Elle Interiors on Design and Great Living Blog

10 tips for making a small room feel larger

2011-01-20T10:53:00.000-08:00

10 tips for making a small room feel larger
By Ellinor Ellefson
Interior Designer, Allied Member ASID, Elle Interiors LLC

As huge McMansion’s are becoming less popular and people are downsizing, new decorating challenges arise. Living on a smaller footprint is both better for the Earth and, maybe better for family togetherness as well. But even though more and more people choose to live in smaller houses, we don’t want our homes to feel cramped and tight. Here are my 10 top tips for how to make a small space feel larger:

1. Link adjacent spaces with the same color and flooring. If you change flooring material, it is usually good to stay within the same color family. Same with colors, stay within the same color family if you want to have different colors, NEVER do accent walls in bright colors in a smaller space. Use lighter colors for the walls.

2. Let as much natural light as possible into a room, this opens up the space and makes it feel larger.

3. Let window treatments be simple, and hang them at least 6-10” above the window. This will make the room feel taller.

4. Unclutter. Get rid of things you don’t use. Don’t get attached to things; if something doesn’t add to the look of the room, get rid of it.

5. Add mirrors. This will open up the space and add some sparkle and additional light.

6. Consider upholstery pieces on legs, sofa, chairs, etc. This will visually create a sense of light and space.

7. Avoid large busy prints; strive for smaller prints or solids.

8. If you have large windows, make sure that you can see the outside. Open up the blinds, and bring the outside colors inside.

9. Use multifunction furniture, such as ottomans that can store the daily clutter, be a coffee table, as well as a footrest, all at the same time.

10. Leave empty space, even in a small room. Don’t fill up every corner of the room, or every shelf in a book case.

Color trend: Deep blues

2010-10-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

Of all colors, blue is the color most often picked by people when asked what their favorite color is. Blue is a very versatile color, it can go from the lightest airy light blue, to deep indigo, and almost black. A few years ago, a favorite color combination was blues and brown - still pretty! We have also seen quite a bit of sophisticated grayish blues. Well what I see now as a strong coming color trend are the deep blues and the indigos. These blues feel really fresh and sophisticated, yet graphic and modern. Look around, and you will soon see this color coming everywhere.

Fall decor for the contemporary home

2010-10-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

Are you like me, in that you think that most fall season decorations tends to be just a little bit too Country...? All those scarecrows, pumkins, Halloween decorations... they just don't fit in with your comtemporary decor? But still, decorating with the seasons is fun and an easy and fast way to make your house feel fresh again. Here are three simple and beautiful fall decor ideas, that will fit any home, no matter what your decorating style is!

Rooms decorated in black

2010-10-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

To decorate with black as your main color is daring! A good friend of mine, did her entire kitchen in black and white. This was some years ago, and maybe it's changed since then? But black and white is a very graphic, clean, and, daring color combination. Would you dare it?

Craving white!

2010-07-31T13:11:00.001-07:00

It must be the Swede in me, but for the last 6 months or so, I am just craving more white in my own surroundings. It started with the kitchen. My gorgeous bluish black cabinets got a transformation with a coat of white paint. I love it! Then a few added accessories, in white, and now I am considering replacing my black office furniture with white pieces instead. White really is the perfect color in my opinion! It is at the same time fresh and crisp, but also relaxing and comforting. Think about all the different hues of whites there are - from warm off whites to contemporary whites with colder undertones. Any style can be done in white. It is a color that lets you breathe in the room. A white room done right, will never feel depressing. It will lift your spirit and leave room for imagination!

Favorite art

2009-10-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

Art truly has the power to transform a space! It affects the space in a profound way, so when selecting what to hang on your walls, make it personal. Art in a home environmen is different that art in general. While art in general should move us, touch our hearts in one way or the other, most people like art that bring out good feelings for their homes. What that is, is as different as there are people. Myself, I tend to like abstract art. To me, there is something soothing about abstract art, even some of the abstract expressionst masters, like Franz Kline or Jackson Pollack, has that effect on me. But there is one artist that I always come back to, and there is nobody like him; Henri Matisse. Matisse was the master of color and shape, and I think I like absolutely everything he did! Here are some of my favorites.

