The furniture you choose for a room – and where you place it – is one of the most powerful ways to dictate the look and feel of a space.

If your room is quite dark, quite narrow or it feels crowded, the solution may be as simple as choosing furniture that has long legs or a thin profile. You might also hear this referred to as “floating furniture”.

When entering an empty and “soulless” room, we’re able to judge how big it is simply by looking at the floor space. Adding furniture will obviously have an impact. Yes, it will hopefully warm the room but you don’t want the furniture to restrict the visible floor area and make the room appear smaller. So it’s a delicate balancing act.

When styling a property, we want to create the impression of spaciousness. To achieve this, the trick is to ‘lift’ the furniture off the ground and show as much floor as possible. Corridors, which are usually narrow and dark, can be easily furnished by choosing thin-legged furniture. The furnishing will add a homely effect, while still allowing as much floor area to be visible as possible.

The bedroom may have an unused corner that would be great to style. Avoid chunky furniture and instead choose a soft-looking armchair to add a sense of warmth and comfort. Choose one that is light in colour and easily allows you to see underneath. You can pair it with one small table that similarly does not intrude visually on the floor surface. Add a tall floor lamp to  draw the eye up and make the room feel taller.

Thin-legged furniture is also ideal next to other furnishings that are quite bulky in appearance.  This way, the heavy visual impact can be minimised and the entire room lightened.

The coffee table, a fixture in the middle of most lounge rooms, should sport a light-looking frame so it doesn’t visually block the room. A glass-topped table can be an effective option.

THREE RULES OF styling

• Unless you have an exceptionally large room to style, avoid thick-built sofas, as these may look comfy but will eat into the feeling of spaciousness.
• Glass tops help diminish the visual impact dining and coffee tables can have in a room.
• Tall-legged furnishings create a sense of openness.

Read about our Interior Design For Profit course so you can learn to style like a pro.