Interior designers share 8 ways to make a room look bigger without spending money

Furniture placement is key in making the most out of your available square footage, according to Rebekah Carr, designer at and owner of Sweet Bay Design and Realty.

"A lot of folks want to ground furniture against walls and then have weird, wasted space in the middle of a room," she told Insider.

Instead, float your furniture by pulling it away from the walls to create more visual space, said Amanda M. Amato, founder and principal designer of AMA Designs & Interiors.

This allows space to circulate around furniture, making your room feel bigger, she explained.

Window treatments can also help to create more space in a room, Carr said.

"Mounting the drapery rod higher than the window or door can give the illusion of taller ceilings and a more open space," she told Insider.

You can also make the rod go wider than the window to make a single window look much larger than it is. This will also help the curtains to sit outside of the window and allow plenty of light in, Carr explained.

Mirrors are another great way to make your small space seem larger and taller, according to Gina Gutierrez, founder and lead designer of Gina Rachelle Design. They bounce light to give the illusion of a bigger space.

For instance, strategically placing mirrors across from a window to reflect views and natural lighting will make your room seem larger than it is, Amato added.

Making sure your rooms are well-lit will also help to create space in a room, according to Keri Feeney, interior designer at and chief operating officer of Alicia Weaver Design.

You can even move a lamp from an underused room to create more light where you need it, Feeney added.

"Without purchasing new bulbs or doing electrical work, position table lamps strategically to diffuse the amount of harsh shadows and dark corners," Amato told Insider. "When your room is well-lit and bright, it will feel larger."

"The more open surfaces you can clear off and declutter, the more open and large a space will look," Carr told Insider.

Try putting things in a cabinet, organizing them in a basket, or storing them in a pantry, Carr said. Then you can just pull things out as you need them, and they will have a home to go back to when you're done.

Hanging artwork at the right height can be tricky — when it's hung too high it can alter the scale of the room in a bad way, Amato said.

Artwork should be hung at eye-level, but that differs from person to person. A good baseline is to hang a frame so that the artwork's center is about 60 to 65 inches from the floor, she added.

Oftentimes people feel obligated to put furniture in front of their windows in order to fill up an area, Carr said, but by not doing so you'll open up your space.

After all, natural light and windows are very essential in making a room feel large. You don't want to do anything to hinder the amount of light you get in your room.

Try to minimize the amount of floor space you're taking up, Carr said. For instance, consider concealing furniture pieces you don't use on a daily basis.

"A lot of time I'll have folks put a desk for their teenage child or themselves in a closet," Carr told Insider. "It's one less piece of furniture that is in the room, and you can close the door when it's not in use to keep [the space] nice and neat."

In addition, you can also try getting foldable or collapsible pieces that can be tucked away when not in use.

Read More:

• Interior designers reveal 9 affordable tricks to make your home look more expensive
• Interior designers reveal 12 ways to make your home look better without buying anything
• Interior designers reveal the 10 things worth splurging on in a home
• Interior designers reveal 12 ways to make your home look better without buying anything