10 Easy Ways to Make a Small Room Look Bigger 2025
That 1 Painter is the fastest-growing painting company in the world. Painting your space can be complicated, but with our expertise, we make the process easy and stress-free for homeowners. With franchises across the nation, we have helped tens of thousands of homeowners make the best choices for their homes without sacrificing quality, and we are here to show you how.
10 Easy Ways to Make a Small Room Look Bigger 2025
Make a Small Room Look Bigger with Paint
In Waco, where Southern hospitality meets a growing love for home aesthetics, it’s no surprise that residents are constantly looking for smart ways to enhance their living spaces. There’s something magical about stepping into a room that immediately feels larger, airier, and more inviting than its square footage would suggest. That magic? It’s not from expensive furniture or major renovations—it often starts with a can of paint.
At That 1 Painter Waco, we’ve spent years mastering the art of transforming small rooms into spacious sanctuaries using only the power of paint. Through thoughtful color choices, strategic techniques, and a bit of creativity, even the tiniest room can be made to feel wide open and full of light. Whether you’re working with a narrow hallway, a compact bedroom, or a small kitchen that needs to breathe, the right approach to painting can completely alter how a room is perceived.
The Illusion of Space: Understanding Color Dynamics
Color is one of the most powerful tools in interior design, and when it comes to changing the perceived size of a room, it becomes even more critical. Lighter colors—think soft whites, pale beiges, buttery creams, icy blues, and cool grays—have a reflective quality that allows light to bounce around the room. This increased light dispersion makes the walls feel like they are receding, instantly creating the illusion of more space.
If your room doesn’t get much natural sunlight, these tones are especially beneficial, as they help counteract shadowy corners and make everything feel more open. On the other hand, dark colors, while bold and dramatic, absorb light and can make walls appear closer than they really are. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—deep hues like navy blue, forest green, or charcoal gray can make a room feel cozy and intimate—but they should be used carefully and strategically. When space is a concern, it’s usually best to reserve these tones for accents rather than entire rooms.
Moreover, it’s not just about choosing any light color. Undertones matter significantly. A warm white with yellow or beige undertones will feel inviting and cheerful, while a cooler white with blue undertones may add a crisp, modern edge to the space. Choosing the right tone to match your lighting and decor is key. Too stark a white can feel sterile, while too warm a shade can look dingy under the wrong lighting conditions. This is why sample testing is an absolute must—you need to see how a color plays in your unique environment before committing.
Monochromatic Magic: Seamless Transitions
One of the most effective techniques for visually expanding a room is to use a monochromatic color scheme. This doesn’t mean painting everything the exact same shade, but rather using different tones of a single color family throughout the space. For example, you might use a light blue on the walls, a slightly darker blue on the trim, and a deeper navy for accent decor. This approach creates a harmonious flow that’s incredibly easy on the eyes. With fewer contrasting lines and abrupt color changes, the space feels more unified and therefore larger.
In small rooms, visual clutter is the enemy. The more your eyes have to stop and adjust to new shades, the more boxed-in a space can feel. Monochromatic color schemes eliminate these interruptions, leading to a smoother and more expansive experience. This technique works especially well when extended to furnishings and accessories. If your walls, curtains, rug, and couch are all in similar shades, the boundaries between them blur, tricking the eye into perceiving a larger area. At That 1 Painter Waco, we often recommend this approach for small living rooms or studio apartments where visual cohesion can go a long way in enhancing comfort.
Ceiling Strategies: Elevate Your Space
While walls get most of the attention during painting projects, the ceiling—often referred to as the fifth wall—is a secret weapon in your quest to expand a room. Traditional wisdom tells us to paint ceilings white to make them feel higher, and this generally holds true. A bright white ceiling reflects light downward, increasing the sense of vertical space and making the entire room feel taller. But there’s more to it than that. Depending on the room’s proportions and your personal style, painting the ceiling the same color as the walls, or just a few shades lighter, can create a seamless, cocoon-like effect that feels expansive rather than confining.
For instance, in a small bedroom with low ceilings, painting both the ceiling and the upper walls in the same pale color can make the room feel like it continues upward without interruption. This technique, known as “color drenching,” is gaining popularity for its dramatic yet space-enhancing effect. Conversely, in a large room that lacks warmth or intimacy, a darker ceiling can be used to bring the space in slightly, making it feel cozier without sacrificing its openness. We’ve seen incredible transformations using ceiling paint creatively—from optical illusions that elevate a room’s profile to subtle shifts that make a space feel endlessly open.
Accent Walls: Adding Depth Without Clutter
Accent walls can be a fantastic way to add interest and depth to a small room, but the key is in their execution. Many people assume that a bold, dark-colored accent wall will automatically make their space look bigger, but without balance, this approach can backfire. The trick is to use an accent wall to draw the eye toward the farthest point in the room. When done correctly, this creates the illusion of depth, almost like extending the boundaries of the space beyond where they physically end.
