Can Paint Colors Make Spaces Look Larger?

How Paint Col­or Can Make a Room Bigger

Using the Right Paint Col­or to Make Your Space Look Larger

Big­ger doesn’t nec­es­sar­i­ly mean bet­ter, but some­times a lit­tle extra space can make all the dif­fer­ence for both res­i­den­tial and com­mer­cial prop­er­ties. Most of us enjoy the abil­i­ty to stretch out and breathe eas­i­er, so we may feel for com­fort­able in larg­er spaces. How­ev­er, once a build­ing is con­struct­ed, there is only so much space to work with, unless you decide to tear down walls and expand your property. 

While there is no mag­i­cal way to make an exist­ing space larg­er, there are a num­ber of ways to make it appear and feel larg­er. You can remove or repo­si­tion fur­ni­ture and objects, install win­dows or increase the size of exist­ing win­dows, add mul­ti­ple light sources, and/​or uti­lize cer­tain paint col­ors. On this last note, you might won­der how paint col­ors can make spaces look larg­er. Let’s exam­ine this phe­nom­e­non further.

Col­or, Light, and Visu­al Processing

To under­stand how and why cer­tain paint col­ors can appar­ent­ly trans­form a space, it helps to know a bit about how light and col­ors work and how our brains inter­pret visu­al stim­uli. With­out get­ting too tech­ni­cal, dif­fer­ent col­ors are sim­ply man­i­fes­ta­tions of dif­fer­ent wave­lengths of light ener­gy. When we see a white object, this means all wave­lengths of vis­i­ble light are reflect­ed or giv­en off by the object. On the oth­er hand, black objects indi­cate that all wave­lengths of vis­i­ble light are con­sumed or absorbed and con­vert­ed into heat.

As far as visu­al pro­cess­ing goes, our eyes can only take in a cer­tain spec­trum of light and send that infor­ma­tion to our brain. When we see lighter col­ors, which are more reflec­tive, our brains inter­pret the object as larg­er and more open. Dark­er col­ors, because they reflect less light, make objects appear more defined and small­er. Of course, it’s all an illu­sion. The same room is no big­ger or small­er when paint­ed black, white, red, or any oth­er col­or. But our brains will con­vince us otherwise.

Which Col­ors Make Spaces Appear Larger?

Sim­ply put, then, lighter col­ors make spaces look larg­er, and dark­er col­ors make spaces look small­er. When com­mer­cial painters are tasked with mak­ing a facil­i­ty or office appear more open, they will often go for lighter shades, such as whites, light grays and blues, beiges, etc.

Keep in mind, how­ev­er, that mak­ing a space appear larg­er isn’t just about the col­ors you choose. It’s also about the amount of nat­ur­al light that enters the space, as well as afore­men­tioned fac­tors like place­ment of fur­ni­ture and equip­ment. That said, invest­ing in com­mer­cial inte­ri­or paint­ing is a pow­er­ful first step for trans­form­ing a space.

Why Light­en Up?

What are some of the ben­e­fits of using paint to make your com­mer­cial space appear big­ger? The answer will depend on the needs of your busi­ness and employ­ees. In an office set­ting, for instance, a space that feels larg­er and more open might increase pro­duc­tiv­i­ty, low­er stress, and boost morale. Choos­ing lighter office wall col­ors, then, might make sense for your bot­tom line. Of course, light col­ors might not be best for all areas of your office. You might con­sid­er dif­fer­ent office paint col­or ideas for, say, a con­fer­ence room (like green or orange) or break room to cre­ate some sep­a­ra­tion between the main work room and oth­er locations.

For indus­tri­al facil­i­ties, lighter paint­ed walls can also help cre­ate con­trast between equip­ment, floor lines, and per­son­nel, cre­at­ing a safer and more effi­cient work envi­ron­ment. In this way, indus­tri­al paint­ing goes beyond mere aes­thet­ic con­cerns and becomes quite the prac­ti­cal matter.

Long sto­ry short: using lighter paint col­ors can indeed make spaces look larg­er. More impor­tant­ly, invest­ing in com­mer­cial paint­ing can make your busi­ness more effi­cient and your facil­i­ty safer. Team up with a paint­ing con­trac­tor like Kaloutas who will keep your needs in mind every step of the way. To learn more about us and all that we do, con­tact us here and give us a call at 978−532−1414.

Kaloutas is New Eng­land’s pre­mier con­trac­tor for com­mer­cial & indus­tri­al paint­ing, floor­ing, and relat­ed ser­vices. Estab­lished in 1987, Kaloutas has become a trust­ed resource for gen­er­al con­trac­tors, facil­i­ties man­agers, and build­ing own­ers from Con­necti­cut to Maine. Our team prides itself on high qual­i­ty work­man­ship, jobs done on time & bud­get, and tack­ling com­plex projects that oth­er con­trac­tors don’t have the expe­ri­ence or resources to han­dle. Con­tact us today for a paint­ing or floor­ing esti­mate, or give us a call at 978−532−1414 to learn more.