The 10 Best Ways to Trick the Eye into Seeing a Bigger Bedroom

An organized and cozy bedroom with a painting above the bed, illustrating a well-designed small space.


If you've ever wondered how to make a small bedroom feel bigger and more comfortable, it's totally doable! You don't need a full-on renovation or a massive budget to make your space feel open and airy. You just need to focus on a few smart design choices and some clever tricks. Let's get into it and transform your bedroom into a place you truly love.




01 |. Measure Your Room First



A bedroom with a bed and a nightstand that are well-proportioned for the room, showing the result of measuring a space before furnishing.


Before you even think about buying a single piece of furniture, you need to understand the dimensions of your space. Grab a tape measure and get the exact dimensions of your space. Measure your walls, the height of your ceilings, and the size and location of your windows and doors. 


Having these numbers handy will help you so much because it means you can choose furniture that fits perfectly, which will save you a ton of time and prevent you from making costly mistakes. Plus, it helps you plan a layout that gives you enough room to walk around comfortably.



02 |. Use the Color Drench Technique



A bedroom decorated in a unified monochromatic color palette, with white walls, bedding, and lamps, showing a seamless and peaceful space."


This is one of the designer's  favorite tricks for making a room look and feel more expensive. Color drenching is when you paint everything in the room the exact same color— the walls, the trim, the baseboards, and the ceiling. 


By painting all the surfaces one consistent shade, you get rid of all the visual stops and starts, and it makes the room feel so much more seamless and expansive. It creates this beautifully soft, unified space that just feels peaceful and quiet.



03 |. Hang Your Curtains High



A bedroom with white curtains hung high to the ceiling, which makes the room feel taller and more spacious.


When curtains are hung as high as they can go—all the way up to the ceiling—it instantly draws the eye upward. This makes windows look bigger and the entire room feel taller and more dramatic.


You can also match the color of the curtains to the wall color. It makes everything blend together and creates a long, continuous line from floor to ceiling that makes the space feel so much bigger.



04 |. Choose Furniture with the Right Scale



A bedroom with an appropriately scaled bed and a small side table, showing how to choose furniture that fits a room's size.


The scale of your furniture is probably the most important thing to get right in a small room. If you bring in a massive bed or a super bulky dresser, it will make the space feel cramped and overcrowded. Instead, you want to choose furniture that's the right size for the room. 


A queen bed is usually a good option, or if you're working with a really small space, a daybed can be a lifesaver. And always choose a bed frame that's on legs. It makes the space underneath visible, which gives your room an open and airy feeling.



05 |. Use a Cohesive Color Scheme



A unified color palette makes a room feel less cluttered and more simplified. By choosing colors that work together, you allow the eye to move around the space without interruption, which makes it feel larger.


You can achieve this by using similar colors on your walls, bedding, and accessories. If you decide to use a darker color on the walls, you can use that same color for your furniture and decor to create a seamless, sophisticated look.



06 |. Put a Dresser in the Closet




This is a clever trick to get a large piece of furniture off your main floor space. If you have a closet with an empty floor, you can place a dresser right inside. It’s a genius way to use every single square inch of your space effectively without sacrificing any storage.


By moving the dresser out of the way, you free up so much room in your bedroom, making it feel way more open and spacious.


For a complete guide on how to do this, check out this article.



07 |. Use Multi-Purpose Furniture



In a small space, every piece of furniture should be working overtime. Using furniture that serves more than one purpose really helps with clutter and gives a lot more storage. Think about getting a bed with built-in storage underneath, or a dresser that can also act as a nightstand.


A desk that doubles as a vanity or a console table is another great option. This is how you make a small room truly functional without it feeling overcrowded.



08 |. Hang Wall-Mounted Fixtures



A bedroom with a bed, a nightstand, and a modern wall-mounted light fixture.


This is a great way to open up floor and surface space. Instead of a bulky table lamp, you can go with a wall-mounted sconce or even a hanging pendant light. This frees up so much space on your nightstand.


You can also use wall-mounted shelves instead of a traditional nightstand to create more visual space underneath and allow you to place your bed closer to the wall.



09 |. Use Mirrors to Create Space



A bedroom with a large full-length mirror reflecting the space to make the room appear bigger.


Mirrors are a classic tool for making a room feel bigger. They reflect light and create a sense of depth, which tricks the eye into seeing more space. For the best effect, you can place a large mirror opposite a window to reflect natural light throughout the room. You can also place mirrors above nightstands or a headboard to add light and dimension.



 10 |. Keep It Simple and Organized



An organized and simple bedroom with a wooden bed frame and minimalist decor, showing a clean, clutter-free space.


A cluttered room will always feel smaller than it actually is. It just makes the space feel chaotic. To make your bedroom feel open and inviting, you have to be intentional about keeping surfaces clean and organized. 


You can reduce clutter by minimizing the number of decor items on your dresser and nightstands. For the little things you need to keep out, just put them on a small tray to group them together. And of course, use drawers, baskets, and storage boxes to hide away anything that doesn't need to be on display.


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