If you are planning to downsize your home and live in a smaller space, it’s best to maintain the right proportion and scale to create a balanced and comfortable home. Apart from aiming to make the space appear larger, it is equally important to make it brighter.

Here are some useful interior design ideas for small spaces:

Ceiling

To make a narrow and long ceiling appear wider, use a darker paint color for it than the one you will use on the walls. It is also better to use ceiling fixtures with recessed lighting to increase the space visually and at the same time give the room a stylish accent. Also, to make the ceiling appear higher, buy floor lamps and decorative wall lights to brighten the ceiling directly and create the illusion of increased height.

1024px-Drayton-Hall-inside-ceiling-plaster-work

Walls

For walls, use white or off-white paint color to make it appear wider. You can also add partial walls to separate rooms for a more open feel rather than a whole wall, say, to make a division between the living room and the kitchen. You can also install glass blocks instead of a wall in an area of the house to let light come in. This is also ideal if the wall is facing another building. These glass blocks will hide the view while adding brightness to the room.

Bathroom

When it comes to tiling a small bathroom, do not use decorative tiles on all sides. To make it look wider, place the patterned decorative tiles on the floor surface and on one side of the wall, the one you will face when you enter it. For the remaining walls, opt for white tiles.

bathroom-21197_960_720

Kitchen

Since you only have limited space, a galley kitchen, just like the one aboard ships, is also perfect for your home. Also, use downward facing lights to make the space brighter. With its parallel counters, working around the kitchen is easier.

Small homes need not look cramped. With practical and well-thought of interior design, you can live comfortably in a house with a small space.