Before I get going, I should say that needing to make large rooms feel cozier is not a problem that I personally have. Cozy is one way to describe my house, right out of the box. But it is a problem that some people have – whether because they just don’t know what to do with a big room or because they previously had only small rooms so are used to decorating for small spaces. A huge expanse of room can feel cold and uninviting if not decorated properly, so for those who need the help, here are four ways to make big rooms feel cozy.

Choose colors carefully in a large room

Choose Colors Carefully
Stark white is a no-no. Neutrals are super duper, but keep in mind that lighter colors won’t do anything to make a large room feel cozy. Darker colors absorb light, and give the illusion of a smaller space. Warm shades and rich, saturated ones work best. And paint those ceilings to bring them down! Finally, if you are updating your furniture and accessories, keep your new color palette in mind.

Furniture and Arrangement Make a Big Difference
With a big enough room, you can arrange furniture not in one large group, but in micro-arrangements that reflect how you want to use the room (and turn a big space into lots of little ones). You might have a reading corner and a gaming corner, and the main sitting area, and a writing area with a wee desk. Keep furniture and accessories scaled to the room – lots of tiny accessories will only emphasize the hugeness of the room. In other words, go big!

Floors Need Attention, Too
A big, bare expanse of floor is going to emphasize the size of a room – particularly if it’s a very long rectangular room. One area rug is good, but two can be even better. If you’re taking my advice and dividing your big room up into fairly clear usage areas, your floor coverings can be a part of that. Perhaps a large area rug under the main sitting area, then a round area rug under your reading chair in the book nook, and a third square area rug under the gaming table. Think about how you use your big room, and choose flooring wisely.

Big patterns? No problem.

Don’t Ignore the Walls
A big room, especially one with high ceilings, has lots of wall to fill. I mentioned scaling appropriately when choosing furniture – the same goes for walls. If you’re wallpapering, there’s nothing to stop you from using a big pattern, but consider papering only certain walls and doing it strategically. Art should be big, or if it’s small, grouped in an interesting way and in a big enough grouping.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 16th, 2011 at 5:19 am by Christa Terry and is filed under Decorating, Spaces. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.