How to Make Your Show Home Living Area Look Bigger and Brighter

Many properties have the same problem – since space is a premium in the UK, they have become smaller and smaller. Well, it’s the same for the entire home – many homes nowadays are more compact than ever, and the average house or flat seems to have gotten smaller in recent years. We have learned to live with it – after all, we’re nothing but resilient! But there are things you could do to make it look bigger, especially if you are designing and decorating a show home. Show homes, as you know, are staged, and as such, they ‘show off’ home in the best possible light. Show homes exist to show buyers what it would look if they lived in that property and made it their own. The first room buyers see is usually the living area – so if you want to make the living area look bigger and brighter, here’s how you can do it.

• Go for a simple colour palette

The first thing you can do to make the room appear larger than it is is to go for a simple colour palette or scheme. When designing and decorating a small space, make it so that the hues and tones of the room come from the same colour. This will create flow in the space and make it look more cohesive. So if you opt for green, you can use several variations of green – aqua, emerald green, apple green, avocado green, and so on.

But what colour works best for the space in the first place? When you choose the actual colour for the space, think of it as one distinct and cohesive area instead of going for different colours that will divide the room and make it look smaller. For example, if you are selling a studio flat, the tendency is to separate the space into portions – but this will make it look smaller and more cramped. The key is to choose a soothing and calming colour and have it in varying hues throughout the area.

• Use colours wisely

There is something else you have to know about colours: use them wisely. Remember that you can use a bright colour for your living area as long as you use it as an accent instead of the main focal point. For instance, a showhome interior design professional from Blocc suggests using white for skirtings and woodwork and using it for shutters, too. If you don’t have shutters or blinds, go for white drapes (better yet, let the natural light in). Instead of having dark wooden furniture, you can opt for rustic or painted wooden pieces, like cabinets and shelves.

• Go for luxurious textures

When creating the show home look, it’s important to appeal to people’s comfort. And this means offering something luxurious and appealing. For example, when decorating the small living area, you want to ensure it doesn’t look cluttered. But then, you don’t want to create a sterile space with no personality (i.e., a pale colour palette). Instead, create a room that enhances light and space with sumptuous and luxurious textures such as a beautiful sheepskin rug, pieces made of grained wood, floorboards painted white, leather sofas and armchairs, and soft velvet throws and cushions. While the rest of the room has a minimalist feel, your accessories can be luxurious and opulent.

• Scale the furniture down

If you have the means to do it, you can even scale down the furniture used for the living space. For instance, you can choose pieces of furniture that create roominess in the area. If a sofa or armchair is brushing up against the area’s boundaries or walls, it may be too large. The idea is to leave enough room between the furniture’s sides and the walls. It’s also a good idea to avoid weighty or heavy pieces of furniture that use up too much space – for instance, rather than going for an overstuffed armchair, why not go for its sleek counterpart instead? Additionally, if you want the room to have a statement piece, don’t put it on the floor or any other usable surface – hang it instead (that’s why a good statement piece would be a dramatic mirror or painting). 

• Keep it low 

Lastly, one sure way you can make your show home living area bigger and brighter is to keep it low. What do mean by this? It means keep your furniture and any other pieces lower and closer to the ground. By doing this, you will make a room seem more open, simply because there is more space above. Mid-century furniture is great for this, as is furniture from the 19th century.