My dear, we all struggle with our own places!
If you are seeing things in days rather than in years, you're way ahead of many.

One of the many counter-intuitive things about design is that, in a small space, you often get a much better result with a few big things instead of a lot of scaled-down ones. We think we'll get a sense of luxury by including all the same components we see in big extravagant places, but in a small version. What we end up with instead is what my DH calls the Smurf effect.

Here's an idea for you (not original with me, of course) that you didn't ask for! Do you have a wall in your living room that could be mirrored? It's a pretty big commitment, but you can get an astonishing sense of space in a small room just by doubling it. I once covered the long wall in a 5 X 7 foot apartment entry hall with mirror, put a tallish, wide, but skinny Asian altar table against it with a skinny lamp on it, a big, empty, ornate picture frame over it, an umbrella stand next to it, a birdcage chandelier in the ceiling, and a colorful rug on the floor. Pretty standard stuff, but it looked fabulous. The trick is to compose what goes in front of it carefully, and to remember that everything you put there will be visually doubled in depth and in number. A mirrored wall can be a great place to put a tall piece of furniture like a secretary-bookcase. You get the effect of wide doorways and space beyond on either side.

Another trick in a small room is to solve the "forest of legs" effect. That usually means that wherever you can, you either skirt or upholster things to the floor.

And that's enough out of me. Mostly, I think you are asking yourself all the right questions, and that you'll figure it all out just fine.

I find looking at photo's of my space gives me the correct perspective. It's different being there and looking at it through a camera view. Glad you've figured it out.

browny, oh please tell me more about the "forest of legs". That's something I didn't realize. I've always thought (because I'm not a professional) that the more open the furniture is at the bottom, the more open a room looks. If you don't mind, please tell me more about what affect closed and opened furniture has on a room design. Thanks
Sorry Lucille I didn't mean to hijack your post.

From an Architectural Digest article on Billy Baldwin:

"For Baldwin, who was partial to plump deep-seated sofas and chairs, the ultimate luxury was comfort. 'First and foremost, furniture must be comfortable,' he decreed. 'That is the original purpose of it, after all.' He usually had it upholstered straight to the floor, believing that too many naked chair legs left a room looking 'restless.'"

Here is a link that might be useful: Baldwin article

This is probably not what you want to hear, but speaking as someone else with puny digs who is going through this myself, you may need to work a wee bit on adjusting your thinking process. With the average tiny little house usually about the only way you're going to get "airy and spacious" is with major construction. :-) This is a big problem we small-house folks have to tackle because the rooms in the magazines and TV shows are almost always large and usually very open simply to make it easier to film/photograph, but the usual advice to look at these resources for inspiration often puts this unconscious bee in our bonnets that that's what WE'RE supposed to want and it fosters dissatisfaction and frustration. This is exasperating, to say the least! So maybe you can review those photographs and try to pick out exactly what the specific elements are that you're getting the biggest charge from - is it pale colors, is it fluttery lightweight window treatments, is it slipcovered furniture? - and see how you can incorporate those elements into the space you have rather than trying to make it into something it physically cannot be.

Oddly enough, I have the absolute opposite reaction to the "mega-mirror" practice as bronwynsmom does - instead of visually expanding the space, I think it makes a small room look even MORE cluttered and too-much-enough-already, since what's already there has now become twice as much stuff!

Although she's 100% right about using fewer, somewhat larger items (but still in scale to the room - we had to relocate a couch and chair we already had and really liked when we moved in here because they are out of proportion with the small space, too massy and squatty, and we're probably going to have to get rid of them when we can afford to replace them) instead of a whole slew of small things. This is especially important IMO when it comes to artwork. So many people are afraid of putting a big piece of art in a small room so they put up some weenie little bits and bobs around instead "so it doesn't overpower the room", which ends up looking very timid. One of my biggest decorating pet peeves is a wall with one little 8x10" framed something-or-other stuck in the middle of it - argh! I like framing several smaller things in one biiiig frame using mats with multiple openings so it has more oomph, but doesn't look as cluttery as just hanging a bunch of separately-framed little things together (which takes a knack to do right).

Although my house is miniscule, the living room, dining and kitchen is one large L shape. I'm thinking that if a few pieces of furniture go away it will look better. I totally agree with your assessment of art, one or two large pictures might be better that many ditzy little tiny ones.

I agree with a lot of what johnmari said. It's all about proportion and scale and sometimes you have to really shop around for those pieces that are in the best scale for your home. Everything seems to be of the "supersize" mentality. I found for my smaller sized dining room, it was much easier to use antique furniture with the smaller scale chairs.

