I often get asked how to deal with a long, narrow room. They can be tricky to get right but follow these four golden rules and you’ll do great.

1. CREATE A FOCAL POINT

Long rooms. Or a long, blank wall, should ideally have a focal point that gives the eye a place to settle. Focal points can be natural features like a fireplace or a pretty window. But if your wall is completely blank you can also create one. Use a huge piece or art, or create a gallery wall. You can even use your TV, or a huge piece of furniture like a bookcase, or some amazing wallpaper.

2. ADD SOME HEIGHT

Long blank walls also need something with height to draw the eye up. This stops the wall looking even more linear. If you just have a load of furniture placed along a wall that’s all of a similar height, like a sideboard, sofa and dining table for example, then the room is going to look flat and dull and you will only be emphasising the long wall.

 

Instead introduce height through either taller pieces of furniture or by placing accessories on the wall like photos, artwork, mirrors or shelves. This draws attention to the height of the wall and stops the eye from focusing on the length of the wall.

3. CREATE ZONES

It’s important to break up a long wall by creating little areas with a clear identity/purpose, rather than the whole wall just blending into one. Use the placement of furniture, rugs, paint and artwork to create these zones. Different zones could be the seating area, the eating area, the place to read a book, a place to work.

4. PAINT THE END WALL A DARKER COLOUR

Finally, try painting the wall at the far end in a darker colour. This will make it advance towards you. This will visually trick the eye into thinking the room has more square proportions.

Ready to tackle your long, narrow room? Let me know if you have any questions I’m here to help you. And if you don’t fancy doing it on your own you can hire me. I offer my interior design services across Bournemouth, Poole, Southampton and other parts of Hampshire and Surrey so get in touch and book your free discovery meeting today.