Every piece of design plays a part in the overall look of your room, and a carpet can make or break your interior. Do you want to make a smaller room look much more spacious? In this post, we lay out our research to help you choose the carpet color that makes your room look bigger.
Light-colored carpets make a room look bigger. It can be in any hue as long as it is light enough to give off the illusion of a wider floor area. The idea behind this is that lighter colors reflect light, resulting in a brighter and more open room.
It is helpful to note that there is more to adding space to a room than just color. In the following sections, we will go over these concerns and other types of carpets and how they can affect the size of your room. Read on to learn more!
What Color Carpet Is Best For A Small Room?
As mentioned, light colors are the best carpet color for a small room. Even if you do not necessarily want your space to look bigger, it makes it feel less cramped.
Light-colored carpets make spaces look bigger like a window does.
Notice how small rooms look bigger when there is a window open. This is because the window lets light flow through. The illusion of access to the outdoors, where it is brighter, makes you pay less attention to how small a room is.
You can be as creative as you want with the color you choose. Consider aspects like hue and shade. These play a part in your color selection and can help you choose the best carpet color if you know the difference between them.
Hue refers to the color of your carpet, while shade is about how bright or dark the hue is. Always opt for a brighter or lighter shade when choosing carpets to make your room look bigger.
The closer the color is to white, the brighter it is.
Of course, you do not have to be so strict about the color being close to white. Paler shades of any color, especially cool tones and earth tones will work fine.
To name a few, go for light gray, sky blue, beige, taupe, or pastels. Feel free to experiment with different colors or consult an interior designer for help!
Click here to see Cream Carpet on Amazon.
Is It Better To Have Lighter Or Darker Carpet?
Either shade of carpet can work for any room, even small ones. Whether you prefer a lighter or darker carpet in your room is ultimately subjective. Each shade comes with its pros and cons.
While lighter-colored carpets will make your room look bigger, it does come at the risk of getting dirty quickly. Stains and dirt will show up more on light-colored carpets than on darker ones.
Consider how much effort you will be able to put into maintaining your carpet. On the bright side, you might not have to clean a light-colored carpet so much if it is placed strategically.
For example, in a room where shoes, food, and liquids are not allowed.
Darker carpets, especially black carpets, close up a room. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Though dark carpets make a room look smaller, they can make it feel cozier.
It also does not show dirt and stains as easily as white or lighter carpets.
Keeping a light-colored carpet clean may be worth it for smaller rooms that you want to make look larger. If not, you can opt to make different design elements of your room light-colored instead.
What Carpet Patterns Make A Room Look Bigger?
Now that we talked about color, we can consider another critical element: patterns.
Colors and textures come together to form patterns that can drastically affect the look of your room. You may have a light-colored carpet, but it can change the effect if it is full of tiny patterns.
Smaller patterns on a carpet look more compact and can make your space look smaller.
Opt for larger patterns instead. Even light or white, large patterns on a dark background can make a room look bigger than it is. This is because large, evenly-spaced designs look less crowded.
What Is The Difference Between A Carpet And Rug?
Some get confused about the difference between carpets and rugs. Although the design principles of color theory apply to both of them, their sizes set them apart.
Carpets are larger and can even span from wall to wall. These are permanent installations to the floor and can be challenging to clean and replace.
Rugs, however, are smaller and can be moved around. Some carpets can even be thrown in the washing machine for easy cleaning.
The distinction between the two is generally between maintenance and design expectations. Otherwise, they are pretty similar.
What Shape Of Rug Makes A Room Look Bigger?
Carpets and rugs have many design options because they vary in shape and size. Most of these are either square/rectangular or rounded, but they can also come in irregular shapes.
In addition to getting a light-colored carpet rug, it is recommended to get a long, oval-shaped one.
Carpets and rugs with corners, mainly rectangular and square, highlight the room's corners. They guide the line of sight to these corners, thus making the room seem much smaller.
Round rugs do not do the same and create more negative space between the walls and the rug itself.
If you use a rug rather than an entire carpet, opt for a single-area rug. Multiple smaller rugs make the floor look crowded, thus making the room appear smaller.
If your room is small enough, you might as well go for a carpet instead of a rug.
Click here to see Round Braided Beige Rug on Amazon.
How To Place A Rug In A Small Room
Finally, we can consider the rug placement. If you use a large rug instead of a wall-to-wall carpet, you must take care of its placement in the room.
The right rug depends on the shape and size of your room, as well as the furniture the room has. A good rug placement contrasts nicely with other interior design elements.
While the ideal rug is subjective, we can give you a few rules of thumb. These can serve as a guide when picking out your rug and deciding where to place it.
For rugs in the bedroom, ensure that they extend into the bed. There has to be a little bit of 'underhang,' so to speak, where the front two legs of the bed are over a small portion of the rug. The same can go for desk legs.
Ensure that your rug is wider than your couch in the living room by 6 to 8 inches along the sides. The amount of space between the sides of the walls and the rug must be even.
The space between the walls and your rug does not necessarily have to be the same measurements on all four sides. As long as it looks balanced, it should be fine.
Design Ideas For Carpets In A Small Room
To help illustrate, here are some ideas for carpets and rugs for you to reference. Notice how each design element we discussed works together in the room's design!
This room is an example of how much a light-colored carpet can visually increase the space in the room. Though the furniture is intact, the white rug shining through prevents it from looking too cramped.
The carpet also goes under the couch, extending your line of sight and giving the illusion of more available space.
Though small, the unique green carpet brings the outdoors inside.
Though the pattern is a little small, the bright colors and grid shape are enough to mask the small size of the room and make you think of wider spaces and fields instead.
For our final example, look at how this living room uses a gray carpet.
It is light enough to enhance the size of the room and reflect light. Also, pay attention to how much the carpet extends a little further from the ends of the furniture between the floor.
To Finish
Any light-colored carpet has the power to make a small room look bigger. Play around with light shades and large patterns to see which carpet will create the best look.
Whether you use a bigger or smaller rug, keep these space-enhancing visual tips in mind! Do not be afraid to explore your style or consult a design specialist to make things easier.
Made it to the end? Check out these related articles below!