Tips for fooling the eye and making a room look bigger

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Small rooms can feel confining and uncomfortable. Luckily we can use certain design concepts that fool the eye and make interiors seem much bigger and spacious than they are in reality. Colour techniques, furniture arranging and smart lighting ideas are just some of the topics that are covered in this post. These ideas will hopefully bring inspiration and help with your future projects, such as decorating or even property selling.

 1. Use Light Colours and Clever Contrasts

Cream colours and icy blues are just a few of the best color combinations that can convert a tiny interior into a seemingly bigger living area. It is all about optical illusion. It is a generally known fact that light colours make a room look bigger and brighter. Light and brightly coloured walls are more reflective making a space feel open and airy, which helps maximize the effect created by natural light. Dark colours on the other hand absorb light, making a room look smaller. For an optimum effect, select soft tones of blues and greens, and always remember that brighter rooms look bigger and more inviting. A good way to go is painting your wall trim and moldings in a lighter colour than your walls. When you paint your moldings light, the wall appears further back, making your living room appear bigger.

2. Lighting is a key element in opening up a space.

By allowing natural light to flow freely inside the room, you will be surprised at how this will open up the interior and make it look larger. If you do not have a lot of natural light, you can add some creative lighting effects. You will be amazed at how this small addition can make a big difference. If you do have access to natural light, make full use of it and bring it into your home with the help of large windows. This will instantly connect the room with the outdoors, no longer limiting your space. Make sure window coverings are sheer, or are pulled back, to bring more light in. If the view is bad, use hanging plants and potted flowers near the windows. Lamps will bring in special colour and focus attention.

3. Cut the clutter

Keep your room tidy and organized. There’s nothing that makes a small space feel cramped more than having too much stuff. With things neatly arranged and out of sight, the space that is in view will feel orderly and open. A cluttered room equals a smaller room. Don’t cover your walls with a lot of pictures. One large painting works better than a group of small paintings. If there’s too much going on, all clamoring for attention, it can make the room feel busy and crowded. When decorating a small room, create a focal point, one area or feature that will draw the eye. In the dining room, the focal point will probably be the table. In the bedroom, it will most likely be the bed. Make that focal point the star of the room. Arrange the furniture so that focus is drawn to that area, and keep the décor in the rest of the room to a minimum ( limit the number of accessories ). Keep the floor as clear as possible. This is one of the most important ways to maintain a sense of spaciousness. And one more tip : take out large rugs to create the illusion of more floor space.

4.  Well Placed Mirrors Can Do Wonders

Mirrors can make your room look larger. Use a focal point and angle your mirrors towards it, which will give the illusion of depth. The mirrors also reflect both natural and artificial light to make a room brighter during the day and night. They bounce light deep into the room, making it appear larger. Placing a mirror near a window to reflect the outdoors is especially effective.  Mirrors on the walls and glass tabletops will make it seem like there’s a more open flow. You can also use mirrored cabinet doors to make spaces feel large and uncluttered.

5. Inspired Furniture arrangements

Sometimes furniture can take a lot of space. To avoid that here are some useful tips :

• Use multi-function furniture like a chest that can be used as a coffee table, sofa beds, chest of drawers, and beds with drawers for storage. Use an expendable dining table, folding tables and nest of tables, which can be tucked away when you don’t need them.
• Place the large pieces of furniture against the walls so the open space in the middle is not broken up.
• Scale the furniture to fit the size of the room and don’t block walking pathways. With furniture and accessories blocking the view into a room and to open spaces, a room will look cramped. By moving furniture out and away from walkways, you’ll open up the space and make it feel larger. If you can see the floor, the room will look larger. Having oversized sofas or too much furniture will make the living room look smaller.
• Consider having at least some of the furniture pieces the same colour as the walls. Even the bigger items like armoires and chest will begin to blend in to the room and widen out the room.
• Setting your furniture at an angle works because the longest straight line in any given room is it’s diagonal. When you place your furniture at an angle, it leads the eye along the longer distance, rather than the shorter wall. As an added bonus, you often get some additional storage space behind the piece in the corner, too!
• If the furniture in your room is tall, that might be making it seem as though the ceiling is lower than it actually is. Make sure there is plenty of space between your furniture, too.
• Choose a sofa and chairs with open arms and exposed legs. A glass table, will keep keep the appearance of a open and free space. This allows light to filter under the furniture, making the room appear airier.

