These lighting ideas combine to best lighting technique with functional lighting layouts to make any small room feel and look bigger. Whether you own or rent, these tricks are perfect for every budget and aesthetic.
Small rooms don’t have to feel as small as they are. With a few well placed floor lamps or the gorgeous table lamp you saw in the boutique, you can visually open up the space.
It’s about finding the best use of the light and keeping shadows to a minimum. The best thing about using lighting tricks to make a small room feel bigger is that it is the ultimate renter-friendly solution.
This quick guide is here to provide you with some great home styling tricks to brighten up any space in your home. It’s designed with straightforward information that fits any budget or aesthetic. To give you easy, actionable ideas and steps to brighten and enlarge even the smallest apartment, all with lighting.
Best Lighting Tricks & Ideas To Make A Small Room Bigger
1. Layout Lighting in Layers
Think of your light fixtures and lamps as layers. To make your space look bigger, add more layers to the light, essentially pushing shadows away while adding depth.
Ceiling lights are your ambient lighting. Floor lamps or table lamps are generally placed as task lighting. Then LED strips or sconces are used as accent lighting to eliminate shadow and add depth.
2. Take advantage of Natural Light
Light doesn’t always have to come from lamps or ceiling lights. Natural light is the best light source for making a small room bigger.
The easiest way is to swap heavy curtains for sheer lightweight curtains. Plus, adding mirrors to the wall opposite windows.
It’s a great hack for apartment lighting. As it reflects even the tiniest bit of light around the room, it tricks the eye into seeing more space.
3. Direct Light to Bounce off Walls and Ceilings
“Lift” the ceiling by using what is called up lighting. It’s basically floor lamps that point up or wall sconces that give the ceiling more light. Making it appear higher.
For a small studio apartment, LED strips behind furniture make the walls seem farther away. This style of lighting layout is very effective in making the space feel bigger.
4. Focus on the Dark Corners
Dark corners shrink the room. Floor lamps or even a small table lamp as accent lighting in a corner “pushes out” the walls, helping the space feel bigger.
5. Use Clear or Slim Lighting for a Tiny Room
To avoid visual clutter in a tiny room, opt for glass pendant lights, Edison bulbs, or recessed fixtures.
6. Make Use of Reflective Surfaces
Mirrors aren’t the only option for reflecting light around a small room. Metallic finishes like chrome, brass or glass help scatter light. A cool trick is to use a disco ball as a cool statement piece. It works wonders in a tiny bedroom, too.
7. Stick to Light or Neutral Tones
White or pale walls and furnishings amplify light perfectly. Especially when used with both warm and cool lighting to create a balance between coziness and openness.
8. LED Lighting is your Best Friend
LED strip lighting placed under beds or shelves gives a floating effect, making the floor space seem larger. This is a favourite on Pinterest as a small space lighting hack.
9. Use Vertical Light to Face Tall Ceilings
Tall floor lamps or vertically mounted LED strips will draw the eye upwards to exaggerate the height of your ceilings. The perfect lighting idea for low-ceiling apartments.
10. Adjust Light Temperature and Brightness
Cool white light gives an open and airy feel to a room, while warm light has a cozy feel. Use smart bulbs to easily switch between moods. This is a great renter-friendly and affordable way to up your apartment lighting layout.
Combine these lighting tricks with 15 Living Room Ceiling Colors That Add Depth, the perfect pairing to make low ceilings disappear visually!
Lighting Ideas: Warm Vs Cool For Small Rooms
Using warm lighting gives a cozy, inviting feel to any room; it has a yellow or amber hue that gives any room a comfortable and relaxing feel. Warm lighting in a small room is usually reserved for bedrooms and living rooms.
Even though it is a warmer tone and not as bright as cool lighting, warm light also if placed strategically (like the 10 hacks at the start of this post), will make small rooms feel bigger.
Cool lighting in small rooms is usually reserved for task lighting. For example, an office nook in a living room might have cool, bright light that gives a feeling of working in a bigger space. It’s also often found in kitchens and bathrooms for this reason.
In small apartments or homes, combining the two is the best way to get the best lighting throughout your space. Keep accent and overhead light in warm tones and cool tones for task lighting. This gives you the best lighting layout for both visually expanding your space and coziness.
Where To Place Lights In A Small Room To Avoid Shadows
A small room can feel impossible to add extra things without it feeling smaller. However, placing a light source like a table lamp in the darkest corner will instantly illuminate shadows. Make the room feel bigger.
When thinking about where to place lights to avoid shadows, start by finding where the shadows are in the space. Turn the overhead light on and take note of the darkest corners or areas that make the space feel closed in. Then place lighting in those areas. IT can be as simple as rechargeable candles on shelves or a floor lamp placed in a corner or behind the couch.
Best Lighting Ideas for Small Living Rooms
This stunning small living room uses a floor lamp as not only task lighting but also accent lighting.
A maximalist living room is great for layering lighting. Here, the mirror, the table lamp and the retractable sconce work together to give this busy space an open feel.
