10 ways to make a large room comfortable

More and more people are opting for homes with large and oversized rooms. Although they can be attractive and dramatic, the occupants may eventually find that they want the rooms to seem cozier. Here are some ideas you can use to make your large rooms seem more cozy and comfortable.

1. Multiple furniture groupings are an excellent way of taking up excess space in a large room. For example, a great room might have a grouping for watching television, and another grouping for playing board games. Likewise, an oversized kitchen may have a cooking area, and eating area, and a comfortable lounging area.

2. Just as light colors make a small room seem bigger by reflecting light, dark rich colors absorb light and make the room seem smaller. If you have very high ceilings, you can visually lower it by painting the ceiling darker as well. Colors you may want to use are Taupe (if you prefer neutral colors), and autumn colors, blues, and greens.

3. Oversized furniture will take up more space and therefore keep your rooms from appearing sparse. You will however, need to be careful that the pieces are not too big to get through your doors. Also, purchase one or two large pieces, instead of outfitting the entire home in oversized furniture. Having too many big pieces will make you feel very small and overwhelmed.

4. A benefit of having oversized rooms is that you can have multiple purpose rooms that can be divided into zones. For example in one room, you can have a home office, family room, and art and crafts area.

5. Add plants and accessories: Plants and accessories are a quick inexpensive way to make a room cozier. Since the room is large, you will want to purchase large plants and accessories. Small knick-knacks and smaller plants and flowers will look like clutter in a large room.

6. Wall art should also be large scaled. Tapestries are a great and creative way to fill the wall with oversized art.

7. Furniture and wallpaper patterns should be large scaled and rich in color. The large bold pattern will allow the mind to occupy itself on the details instead of the overall size of the room. Be careful to vary pattern sizes so that they will not clash. Mix them with smaller scaled patterns and solid colors to make the design complete.

8. An area rug will anchor the furniture pieces together and will help to define the room. The walls usually define the room parameters and the addition of the area rug will change the focus.

9. Move furniture away from the walls: Moving the furniture away from the walls will eat up some of the floor space between the furniture pieces and will make the room appear cozier.

10. Built-in furniture: Because you have oversized rooms, you can have the luxury of built-in furnishings. You can add an entertainment center or add built shelves and storage around the fireplace. You can also create a cozy reading niche and library shelving to your room.