Because paintings are too mainstream!

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Terrariums are the newest things in home decorating. If you've never heard of them, a terrarium is a collection of plants growing in a transparent and sometimes sealed container. whether it's a jar filled of carnivorous plants or succulents these beauties are fun to make and makes the room feel more alive, literally!

So here's a DIY project we've found:

DIY WALL TERRARIUM





Here's what you need:
- Gravel
 - Air plants, cactus or succulents (you will need a small amount of potting soil if not using air plants)
- Moss
- spray paint (preferably a colour that matches the wall)
- magnetic metal tins (from here, you just need to slap magnetic tape on the back!)
- Dremel tool
- painter’s tape
- E6000 glue

Here's what you do:
 Cover your tins with painter’s tape before you begin spray painting the inside of them. Spray tins with 3-4 light coats until they are opaque. While your tins are drying, remove the acrylic top from all lids by putting a small amount of pressure with your hands to pop them off. Measure the diameter and mark a line with a permanent marker. Using the diamond cutter tip of your Dremel tool, slice all acrylic lids in halves (you can also try different shapes or drill holes). Lightly sand the edges using a sander tip of your Dremel tool.















 Place acrylic tops back in the metal frame of the caps and glue both pieces. We also recommend dabbing the edges of the tins with a q-tip with glue to seal the lids to prevent the weight from the gravel popping out of the containers.

 Once your tins are dry from spray paint, remove tape and wash tins with water and soap. Close all tins, now with open front lids. Add gravel, misty moss and air plants. If you prefer building a closed terrarium and skipping cutting the lids, you will need activated charcoal, which can be found in the aquarium section at any pet store. Air plants won’t work well in closed containers, so you may want to switch to ferns and small leafy plants.



 

Upgrading is back in fashion

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With its extensive renovation and heated pool, these designer digs look a hot prospect....

Seller Enthusiasm in property market

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Take some time to check out this 2 min video that summarises rising seller enthuasiam in Melbourne! Enjoy!

Check it out here

Featured Ideas

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Country-inspired? Gives me this warm fuzzy feeling, how comforting. soft & warm colours

So homey.. loving the olive green feature wall!

Do you get that sense of tranquility or is it just me??

Something about me and wood.. so Balinese!

Now this is just stunning!!

Amazing how nature and greenery adds extra beauty

For more, check out this link

SYD: Don't believe crazy boom theory

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WHAT'S DRIVING ECONOMY?

• Low interest rates 
• Rising confidence
• A surge in investor activity are the current drivers of the Sydney housing market together with a solid performance by the local economy - is about as close to a boom next year

WHAT'S SLOWING ECONOMY?

• Sydney’s unemployment rate is now rising towards 6 per cent and predicted to continue to rise.
• Wages and profit growth remain subdued in a low inflation economy with a stagnant stockmarket continuing to constrain growth in the prestige market.
• The prospect of sharply falling rental yields will also prove a disincentive for new investors.
• Prices growth in Sydney is likely to peak over the next six months, with continued solid growth dependent on a sustained revival in the economy and unemployment falling to or below 5 per cent. 

"There are a lot of reasons that prices will be kept in check" says Australian Property Monitor’s Andrew Wilson.

To find out more, click here

How to spot a housing bubble??

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The recent strong growth in the housing market, coupled with record-low interest rates, has raised fears about a real estate price bubble. House prices are at their highest in three years. Mortgage lending is picking up. There has been increased demand from investors!!

Last week, the Reserve Bank hosed down fears of a housing price bubble as "unrealistically alarmist", with its assistant governor Malcolm Edey saying prices were rising in line with incomes over the past decade.