SOme other ways to visually make a space feel more open is to use more of a monochromatic color scheme and/or light and airy window treatments. Also consider glass coffee and/or end tables for a lighter look, but still the functionality you need. Nesting tables also can work well as they are nested when not in use, but you can take them out if you need them.

Something to try is to take away all the artwork, nic nacks, etc. Add them back one at a time, slowly until you start loosing that airy feeling, then stop and box the rest up. Chances are you won't miss them. And I totally agree about fewer, larger pieces giving more impact without all the visual clutter.

About mirrors...
I have a small exercise room -- approximately 10 x10. It holds an exercise machine, a TV, and has room for lifting weights. When we first finished the room, it seemed, well, compact. Then we installed mirrors on one wall -- you need to make sure that you're doing the exercise correctly -- and all of a sudden the room was HUGE! And bright! It's amazing the psychological change that mirrors can bring.

Ah, Lucille - one big "L" - perfect!
I would wrap the entire space in one perfectly yummy color, and depending on how many doors and windows and how much trim you have, use the same color on the trim to allow your eye to sweep through the space, and let the natural highlights and shadows in the trim pick out the architectural elements, rather than whacking up the space with white outlines everywhere.

A simple color scheme in the furniture and rugs and curtains that unifies the spaces, with texture but not a lot of pattern...simple drapery that is the same on every window, ceiling to floor, hung on slender rods with rings, stacked to the sides of the windows to make them as big as you can...tabletops clear of clutter...lampshades that are all the same color so that the light quality is the same all over the space, and enough lamps so that you can light area by area and not overhead...pictures that have depth of field, like landscapes and roads leading into the distance, and streetscapes, if you like them...

And you can follow this basic idea in any style. Traditional, modern, cottage...the style is set by what you have in the room, and how it is arranged.

I am imagining walls and ceiling in a lovely soft blue with some green in it, or a lovely pale foggy gray; curtains the color of old ivory, upholstery in pale gray and camel and taupe; touches of navy blue and brick; large pictures in slender black frames with faded gilded edges, white china and silver accessories, and vases of ice pink tulips...

Whooops...I got carried away...it's so much easier to spend someone else's time and money!

Bronwynsmom,
I LOVE your description, and it gives me a lot to think about, thank you!!

I am thinking of light colored slipcovers on the sofa/loveseat, and getting rid of the gigantic expensive 4 piece entertainment center.

This is a wonderful forum. So many of y'all give me so much to think about, I feel like with a couple months work and a lot of ideas, I'm going to have a beautiful tiny home, on a budget, that I can come home to and really enjoy.

Lucille, you are kind...for inspiration, take a look at the work of Axel Vervoordt, a perfectly wonderful Belgian architect, who is a master of neutral, simple, elegant schemes.
Click on the thumbnails at the lower right of this page to see some of his work, and try not to think about the spaces he is working with!! Then if you really want to drive yourself crazy, look at the castle that he and his wife live and work in.
Sigh....
But the ideas are there.

Here is a link that might be useful: [Axel Vervoordt](http://www.axel-vervoordt.com/avpublic/(S(1bwwoi55yqwx0m455dkrorv4))/architectural/index.html)

Excellent advice above. I don't have much to add. But I do think that with a small house you have to make sure that the light and airy look will not make your rooms 'pretty but impractical.' Smaller homes usually do not have walk-in closets throughout the house that can be used for storage (especially if it's an older house), so storage often has to be incorporated into the room's design. I really like open/airy looking rooms in magazines & online photos, but have realized that in most of those rooms there would be nowhere to hide my 'stuff.' But having a lot of things out in the open takes away from the clean/open/airy look. So even something as simple as having a drawer in the end tables, or using a chest with drawers instead of open shelving for the tv, can make a difference in a small space, if you want the room to function well but still have a somewhat open look.

The Vervoordt pictures were awesome, thank you.
I agree with Robin and took another look at the giant entertainment center, it stored a lot of stuff so it might stay.
I think that I will work on the walls, and not try to do everything immediately in terms of throwing everything out- I will wait and see how the furniture I have now looks when the new paint it done.
However I was thinking about the fact that I wanted some color, browsed Ebay and ended up with some burgundy/red slipcovers that I should get in about a week, lol.
I know I need to just plan, but they looked so cute and they were very modestly priced.

I would love the idea of large mirrored walls if I didn't have to see myself in them.