5 Things That Always Make Your Home Feel Cramped, According to Designers

When you've had a specific layout for your home for a long time and are used to it, it can be hard to see what objects or furniture are benefiting the space or not. Your home is supposed to be a place of serenity and peace—not a place that feels chaotic. If you're worried that your home is feeling overcrowded or a little claustrophobic, don't fret.

We spoke to three interior designers on what makes a home more cramped, so you can see how you can rearrange your home to make it feel more spacious.

Oversized Furniture

Oversized furniture is one of the biggest space killers in houses, says interior designer Shiva Samiei.

"A three-seater sofa, measured correctly, should have at least 30 inches of walking space around it; yet, in 80% of my first consultations with clients, I see sofas that leave only 12-15 inches of clearance and make the rooms feel tight and uncomfortable," she says.

While we love an oversized couch for lounging, or a gigantic shelf for a library of books, sometimes a big thing isn't always better! If a certain room in your home feels cramped, it's important to take notes on how big your furniture pieces really are.

Want more design inspiration? Sign up for our free daily newsletter for the latest decor ideas, designer tips, and more!

Dark Window Treatments

While we love blackout curtains and darker color curtains for certain rooms, certain window treatments can make your home a lot smaller.

"Dark window treatments are among the worst space hogs," Samiei says. "At a previous job, I worked for a family with blackout drapes from floor to ceiling in burgundy, which captured 40 percent of the visible natural light that entered its living room."

Samiei says she replaced those with roller shades mounted within the frame, making the space appear about 30 percent bigger than before.

Too Many Trinkets

Samiei also emphasized that too many trinkets or doodads will make any space look immediately overcrowded. If you have one too many objects on your office desk, living room bookshelves, or night stand, it may be time to evaluate other places where they can go.

"Too many small doodads will shrink a space visually," Samiei says. "My rule: no more than three to five items per horizontal surface. When I'm editing a client's picture frames from 27 down to seven strategic pieces, the room's visual weight plummets."

Low-Profile Furniture

Interior designer and CEO of London Gardeners, Samuel Davis, says that low-profile furniture can be the main culprit for a space looking cramped.

"Despite low-profile furniture appearing to be space conserving, it actually does the opposite of maximizing the spatial efficiency by creating the effect of lowered ceiling," Davis says. "While taller furniture pieces which are vertical in nature provides an impression of height thereby making the room spacious."

If you have low-profile sofas or love seats in your bedrooms, or low-profile bookshelves in other areas in your home, you may want to see if taller pieces would suit your space more.

Small-Scale Items

Interior designer Elissa Hall tells us that an often overlooked but critical aspect is the use of too many small-scale items, like rugs, artwork, or furniture.

"A room filled with multiple small rugs or wall hangings can feel disjointed and busy," Hall says.

To help your space look cleaner and feel more airy, Hall said that you should focus on one central piece.

"Opt for a larger area rug or a few larger pieces of artwork to create a sense of cohesion and flow," Hall says. "During one project, a client had a hallway lined with small photo frames, making it feel like a tunnel. Replacing them with two larger prints made the hallway feel more expansive and allowed each piece to shine."