But what constitutes a housing bubble? How do we know if we are approaching one, or already in one? Can a bubble only be identified in hindsight?

Previous housing price bubbles ... housing prices in Ireland prices more than tripled, while in the US, they rose by 70 per cent.

There's no definitive checklist, but here is a list of factors analysts say are central to determining whether a bubble is forming.

1. Property prices

Australia's housing market ... growing in popularity as an investment vehicle

A sharp rise in housing prices is one of the first indicators.

Figures show that the capital city house prices rose 4 per cent in the three months to August, the largest growth since April 2010.

The forecasts for housing price growth is more bullish. 

For Sydney, home prices are projected to soar by 15 to 20 per cent next year, and that's after growth of 9  to 12 per cent this year, data firm SQM Research said last week.

As a comparison, the European Central Bank estimated at between 1995 to 2005, homes prices in Ireland more than tripled while in the US they soared by 70 per cent. The prices then sank by more than 30 per cent when the financial crisis hit. With the benefit of hindsight, such steep price rises can be see as signs of a bubble about to bust.

House prices in Australia are considered to be expensive, experts agree. In a housing bubble, they also have to be seen as unsustainable.

At this stage, analysts say Australia's above-average population growth, an actual excess of demand over supply - and only a gradual lift in construction, coupled with low vacancy rates and rising rents, are legitimate factors feeding the strong rises.

2. Credit growth

Strong credit growth has been cited as a key factor in fuelling a housing bubble that would eventually burst. It can be driven by low interest rates and loose lending standards, which could then lead to mortgage borrowers being over leveraged.

Higher debt = higher leverage = sudden change in the wider economy such as a rise in unemployment could see these mortgage holders struggle to repay their debt = higher risk

Australia's cash rate is at 2.5 per cent in attempt to boost economy by growing the housing market as the economy rebalances away from mining-led growth.- a 60-year-low. 

Credit growth has lifted off its historic lows from earlier this year, but remain very soft relative to previous years. Housing credit growth lifted by 4.7 per cent in the 12 months to August. Part of the reason why credit growth is growing at a slower pace is that about half of households, according to anecdotal evidence, are not reducing their regular mortgage payments as interest rates fallen, the RBA said.

However, this slow growth should be viewed together with Australia's high household debt-to-income ratio, which the RBA has warned about. It is at 147.3 per cent, lower than the record-level of 153 per cent which it reached before the financial crisis, according to data from the central bank.

3. Lending standards

Closely linked to a strong rise in credit growth are banks' lending standards. As we noted earlier, the availability of easy credit to US homebuyers who usually wouldn't be granted loans fuelled a housing boom that was ultimately unsustainable.

Looser lending standards are also expected to spark strong growth in the volume and turnover of property, meaning that more people are buying and selling homes to make a profit. Volume growth remains light in Australia.

Housing turnover has lifted from low levels, the RBA noted in its September board meeting minutes. But they remain relatively low compared to the previous decade.

However, the modest growth in credit poses a difficulty for mortgage lenders, and could entice them to loosen lending standards to draw in more clients. RBA warns to "maintain prudent risk appetite and lending practices, especially in the current low interest rate environment".

4. Speculation

One sector of the housing market that has attracted the attention of the RBA is the growth in the number of investor-owners. The RBA has warned such investors not to expect the same strong growth in house prices that Australia experienced in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The analysts warned that Australian banks have more investment property in New Zealand and the UK - 32 per cent compared to 20 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

"significant growth in negatively geared investment property over the last 20 years should be of concern"

Australia's large exposure to a very highly leveraged landlord population is a significant systemic risk. ... We do not believe that these implications have been fully considered by the banks, regulators or market participants.

The RBA has also been keeping a close eye on the self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) sector, which it warned "represents a vehicle for potentially speculative demand for property that did not exist in the past".

The sector has increased its property holdings, after legislative changes allowed super funds including SMSFs to borrow to invest in assets such as property.

Further reading:

• European Central Bank: Asset price bubbles: how they build up and how to prevent them?
• RBA: How should central banks respond to asset-price bubbles?