2009-09-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, look at Erin Adams glass tiles for Ann Sachs! I absolutely LOVE this. Erin Adams is a glass mosaic artist, and her glass tile designs are sold through Ann Sachs. Her designs varies from very modern and graphic, to soft florals. It is just beautiful! These are three of my favorites.

Look at their website for more patterns: http://www.annsacks.com/onlinecatalog/program.jsp?cat=268004&coll=268304&prg=1365904

Patio furniture

2009-08-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

How does it come that patio furniture is so unattractive? I live in Phoenix, and we spend half the year outside, I need some nice looking outdoor furniture! One of the few places I have found that sell stylish patio furniture is Restoration Hardware. Right now they have a sale, guess who is tempted...?

What is your color personality?

2009-08-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

What is your color personality? Mine is blue. For my own home, I love to decorate with different hues of blue - from pale, pale airy blue to intense midnight blue, almost black.

Here is also another bedroom with airy blues, could have been my own, but is designed by Phoebe Howard (photo from House Beautiful).

Color is a powerful tool

2009-08-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

Color is a powerful tool! Pick the right colors, and you will love your room. Pick the wrong ones, and the opposite will happen. Look at these two pictures. The bottom one is a dining room before colors on the walls, the top is after.

Here are my 6 top advice for finding a color scheme that works for you:

1. Think about your favorite color in general
Take some time to think about what colors that generally makes you feel good. Look at what colors you like to wear. You can even think about what type of landscape and season that inspires you. For example, if you usually dress in neutrals and black, your favorite vacation is a week on the beach, and summertime is your favorite season, most likely you will feel good in a room filled with light sandy neutrals dressed up with blues and greens or maybe yellow.

2. Find a main color.
When you have reflected over your favorite colors, the next step is to find the main color for the home. My recommendation is usually to make this color a neutral. Neutral does not only mean beiges or tans, but can be a neutral yellow, green, or something else that you like. This color is the color that will be repeated throughout hallways and will also usually be used in some of the main rooms, such as the family room and/or dining and living rooms.

3. Use the color wheel.
The color wheel provides for many different color schemes, but these two are the easiest to work with: Complementary color scheme, which uses colors that are across from each other on the color wheel. Examples of these color schemes are blue and orange, green and red, or yellow and purple. Generally speaking, the complementary color scheme works best in formal areas of a house.
The other one is the analogous color scheme, which uses colors that are right next to each other on the color wheel, such as yellow and green, blue and green, or red and orange. This color scheme works best in the more private spaces, such as family rooms and bedrooms.

4. Colorize vertically.
It almost always works to decorate a room from dark to light vertically. Using this method, the floor will be darkest, and going up, the colors should get lighter. Think about nature, and how the ground has the darker values, the trees has the medium values, and the sky has the lightest values.

5. Use the 60-30-10 rule.
What this means is that you should use 60% of one color in a room (typically the walls and a little bit more), 30% of another color (typically upholstery and window treatments), and 10% of an accent color. Try it – it works!

6. Always use some black.
This is so easy, and it really works! By always adding something black to a room all the other colors will be enhanced. The room will feel more elegant and defined.

My son's room - inspiration picture

2009-08-09T21:29:00.001-07:00

My daughter got a new room for her 6th birthday. It is very pink, and she loves it! Now the time has come to my son. His 9th birthday is coming up in about two months, and I have started to plan his new room. He likes orange, bold graphic prints, theatre, tan, maybe a little bit blue... He wants a more grownup room.

Winning design by Ellinor Ellefson - My Beach Retreat, May 2009

2009-08-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Winning design - My Beach Retreat, May 2009.

My Top Five's - August 2009

2009-08-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Blues in every hue

Bold batik patterns

Lots of texture

Splashes of green

Easy, breezy living