Decorating Large Spaces With Very Little
Posted on April 10, 2017
I have written several articles about decorating small spaces, making small spaces appear bigger, and creating new space using separators and mirrors. However, it may actually be more difficult to decorate a large area, particularly if you have small or limited furniture. Some easy tricks right off the bat are to keep the main pieces of furniture away from the walls, and use dark colors to make the space seem smaller – you can work around this if you prefer lighter tones. Here are some set ups I found really helpful, as well as some tips and what not to do.
1. Using large vases, planters, and interesting shapes to enclose the main living space.
2. Use large rugs to divert attention and create the illusion that there are two separate spaces.
3. Put secondary furniture against the walls (e.g. bookshelves, desk), leaving main furniture in the center.
4. Accent with shapes and bold colors. This is especially helpful is you want a lot of white space and lighting.
5. Creating a mural accent wall gives the illusion of being smaller and compensates for a lack of furniture.
6. Let the space be. This tends to work better with hardwood floors, making the floor the center of attention and embracing the space.
7. Blocking the main space off with plants and artwork, again separates it from the rest of the space. The chic bean bag chairs are also an interesting design idea over expensive furniture.
What Not To Do:
If the image below is of a commercial space, such as a country club, then this would make more sense. Unfortunately, I have seen people try to fill large spaces with every piece of furniture they have. You don’t need to buy all these pieces and fill every blank space. This looks cluttered and like 20 people live here. The issue we see a lot with large rooms is that small or limited furniture can look awkward. When you fill it up to capacity it starts to look like a storage site, it doesn’t look natural. The trick is to make what you need in that room look good amongst all the extra square footage.
Tips:
1. Most of the examples above are shown with hardwood floors. If you have carpet, using a large oriental rug helps pull the actual living space together and separate it from the rest of the area.
2. Artwork on the walls (large rather than small) also helps to fill the space without cluttering it with furniture.
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