How to Make a Room Feel Bigger, by Kate Home-Roberts from CharlesTed
We are delighted to welcome Kate Home-Roberts from Interior Design Agency, CharlesTed, to our blog this month, to share her tips on using colour, light and carefully chosen accessories to make a space feel bigger.
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Tell us about your Interior Design Agency, CharlesTed.
I co-founded CharlesTed in 2017 with my friend Hannah Walters with just a £350 investment each. Since then, we've built a seven-figure business; have an Instagram following of more than 220,000; 12 employees and a stand-alone warehouse in Shropshire. The CharlesTed mission is to help people create a more effortlessly stylish home with simple key pieces from furniture to accessories, and inspire everyday living.
We're such big fans of Benjamin Moore � my whole house is painted in Benjamin Moore's Swiss Coffee.
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So, what are your top tips for making a room feel bigger?
Believe it or not, even with the smallest of rooms, you can always find a way to make it feel bigger! When styling our spaces, we aim to make the rooms feel more open and expansive. Light is key. Natural light can instantly evoke a sense of space, however, if you don't have much available, use reflective surfaces such as mirrors to bounce any there is onto walls and furnishings, creating the illusion that the whole room is filled with natural light.
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Which colours are best for making a room feel bigger?
Lightening your colour palette will contribute to a more spacious environment. Anything from a fresh lick of white paint to replacing dark curtains, textiles, and woodwork with something lighter and brighter will work, cleverly lengthening your visual plane.
Flooring can also play a role in creating a sense of space. Layering a subtle rug on top of hardwood floors or carpet adds interest and the longer and wider they are, the wider and longer they make a room feel.
What effect can you create with artwork or mirrors?
Having a focal point in a room is a good idea, both as a point of interest but also as a way to allow your eyes to rest. We love using large artworks or mirrors to achieve the focal point, as they bring personality and make a statement both at the same time. And, of course, as we've covered already, mirrors are a great way to reflect light, both natural and artificial, so they really are one of your best friends when designing an interior.
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How can you use colour as a focal point?
One of the great things about focal points is how easily they can be achieved with paint. Choose one wall or a designated space, such as the area behind shelving, and introduce depth by painting it a contrasting tonal shade to the rest of the room. Your eye will naturally be drawn there. Adding accessories and artwork, or co-ordinating your feature wall colour with your cushions and other accessories all helps to add an extra dimension to the room.
How can lighting affect the space in a room?
We've touched briefly on how important natural light is but artificial lighting can also be used to great advantage to illuminate different spaces within a room. A great trick is to design areas and light them according to use, such as a reading lamp by a comfy armchair or picture lights placed over a favourite piece of art or family photo. By using different lights for different things, and giving the room multi-functions, you can create a sense of space. As the time of day changes and the use of the room alters, you can alternate the use of the lighting, subtly changing the mood of the room as it moves from day into evening.
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