The rooms we see in magazines generally share a spaciousness that far exceeds the confines of the rooms many of us inhabit. There are, however, tried and true ways of making smaller spaces look bigger, from keeping the palette light and neutral, to limiting clutter and keeping the floor plan open. The furniture you choose is important, too, so if you want to make a room look roomier than it is, go for furniture that is reflective or transparent.

Everyone knows that a mirror will make a room look bigger, but mirrored walls are considered passé. A nice alternative is the customizable Anichini mirror, designed by Vicente Wolf to lean up against a wall. VicenteWolf.com

Mirror doesn’t have to be limited to walls; it looks great on furniture, too, giving the impression that the piece is not really there at all, as in this Chicago dining room by Douglas Levine, where a custom buffet stands in front of a wall where paned mirror on the wall reflects French doors.

Polished metal is a trendy and modern take on mirror. Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan, a pair of New York City design gurus, have a vintage “four poster” bed by Paul Evans.

And Lyle and Umbach’s chrome-finished Klismos-style chair is one of my favorite pieces of design wit that packs a lot of inherit beauty. LyleAndUmbach.com

Furniture you can see right through manages to present a ghost-like impression, like Kartell’s injected polycarbonate Louis Ghost chair. One of a series of chairs, it was designed by Philippe Starck, a man who has had his wicked way with both mirror-finished metal and clear plastic furniture. Kartell.it

Or, for accent pieces that virtually disappear, consider White Webb’s Clearly Classical collection, which includes the vaguely Moorish, but altogether modern, ½” acrylic Alexander table, in two sizes. WhiteWebb.com

Michael Lassell,
Features Director, Metropolitan Home