Best Lighting for Small Living Rooms to Appear Larger
Here is a great example of the best lighting layout for a small room. The minimal floor lamp and the use of lots of vertical light with the corner glass floor lamp and the sconces all work together to help this small room feel bigger and airier.
A great example of how much mirror surfaces and directed light can open up a small room. The surfaces amplify the light during the day, making it a light filled open space. While at night, the mirror and coffee table disperse the light from the wall light and lamp evenly for a warm glow.
Want to enhance your lighting even more? Pair these tricks with the Perfect Living Room Paint Colors to maximize brightness and mood, science-backed shades that make small spaces feel larger!
Rental-Friendly Lighting Ideas
Sheer curtains are the best rental-friendly idea for any budget or room size. When open, light floods to space and when closed for privacy, they still allow soft light to filter throughout the room. Opening up the space and making a small room instantly bigger.
To keep up with changing styles or moods, place small rechargeable lamps on shelves and surfaces. They are easy to move around as the sun changes patterns and intensity over the year to ensure that any dark areas are quickly banished.
Rental-Friendly Lighting Tricks For Small Spaces
Just because you are renting doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of these lighting hacks for small spaces. Rechargeable scones are one of the best ideas for apartment lighting. The simple attaches to the wall with 3M command strips or screws.
Honestly, one of the best ways to spread light around a small room is with a disco ball. It’s fun, unique, and not only affordable but incredibly renter-friendly. Hang it from the ceiling (like here) to scatter the light from windows or overhead lighting or place it simply on a shelf or under a coffee table.
While these lighting hacks transform your space, don’t forget about noise control! Pair them with Renter-Friendly Soundproofing Hacks That Actually Work for the ultimate comfortable apartment.
Small Studio Apartment Lighting Layout Ideas
Take this studio as a sign to transform string lights into an indoor feature; weaving them around the ceiling really adds dimensions. The sheer curtains add privacy without sacrificing light. This light layout is perfect as it beautifully combines floor lamps as accent lighting and table lamps for ambiance. This studio really shows that even small space lighting can be both functional and stylish.
Create a studio apartment lighting layout that uses lighting to define each area. Like in this studio, a pendant light hangs over the dining area while wall scones illuminate the kitchen space and an adjustable bedside lamp is great as both task and ambient lighting. By giving each zone its style of lighting design, the space feels organized and open.
Love how lighting defines zones in this studio? Pair these tricks with 22 Stylish Small Apartment Layout Ideas to maximize every square foot, no construction needed!
How to use floor lamps to make a narrow room look wide
Use tall floor lamps that mirror the style of the room, place them in the corner to light, get rid of shadows, and emphasize vertical space. Make sure they are next to something smaller to really get the full effect. It is a crucial small space lighting trick for narrow rooms, giving them a wider feel with taller ceilings. This idea is great for apartment lighting as it helps tunnel-like spaces feel more airy.
This small space lighting solution uses a modern multidirectional floor lamp between the bed and the window to counteract the cramped feel from a narrow room. The adjustable light allows you to cast light vertically to draw the eye to the ceiling and horizontally to illuminate all the walls and corners with indirect light.
Apartment Lighting Hacks To Make Ceilings Look Higher
For apartment lighting, sometimes floor lamps or sconces just won’t fit. Like in a hallway or a tiny room. So, going for a bright statement light fixture has the added bonus of making the ceiling look higher and giving the space a bright daylight feel.
One of the best apartment lighting hacks is to use sconces. They take up no floor space and direct the light straight at the ceiling, making it look higher than it actually is. Great for bathrooms and any room that doesn’t get a lot of light.
Smart Lighting Ideas: Best LED Strip Placement For Small Spaces
Adding LED strips under shelving serves two purposes: it gives you soft ambient lighting and gives the wall the illusion of being further away than it is.
The best strip lighting placement to give light to the whole space is on the ceiling. In small spaces, this works particularly well as it bathes the whole space in light with any visual clutter.
How To Light A Tiny Bedroom To Feel Spacious
The key to making a tiny bedroom feel spacious is to add as much light as possible without obvious light fixtures. Like here, the LED strips on the highest point of the ceiling spread light throughout the room evenly. While the bedside lamps cast light on the low parts of the ceiling and the wall behind the bed, essentially “pushing “ them out.
The best lighting for a tiny bedroom is fixtures with glass or acrylic shades. This gives you the light to avoid shadows while not interrupting the line of sight. They also have the added bonus of being reflective, so they reflect not only their own light through the room but light from other sources as well.
Transform Your Space With These Genius Lighting Ideas
Now that you’ve explored these genius lighting ideas, you are now armed with the best lighting tricks to transform any small space. Whether it’ floor lamps to cast vertical illusions or a layered lighting layout that removes shadows. These apartment lighting solutions show that small rooms can easily feel bigger and stylish with a couple of lights.
Start with one change, maybe a disco ball in your living room or LED strips on the shelves? Either one of these lighting ideas will instantly make the biggest difference in your small room.