At That 1 Painter Waco, we’ve helped homeowners make their small dining rooms feel larger by painting the far wall in a muted navy or hunter green, while keeping the adjacent walls a soft, complementary gray. The result? The bold wall creates a visual anchor and the lighter walls amplify the surrounding space, giving the room a greater sense of dimension. You can also achieve this with textured paint or subtle patterns, though you’ll want to avoid anything too busy or high-contrast. Accent walls work best when they add to the illusion rather than break it.
The Science of Stripes: Stretch and Lift
Stripes are another tool that can dramatically change the perception of a room’s proportions. Vertical stripes guide the eye upward, making ceilings appear higher and creating a feeling of grandeur. Horizontal stripes, on the other hand, can make a narrow room seem wider. The key to success here lies in subtlety—wide, neutral-toned stripes create a sleek, modern look without overwhelming the senses, whereas overly narrow or brightly colored stripes might make a room feel chaotic and confined.
One client in Waco wanted to make their compact guest room feel taller, so we painted soft, vertical ivory stripes on a pale beige background. The effect was immediate and striking—the ceiling felt higher, and the room more balanced. This approach is especially useful in bathrooms or hallways, where space is naturally limited. Stripes can also be created using different finishes of the same color—like a combination of matte and semi-gloss—which provides texture and movement without introducing extra colors.
Reflective Finishes: Light and Bright
The finish you choose for your paint is just as important as the color itself when it comes to influencing how big or small a room feels. Glossy and semi-gloss finishes reflect light, which can help brighten up dark corners and bounce light around the room, adding to the perception of space. These finishes are great for trim, cabinetry, or even entire walls in smaller areas like bathrooms or kitchens. However, they do show imperfections more easily, so proper surface preparation is critical.
On the other hand, matte and flat finishes absorb light, which can lend a room a soft, sophisticated appearance. While these finishes are excellent for creating a cozy ambiance, they may not be ideal for small rooms unless used strategically. At That 1 Painter Waco, we often use eggshell or satin finishes in small living areas because they strike the perfect balance between softness and reflectivity, enhancing space without drawing too much attention to wall flaws or texture.
Coordinating Furniture and Decor
Paint can only do so much if your furniture and decor work against the space. Choosing the right paint color means nothing if the room is cluttered with oversized furniture or busy patterns. The furniture should complement your paint strategy by visually blending into the background rather than standing out. Lighter-toned, low-profile furniture can help maintain the room’s open feel. Opt for sofas and chairs with exposed legs instead of skirted versions, and use mirrors or glass-top tables to keep sightlines open.
When we help homeowners in Waco update their spaces, we often recommend coordinating throw pillows, rugs, and wall art with the wall color to avoid too much contrast. Monochromatic or analogous color schemes in the décor create harmony and unity, further enhancing the room’s sense of openness. Light-colored drapes, especially if hung close to the ceiling and extending down to the floor, can also draw the eye upward and expand the visual height of the room.
Lighting: Amplifying Every Color Choice
Lighting can make or break a room design, especially in small spaces. Even the most perfectly chosen paint color can fall flat in poor lighting or look completely different depending on the time of day. That’s why it’s important to understand how natural and artificial light affects color. South-facing rooms typically get warm, bright light that makes cool colors appear more crisp and clean. North-facing rooms tend to get cooler light, which can dull colors unless you choose ones with warm undertones to compensate.
We always recommend testing paint samples on multiple walls and observing them throughout the day before making a final decision. In rooms that don’t get much natural light, consider adding layered lighting with recessed ceiling lights, sconces, and floor lamps. These can highlight the paint’s reflective qualities and brighten up shadowy areas that make a room feel smaller. When the light is right, even the most compact room can feel spacious and serene.
Transformations That Inspire
We’ve had the privilege of working on a wide range of projects throughout Waco, and some of our favorite transformations have come from small, overlooked spaces. One memorable job involved a tiny guest bedroom that always felt dark and cramped. We used a soft sage green with white trim, light oak flooring, and sheer white curtains to completely transform the room. By coordinating every element with the paint color, the room suddenly felt twice as big—and so much more inviting.
In another home, the clients wanted their galley kitchen to feel less boxed in. We painted the upper cabinets the same color as the walls, removed some upper cabinet doors for open shelving, and painted everything in a pale buttercream yellow with a semi-gloss finish. Natural light from a single window suddenly felt amplified, and the kitchen felt both taller and more open.
Why Choose That 1 Painter Waco?
We know paint. But more importantly, we know how paint makes people feel in their homes. Our goal is to do more than add color to walls—we help create spaces that make life better. With our expertise, passion for design, and commitment to quality, we’ve become a trusted name in Waco for turning cramped rooms into open sanctuaries. We take time to understand your goals, test colors in your lighting conditions, and guide you through every step of the transformation.
So if you’re tired of feeling boxed in, let That 1 Painter Waco show you how just a few strokes of a brush can open up your world.
Contact Us
Ready to unlock your room’s hidden potential? Contact us today to schedule your free consultation. Together, we’ll choose the perfect colors and techniques to make your home feel more open, airy, and inviting—just the way it should be.