Small rooms will always feel larger empty than when they are crammed full of your stuff.  That's why choosing the right furniture for the room is the first key to getting the most out of your space and making your small room feel larger.

When dealing with a small space, it is best to pay attention to how the items relate to the size (scale) of the room.  Working with a small scale room your best bet would be to invest in sleek, stream lined furniture, which will enhance the flow of space.  Glass topped tables and chrome touches will also help move light around the room, making it feel more open.

Now, perhaps you're like me and have inherited a nice big fluffy couch that you absolutely love, but it takes up a lot of space.  Mine was given to me by my mother-in-law and not only is it huge, but it's a deep olive green  making it appear larger than life.  Since I recently painted all of my walls and trim white, I decided that my best bet was to get a white canvas slip cover for the couch, which would allow it to blend in with the walls.  This left me with a beautiful blank surface to work with, so I bought some fabric that matched the colors of my rug and used it to make throw pillows for the couch.  Doing this, I not only created the illusion of space, but also added a new sense of harmony to the room.

To make a room feel larger and more open, it needs to be visually uncluttered.  The eyes should be able to travel around a room without being distracted - this is where harmony is important.  You can do this while decorating by connecting the elements of a room. 

This balcony set up is a wonderful example of how this can be done.  The bright floral patterns of the pillows and table cloth resemble the dancer's dress in the picture and the wooden screen blends in, adding a touch that makes me feel as if I'm vacationing on tropical island.

So now that you're set on creating horizontal space, some of you with low ceilings may be wondering how you can create the illusion of vertical space.  You can do this by selecting furniture which sits low to the ground, then hang pictures and artwork slightly above eye level.  Placing curtain rods high towards the ceiling will also give off the feeling of height.  OK, once you have your furniture all set up, the rest of the room should fall nicely into place.