When the square meters in which you live are on the low side you need to use your imagination to visually the increase the space. It is a question of creating a pleasant area in which to move around, avoiding the claustrophobic sensation often given by small flats. The simplest and probably cheapest course of action is based on a successful combination of lighting and the colour of the walls. But a successful combination of colours can have an even more beneficial effect and make a corridor seem wider or shorter or a living room larger.

Colours that visually increase a room's size
In theory painting a room white should make it seem bigger, but it often makes the room seem sad and lacking in personality. To brighten it up you can paint it a light colour that reflects the light, such as yellow or ochre and reserve one of the walls for a more intense colour. If you paint the longest wall a fuchsia, green, mauve or terracotta colour you will shorten it because more square meters will be reflecting less light, thus visually reducing the space. However, if you choose a shorter wall, preferably facing a light source (a window or terrace door) you will add personality to the room without reducing it.

Goodbye to long, narrow corridors
A narrow and overly long corridor can be shortened and widened if you paint the lateral walls white or yellow and the wall at the far end green, indigo or grey.

A trick that is often used by painters and decorators is to use a clear satin paint in those areas that are poorly lit - because the light satin mixtures reflect more light- and matt paints that absorb light in well-lit rooms.

Trick lighting
The best way to make a wall appear more distant is to direct light at it. At night, when the room appears smaller, directing a halogen light at one of the walls will lengthen the size of the room in this direction. To make a living room appear larger, one idea is to have a light in each comer using side tables and tabletop lamps, for example. The light brought to each wall will make the room look visually larger.

Energy-saving and fluorescent lamps emit a light that is less bright than the halogen or incandescent varieties and should thus be saved for larger spaces. If you only have this type of lighting, the number points of light should be increased accordingly.