We love colour at houseof.com but it is more than just a love and fascination, we also like the science of colour.

Lighter Colours 

Lighter colours are perfect for making a space feel bigger, but don’t discount a darker shade - we will come onto this later.  The go-to rule of making a room feel bigger is to paint it white.  In a south-facing room, lighter colours will reflect the sunlight and make the room feel spacious and fresh.  However, avoid whiteouts though and instead of painting every surface brilliant white add some warmth and depth to the room with a shade of pink, grey or taupe.  To add more interest into a lighter coloured room, play with textures like concrete and soft furnishings.  Use concrete table lamps and wooden side tables to create warmth and accessorise with throws and cushions to create a cosy feel.  

Darker Colours 

If you want to go for a darker colour, then don’t be scared as it won’t always make the room feel smaller.  We love interiors painted in rich blues or deep, dark evergreens and being clever with the accessories and where you paint is key to giving the sense of space.  Paint all surfaces in a single colour and add matching accessories.  Paint the skirting boards, radiators and coving in the same colour as your walls and coordinate your sofa, side tables and artwork in the same colour.  This clever trick in a dark coloured room will mean that the edges are blurred, thus creating the sense of space. 

Bright colours 

Brighter colours aren’t always the best option if you are trying to create the illusion of space.  We love bright colours at houseof but these tones may make a room feel smaller as they will highlight small spaces and bring the walls inwards.   Instead of going bright - go pastel.  You can still add a dramatic sense of colour into the room but do this with lighter shades and pastel tones.  Instead of bright yellow, choose buttercup, instead of hot pink choose plaster pink.  Being clever with colour will still make your room feel spacious and bright. 

Colour your ceiling 

Your ceiling is the one place in the room that will feel spacious.  To make a room feel bigger interior designers often use features on the ceiling to draw the eye up to a vast expanse of space.  Using a statement colour on the ceiling, fitting a colourful ceiling rose or even a dramatic light fitting that draws your eye to the ceiling as you enter the room and trick the eye into thinking it is a vast open space.  

Lighting your space

One rule to remember is that you can paint a room any colour you wish if you have the right lighting.  Lighting a room well will give a sense of space.  To do this, light any dark corners or nooks and ensure that you have all of your lighting levels covered.  Ceiling lights and wall lamps will also help create a sense of space and leave a room feeling well lit and less cluttered. Choose lights with reflective surfaces in brass or chrome as these will act like a mirror and bounce light around the room.  Also think about choosing lighting which provides multi-directional light, like the sputnik ceiling light or opal disc ceiling light.  They not only provide light for the room they also reflect up to the ceiling and bounce back into the room.