Learn Easy Principles of Interior Design for Problem Rooms
Read these easy principles of interior design and discover how to decorate problem rooms with flair and style. Learn how to overcome the problems of rooms that are too narrow, or too wide. Problem rooms like these can seem to make your home interior design a misery. But don't worry - here are all the interior design tricks and tips you need to find decorating solutions to your awkward shaped room problems.
Remember a narrow, or wide room, can often be the same problem, just viewed from a different angle - so why not mix and match interior design tips from both sections.
Is your room a long narrow corridor?
Is your room too wide?
Home Interior Design Tips for Long Narrow Rooms

The most common long, narrow room that people complain about, is the hallway. It might be the hallway, but it doesn't mean it has to look like a corridor. Learn some simple principles of interior design, and discover how to manipulate your space - and do away with the corridor syndrome.
My old house had an open plan living/dining room. A larger space should be better, right? - but it had a window only at one end, and was a long narrow space, where it often felt as if the long side walls were closing in on you. What to do in such a situation?
Here are the main interior design tips for a long narrow room or hallway:
- Paint one of the end walls a dark color
- Paint one of the end walls a warm color (reds, oranges, some warm purples, some warm greens)
- Use wallpaper with a bold or large scale pattern on one of the end walls
- Use a wallpaper with horizontal stripes, or paint horizontal stripes (3 wide ones will do) on one of the end walls
- Use mood lighting or ambient lighting
- Use lighting that does not cast too much light up onto the ceiling - down lighters are recommended
- Be careful how you arrange your furniture - don't line it all up down the long walls
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Home Interior Design Tips for Wide Rooms
Wide rooms can be awkward too. When rooms are too wide, it sends your sense of proportion all out of skew - and it tends to then make your ceilings look too low. Read these principles of interior design for dealing with such problem rooms - and discover easy solutions.
So, here is some good interior design advice on how to cope if your room is too wide:
- Paint one of the wide walls a pale color
- Paint one of the wide walls a cool color (blues, some cool purples, some cool greens)
- Use a wallpaper with a small pattern on one of the wide walls
- Use a wallpaper with vertical stripes on one of the wide walls to make the wall feel taller
- Paint the ceiling white or a light color
Check out the sections on decorating with color and home interior lighting for further information.
Click here for interior design information if your problem room is too large with high ceilings.
Click here to discover solutions to decorating small spaces.
Click here to return to the main interior decorating information page on Room Proportion
Return from these principles of interior design pages on problem rooms to the Home Page
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