that can influence how we perceive the size of a space.
Whether light, dark, or bright, colors help achieve visual proportion, along with various materials and finishes in specific areas. These elements help homeowners and designers create an impression of either bigger, smaller, longer, or shorter spaces.
Here are some principles to take note of when using colors in a space.
MAKING A ROOM LOOK LARGER
Using light colors all throughout a room will help make the space look bigger. Using light materials on the walls, floor, and ceiling also makes the room look more spacious.
However, you need to be careful in selecting your furniture pieces to ensure that the colors will blend with the space. We don’t want our furniture to look like they’re floating, right? In any case, use a good area rug to anchor the furniture pieces to the floor.
WIDENING A ROOM
If a room looks too cramped and narrow, paint the walls in a single color. This allows the eyes to travel horizontally and helps create the illusion of a wider space. Painting the floor and ceiling in a contrasting shade or color will also maximize this effect.
MAKING A ROOM LOOK NARROW
For spaces that seem too wide, the solution is to paint the left and side walls darker than the center wall. This principle makes the two side walls appear to compress the space, thereby creating a visually narrower, longer, and seemingly deeper space.
REDUCED DEPTH OF A ROOM
Certain studio-type condominium layouts visually stretch the room, giving the impression of a space deeper than its actual size.
For those who want to cut the depth of their spaces, painting the farthest wall with a darker color than the two side walls will help make that wall appear nearer, thereby reducing the depth of the space. This effect also produces the perception that the farthest wall is easier and less tiring to reach.
THE LOOK OF A LOWER CEILING
There are rooms that are blessed with height. But sometimes, ceilings that are too high can overwhelm their occupants.
If the ceiling height is higher in measurement than the width of the walls, the space may make someone feel like he/she is trapped in a tube or a deep well. To make this kind of space work, homeowners may opt to put a dark color on the ceiling either through paint or any dark material. This will help the ceiling look heavier and lower than it actually is.
MAKE A ROOM LOOK COMPACT
There are areas in the house that need to feel more compact such as bedrooms and, sometimes, bathrooms as well.
While light colors expand the size of a room, dark colors help create the feeling of being enveloped or cuddled by the space. Putting dark colors on all surfaces from floor to ceiling will aid in reducing a space’s size. For bedrooms, this helps induce sleep on the occupants.
Functionality and beauty
While these techniques help achieve your desired room size, it’s equally important to ensure your spaces also prioritize functionality and beauty, which can be achieved through the thoughtful selection of colors, materials, and finishes grounded in good design principles.
The author has more than 20 years of expertise in designing interiors for homes, offices and retail spaces. Experience his designs by contacting him at (0917) 886-0983
