Color Temperature and Paint Finish

• Conventional wisdom suggests that using dark colors on your walls makes the room feel smaller, but that's not entirely true. Just because your bedroom is small, you aren't limited to white, cream or pastel paint colors. The key is to choose the right color shade and temperature. Warm colors tend to advance, making the space feel smaller and cozier, while cooler shades recede, making even smaller spaces feel larger. Choose paint colors with cool blue undertones rather than warm yellow or red undertones. The right paint finish can also make the room feel larger. Finishes that reflect light, such as satin or eggshell, are more subtle than high-gloss but can help make the room feel larger.
  
  

Stripes

• Painted stripes are a common decorator's trick for making a small room feel larger. Thin vertical stripes draw the eye upward, making the ceilings appear higher. If your bedroom is longer than it is wide, paint either one wide horizontal stripe around the room, or several horizontal stripes below a chair rail. Horizontal stripes visually push the walls outward, widening the room. The stripes do not need extreme contrast to be effective, either. Paint tone-on-tone stripes, or use the same color in two different paint finishes for a subtle but effective result.
  
  

Ceilings and Chair Rails

• Give your bedroom the illusion of height by painting the ceiling. Paint the ceiling one shade lighter than the wall color. The transition between tones is more subtle than that between the wall color and a bright white ceiling, and can fool the eye into believing the room is taller than it actually is. This trick is especially effective in rooms with pitched walls and ceilings. You can also create the illusion of height by adding a chair rail. Paint the lower half of the wall in a dark color, and the upper half a lighter shade. This technique is ideal if you want to incorporate a rich, warm color into your bedroom, but think painting the entire room would make the room feel too small.
  
  

Trompe l'oeil

• Making a room appear larger with paint is all about fooling the eye, which is why trompe l'oeil -- French for "deceive the eye" -- is an effective way to make the room feel larger. Tromp l'oeil involves painting a realistic image, such as a window with a stunning view or doors leading to an outdoor garden, on the wall. Done well, trompe l'oeil is almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and can make your room feel larger and more airy, with the bonus of providing a spectacular "view" that you may not have. Another option is to use a custom paint finish on the walls to give them depth. A color wash of cool blue or green applied with a rag over a white or cream base provides color and texture to walls, making the room feel larger.