Sometimes it doesn’t take much to give the impression of space in a room. Discover the valuable advice of an interior designer.
If you feel cramped in your home, do not undertake major renovations or move straight away. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make a room feel spacious. Playing with light or choosing the right color on the walls are interesting ideas. We interviewed Aurore Pannier, interior designer, who created her own agency, Paris d’Interior in 2013.
Aurore likes to play with volumes and create spaces that suit you. She has often been confronted with space issues, and always finds solutions to give the impression of more m². Among the best tips she gives to her clients, here are the three that work every time.
The first is to choose your furniture carefully. Ideally, tailor-made is what best optimizes the space of a room. But the budget is growing quickly. The alternative that Aurore gives us: “prioritize multifunctional and space-saving furniture, such as sofa beds, coffee tables with integrated storage or floating wall shelves”. “We choose low-profile furniture and clean lines to avoid visually cluttering the space,” she continues.
For example, the Murphy bed that folds against the wall during the day, freeing up valuable floor space. Combine hanging bedside tables to give an airy, minimalist look and declutter floor space.
Her second tip, also our favorite, is to play with optical illusions to visually enlarge rooms and radically transform the perception of space. You can install mirrors to reflect light and create an illusion of depth, says Aurore. Ideally, place them opposite windows to visually double the natural light and space, she continues. For example here, Aurore opted for a mirrored splashback. Successful bet !
She gives us another simple tip: install curtains or a rug with vertical stripes to give the illusion of higher ceilings. If you’re not afraid to paint, here’s another tip. In a hallway, or a small long room, you can paint the back wall dark to give depth to the room.
Finally, Aurore advises you to use strategic lighting to visually enlarge the space. Concretely, you should focus “on indirect and soft lighting to create a warm and open atmosphere” she recommends. She also recommends opting for floor lamps or wall sconces to free up floor space and highlight architectural features.
She gives us a concrete example: installing LED light strips recessed in plinths or under shelves to subtly illuminate the dark corners of the apartment. This technique adds depth and dimension to the space while avoiding glaring and bulky light sources.