Over time, it’s common to feel like you’ve outgrown your home — that there’s just not enough space. Before you begin looking for a new, bigger house though, there are a few things you can do to get the most out of your current home. Here are some ideas to make your St. Louis home feel bigger:

Visuals

If you find your interior spaces feeling small, addressing the visuals is a great place to begin. Just about any room can be made to feel more spacious by going with lighter shades of paint and increasing natural light as much as possible. Adding mirrors is another helpful idea. Mirrors bounce light around and can help rooms feel more open. It’s also worth assessing your window treatments and artwork to see if they are making the space feel cramped.

Furniture

Sometimes our furniture is just a little too big for our home. Not everyone is in the position to invest in new furniture, and if that’s the case, you can experiment with different arrangements to make it work better. Even if your furniture is the right size, reexamining the layout might offer some small epiphanies. Perhaps you design a nook in your living room to create the feeling of a separate space, or you simply rearrange the placement of a few key pieces. Trial and error can truly help you find the arrangement that works best for each room.

Storage

Clutter almost always makes a space feel smaller. When everything is in its place and belongings are out of view, an area can immediately feel more spacious. Try to get creative with it. If it feels like storage space is tight, consider an ottoman that doubles as a storage container or a new shelving unit. New storage systems can be a really useful approach to giving you a bit more space.

Underutilized Space

Think about doing a big-picture assessment of your home. Picture yourself looking from above at all the activity in your home over the course of any given week. Where is the activity focused? Would there be portions of the house that went untouched? Perhaps there’s a basement that can be updated, or a guest bedroom that can be repurposed, or a dining room that could function differently. Even if it’s just a small corner of the living room, discovering these underutilized spaces and making them work for you can quickly give you some additional space.

If these ideas don’t get you where you need to be, then it might be time for a bigger space. We’d be happy to recommend some experienced, local Realtors or help you get pre-approved for a mortgage. Just reach out to us!