How do you make a living room/dining room (in an apartment look roomy?

Minimal furniture and smaller scale furniture.

If you want to make ceiling seem higher, hang your pictures higher, and you can also wrap the ceiling paint down 4" onto the walls which makes the ceiling look higher, and you hang your drapes up by the ceiling to make the ceilings look higher.

I think wood flooring with an area rug(s) also makes the room appear roomier.

Glass coffee tables make it roomier.

Check out www.houzz.com to get inspiration.

Make sure the furniture you use is to the scale of the room. When I lived in a small house or apartment, I had a 36" round dining table that had 2 additional leaves to add in if there was a larger gathering. I kept the leaves wrapped up under my bed or in a closet when not in use.

Another option is glass topped dining table, coffee table or side tables - a bit more work for dusting or fingerprints.

Keeping to a color scheme helps too as it provides flow and continuity instead of different colors starting and stopping the eye, which could make the brain interpret as "cluttered."

Choose larger but fewer pieces of decor - too many little items can look messy or untidy.

Study how ads in magazines and catalogs are staged - try to do the same with the stuff you already own.

And always let your personality show through, as no one lives in magazine adverts or catalogs - your home should reflect you and things you love.

Hello Tlbrazy1, Using circular furniture and rugs helps a room look roomy. For example, a round table, a round coffee table, a round rug all leave the corners open in a room. Nothing says roomy like open corners. Hope this helps you. Good luck.

Add mirrors.

Make a focal point of the far wall when guests enter, even if that wall is the kitchen. If you can have a window view or a big mirror, that would cause people to look across the whole space. Also make a focal point across from where your guests will sit. It doesn't have to be a fireplace, but it should have a picture, mirror, or window. That way your guests will see you in an interesting setting which will keep other parts of the space in the background.

One last thing, eliminate clutter. Use baskets, your bedroom, or another space to stash all the clutter you can before guests come. Each batch of clutter, even if it is a decorative area, will draw your guests' focus. The more focal points there are, the more the mind becomes cluttered with sensory input.

And all of my ideas, and that of other Hometalkers, will make a difference in how you perceive your area, too. Best wishes 😇

thank you all suggestions were very helpful.

Hang a mirror on each side of the room and the reflection from each mirror will make the room look much bigger.

Good idea

Small apartment size sofa. Window treatments same color as walls.

Only have the minimum of furniture on the floor. Everythingelse should be up on walls. Choose non bulky furniture, Folding table and chairs (Butterfly) Use Mirrors on walls and have one overall floor covering.