How to Remodel a Room to Make it Appear Larger

LESLIE: Alright. Trish in New Jersey has a question about how to remodel a room to make it appear larger. What’s your remodeling question?

TRISH: I have a wall that goes between the kitchen and there’s a set of steps that go down to the basement.

TOM: OK.

TRISH: My question is that’s – it’s also a bearing wall. Is it worth it for me to go through the expense of taking this wall out? And then what do I do about the – when you take the wall out, it’s going to drop down to the basement steps right there.

TOM: Right. So, OK, it’s a big project, Trish. Really big project, trying to remodel a room to make it appear larger. Because when you take a wall out like that, you have to reinforce all the structure above it first. And you build the reinforcement, then you take the wall out, you reassemble it with different types of structural members, like laminated beams, for example, that run that span and allow you to have that sort of open space.

Now, you raise another good question, like, “OK, what happens to the basement stair?” Well, obviously, you’re going to need a railing there. So, it’s a really big project. I don’t know if that’s going to be worth it for you in terms of what you’re going to get out of this. What are you trying to achieve, from a design perspective?

TRISH: To have an open concept. And here’s another idea. There’s another wall that goes between the kitchen and the dining room and that’s just a small wall, because there’s a doorway there.

LESLIE: Trish, there are some other ways that you can actually remodel a room to make it appear larger. Considering I don’t know the exact floor plan or the situation of the space – but if you’ve got some windows in, say, your dining room on the wall opposite it, why not put a really large mirror over, perhaps, a service area or some sort of great storage cabinet? Because the mirror will sort of help bounce the light around and open up the space and make it feel larger. Using paint-color tricks, where you slightly change one wall color to a lighter hue in the same family, can make the space feel larger, as well.

Mirrors really are a huge help. I’m not talking about mirroring an entire wall but I am talking about – perhaps some strategically placed, really decorative mirrors will do the trick, as well.

These are all ways – furniture layout. If you can sort of keep the flow more open to encourage a good pass-through, that can help make the space feel larger, as well. So there are ways without taking on major construction projects.

TOM: That’ll make it look so much bigger.

Trish, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.