Jennifer Sheahan: How to make a small space look much bigger

Many tricks enlarge even the tiniest rooms. 'Home of the Year' 2021 winner Jennifer Sheahan shares what works for her

Sat, 26 Mar, 2022 - 18:17

Jennifer Sheahan

Maybe you have a home even smaller than mine, or maybe you have a large home with some small rooms. There are lots of tips out there about how to make these spaces feel larger.

Some — such as keep absolutely everything light and neutral — I ignored, but some I embraced. Here’s what I found worked best for me.

GO BIG

It may seem counterintuitive, but resist the urge to buy tiny furniture for your tiny room! It is natural to look at a small room and default to thinking you just need to shrink everything to fit it all in.

However this will end up in the room feeling cramped and cluttered. The trick is to choose a few large items, rather than many smaller items.

Large items of furniture and accessories will make the room feel bigger than it really is, and choosing fewer items will keep the space airy and uncluttered. So go for the big sofa, oversized prints on the walls, tall lamps, and wide rugs.

Remember to measure everything — there’s a fine line between an item that is just the right fit and one that’s stuffed in!

If you think you need more items, consider which ones may be dual usage. For example, my ottoman works overtime as a foot rest, storage, extra seating, and a coffee table.

LOOK UP

Our brains are easily fooled — drawing the eye upwards will overcome a small floor area to create a greater sense of space. Consider floor-to-ceiling units in a kitchen, hallway, or bedroom, rather than leaving a gap on top.

I used a trick of hanging my artwork slightly higher than I normally would.

In my hallway and living room, I used uplighting as an excellent tool for creating a dramatic effect at a height without taking up any space, and instantly makes a space feel more open.

Tall leafy plants are also very effective at adding height, with the added bonus of bringing in a feeling of nature and spaciousness.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY

I’m all for colour, but a neutral backdrop is best to keep spaces feeling bright and airy. Keep wall tones neutral and light, and continue the same type of flooring throughout.

Rather than being restrictive, a neutral backdrop actually allows you the freedom to layer on colours through furniture, rugs, artwork, lighting, and accessories.

In fact, you can still decorate with paint if you want to — in my home office/spare bedroom I have used wainscotting to bring a darker colour into the lower part of the room, but the upper part of the wall maintains a neutral palette up to the ceiling to keep it light at eye level.

The main paint colour throughout my home is Subtle by Colourtrend; however I have satisfied my craving for brightly coloured walls by going for darker dramatic paint in my downstairs bathroom and in the garden.

Just keep it neutral throughout your main rooms!

REFLECTION AND TRANSPARENCY

Mirrors, mirrors, on every wall is a brilliant trick for making spaces appear bigger. I love mirrors, especially oversized ones, and my advice is to get the biggest one that will fit. Take up a whole wall with mirrors if you want to! Not only are they great for making spaces feel bigger, when hung strategically they’re also super at bringing in light to darker spaces.

I have giant mirrors in my hallway, bathrooms, upstairs landing, and garden. Really in my book it’s hard to go too far with them. Another material to consider is lucite, or acrylic, or glass, or anything transparent. Especially in a small space, transparent furniture allows you to add objects without creating clutter.

I love my Ghost dining chairs— a replica of the Philippe Starck original that I got in S.Alternative Furniture.

In bathrooms too, fully transparent shower screens or curtains create a much more open space than those with patterns. Transparent furniture has been around since the 70s and crops up so often that I feel its safe to say it never goes out of fashion — just make sure you can see it enough not to trip over it!

Jen Sheahan outside her late 1800s artisan cottage in Dublin which scooped the coveted title of RTE Home of the Year 2021. Picture: Joe McCallion

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Question

I have a reasonable under stairs height for storage, which would you recommend in order to maximise the space, drawers or bifold doors?

Answer

First consider what you need to store there. If it is a lot of smaller items — such as shoes, lesser-used kitchen items — then drawers would be perfect. If you need to store larger or taller items — such as your Christmas tree or winter coats — taller doors would be best. You can always go for a combination of both!

Question

I am wondering what flooring you used. We did works in our home three years ago and put down laminate flooring. We are very disappointed with this decision.

Answer

Sorry to hear you were disappointed! I have LVT — Luxury Vinyl Tiles. Mine is by Moduleo — other popular brands in Ireland are Karndean or Amtico. I am very happy with it — it looks realistic, it’s fully waterproof so I can have it in my kitchen, no maintenance, super easy to clean, and it works well with my underfloor heating.