Most people shopping for their next home want a larger home. Retirees may be downsizing, but others have a family or a bank account that's expanded and want a bigger house.

If you are selling your home, you can grab buyers' attention with your square footage, but you can also impress them with how large your home looks. Don't shy away from home renovations that will help your home sell faster for a better price because the renovations made your home look larger.  

Here are some ways to make the most of your home's size.   

Exterior tricks

Light colors reflect light. They make everything from waistlines to homes look larger. Does your home's exterior show some pale paint choices? 

It's understandable if you don't want to spend money on painting your dark exterior siding a different color, but there are still things you can do. You can paint the trim white or a light color. The trim can include window frames, porch railings, shutters, columns, fascia boards, the foundation, corner boards, and the trim around the front door. 

You can paint your downspouts and gutters to match the siding. Even asphalt shingles and brick chimneys can be painted for a seamless look. 

If you are replacing your windows to make your home more energy efficient, choose white sashes to make your windows appear larger. 

Reducing details that distract can make your outside look larger, too. Hide things like propane tanks, generators, HVAC units, recycling bins, and garbage receptacles behind partial fencing or shrubbery. 

Your home could be competing with newer ones on the real estate market. The older your home is, the more likely it's ready for the kinds of updates that today's buyers expect. 

This home had good bones but 
looked ordinary. Photo: BHG 
Here's the same house after it's 
been dressed up with a new roof and
railing, fresh paint, and landscaping
that flatters the home. Photo: BHG 

Put your landscape to work

How your home's landscape looks is as important as how the building itself looks. A good landscape, one that's planned well and maintained, gives a house a "sense of place" that adds to its perceived value. 

Older homes often have trees and shrubbery that have overgrown their space. Trees can be limbed up to let in more light and show more of the home. Shrubs can be pruned to make them look younger and neater. Trim or move foundation shrubs to leave at least three feet between them and the house to allow for air circulation and pruning.  

Make spaces around your house look larger by using fine-textured plants and pale colors at the borders. Keep the path to your entrance clear and visible from a distance. It's your home's focal point, the "smile on your house." 

If there are nearby views worth noticing, such as a distant mountain range, a body of water, or even the neighbor's beautiful garden, clear your landscape so they are visible. This practice is called "the borrowed view," and it can make your property feel larger.

A small house can get a boost
from add-ons like this pergola.
Other exterior perks could be 
a simple deck or patio. 
Photo: Julian Porcino 
via My Domaine 

Fine-tune your indoors  

I always advise pale colors for homestaging. But when your house is small and you want it to look large, it's even more important to base your color scheme on light colors, especially on your walls. Use white paint on the trim around doors and windows. Then, if the new owners decide to paint walls a different color, it's a bonus that they won't have to paint the go-with-everything white trim as well. 
 
Just as outside, reduce clutter and small details. Go with fewer but bolder decor pieces. Have a plan for decor items that share a theme or material so your home decor looks intentional rather than random.  

This fairly compact bath feels
roomy because of its white walls,
lack of clutter, and the pale
green flooring and tub surround. 
Emily Henderson Design
Photo: Sara Ligorria-Tramp

Use a simple color scheme that flows from room to room for an uninterrupted feeling that makes home buyers sense more space. I like to see a mirror in every room -- hallways, bedrooms, baths, even a home office. They reflect light and open up spaces. You can always find mirrors worthy of home staging at second-hand stores. Any mirrored decor piece will bounce light around. Other reflective surfaces are glass (like framed art and windows) and polished metal (like cabinet hardware, doorknobs, faucets, and lighting fixtures). 
 

Double-check your flooring

Aim for a unified style with your flooring. When your home is photographed or when people come to tour it, remove small throw rugs and bath mats. Small homes can be made to "read" larger when all the floors match. 

To show more floor, use your leggier, low-profile pieces of furniture, and store your redundant or massive pieces. Consider selling your bulkiest furniture and using the cash towards new pieces for your new home. Those heavy, super-sized recliners and couches are burdensome to deal with on moving day. Then, stage with your clean-lined and smaller pieces of furniture for an airy look. 

This small dining area benefits
from the open-weave seating and
the single base tulip table characteristic
of Mid-Century Modern furniture. 

Rearrange your furniture 

Another tick professional stagers use is to place furniture at diagonal angles. It seems intuitive to line couches and tables up with the walls, but if you angle them out from the wall, you'll have a more interesting arrangement that makes the room appear larger.  

Create natural pathways through the house so people entering a room can see the opposite side. I've blogged about how to arrange furniture and written an eBook titled A Guide to Arranging Furniture Using What You Have. You can download it here.  

Aim for Spotless

Of course, cleanliness is essential if your home is going to make buyers feel the love. Dirt and messes make rooms look smaller. A deep clean after decluttering is the best advice I can give. If this chore seems daunting, break it down. Tackle it room by room, or else tend to dusting walls and ceiling fixtures one day, cleaning cabinet doors another day, and so forth. Or consider hiring a cleaning crew for a one-day deep clean. 

A well-lit room will appear cleaner than one dimly lit. Make sure your lighting fixtures and lamps have maximum wattage. If possible, turn on all floor and table lamps when there is a showing. You can't expect Realtors to do that for you.

The mirror in this entryway acts
like a window to open up
 the space. Photo: Decoist

If you can flood your rooms with light they will look larger and cleaner. Are your windows letting in the maximum amount of sunlight? You can use sheers or even omit window treatments entirely if that look fits the style of your furnishings. Avoid heavy or dark draperies and blinds. A large mirror placed opposite a wall of windows dramatically enlarges the look of the room.    
  

Get the look, get the book

You can get all the advice and plans you need to make your home the one buyers fall in love with. My eBook DIY Home StagingTips to Sell Your Home Fast and For Top  Dollar has helped thousands of home sellers make their homes more appealing to buyers and more profitable for themselves. Why wait, when you can begin your staging today.  


 
Top Photo: Laurey W. Glenn. Design by Michele Prentiss via Hello Lovely.