7 Best Window Ideas to Make Apartment Rooms Look Bigger

You walk into an apartment and it just feels… tight. The culprit is often not the square footage, but how the windows are treated. Heavy, dark curtains mounted incorrectly can shrink a room faster than anything else, making it feel like a cave.

This isn’t just about covering glass for privacy; it’s about architectural illusion. The right window design is one of the most powerful tools you have for manipulating the perception of space in a small home. It’s about maximizing natural light, drawing the eye upward, and creating a sense of openness that makes your living area feel expansive and inviting.

We’re not talking about knocking down walls or installing new windows. We’re talking about smart, simple, and often inexpensive strategies that work with what you already have. These seven ideas focus on using light, height, and visual tricks to fundamentally change how your space feels.

08/23/2026 06:51 am GMT

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Expand Your Space With Smart Window Treatments

The wrong window treatment can act like a visual anchor, dragging a room down. Think of those heavy, floor-puddling drapes in a small room with low ceilings—they instantly make the space feel shorter and more cluttered. The goal is to do the exact opposite.

Your mission is to create vertical lines and maximize every bit of natural light. This means choosing treatments that are lightweight in both color and material, and mounting them strategically to fool the eye. You want to draw attention up toward the ceiling and out past the window frame, creating an illusion of a much larger window and a taller room.

Every choice, from the curtain fabric to the placement of the rod, contributes to this effect. It’s a system where each component works together to either expand or contract your perceived space. The following ideas are specific tools to help you build a system that expands.

IKEA LILL Curtains: Your Key to Airy, Bright Rooms

Sheer curtains are a small-space classic for a reason, and the IKEA LILL panels are the perfect, accessible example. They are incredibly lightweight and translucent, acting more like a light diffuser than a light blocker. They soften the hard edges of a window frame without adding any visual weight.

The magic of sheers is how they handle light. Instead of blocking it, they scatter it throughout the room, creating a soft, ambient glow that reduces harsh shadows. This even distribution of light helps to erase corners and boundaries, making the entire space feel brighter and more open.

Because they’re so light, they move with the slightest breeze, adding a subtle sense of motion and life to a room that can otherwise feel static. Use them alone for a minimalist look or as a base layer for privacy. Their simplicity is their strength.

Umbra Cappa Rod: Mount High for Taller Ceilings

Here’s a fundamental truth of small-space design: where you hang your curtain rod matters more than the curtains themselves. A simple, modern rod like the Umbra Cappa is perfect because its clean lines don’t distract from the real work it’s doing—creating height.

The technique is simple: mount the rod 4-6 inches above the top of the window frame and extend it 3-6 inches on either side. When you hang curtains from this position, the fabric frames the window instead of covering it, making the window itself appear significantly larger. The high mounting point draws the eye upward, creating the powerful illusion of a taller ceiling.

The most common mistake is mounting the rod directly on the window molding. This visually "chops" the wall at the top of the window, effectively lowering the ceiling and ensuring that even when the curtains are open, they’re still blocking light and the view. Avoid this at all costs.

Levolor Cellular Shades: Control Your Light & View

Sometimes, the best way to make a space feel bigger is to remove visual clutter entirely. Cellular shades, like those from Levolor, offer an ultra-clean, minimalist solution that practically disappears when you don’t need it. They have an incredibly slim profile, compressing into a tight stack at the top of the window.

Their real advantage for apartment living is the top-down/bottom-up feature. This allows you to lower the shade from the top, letting in light and a view of the sky while maintaining privacy from the street below. You get the best of both worlds—light without exposure—which is something traditional curtains can’t easily do.

The tradeoff is a lack of softness that fabric provides. However, for windows in tight spots, like behind a sofa or in a narrow hallway, their low-profile design is unmatched. They keep the walls clear and uncluttered, which is a huge win for small-footprint living.

Gila Privacy Film: Get Light Without Heavy Drapes

For ground-floor apartments or windows that face a brick wall, privacy is a constant battle against darkness. Heavy drapes solve the privacy issue but plunge the room into gloom. Window privacy film, from brands like Gila, offers a brilliant alternative.

This film adheres directly to the glass, obscuring the view in (and out) while letting a huge amount of diffused light pass through. You get 100% privacy without sacrificing a single ray of sunshine. It’s the ultimate solution for bathrooms or street-facing bedroom windows where you need both light and seclusion around the clock.

It’s also a renter’s dream. The film is inexpensive, easy to apply, and completely removable without damaging the window. You can cover an entire window for a seamless look or just the bottom half for a cafe-curtain effect, leaving the top clear for a view of the sky.

The Shade Store Roman Shade: A Clean, Minimalist Look

Roman shades offer a perfect middle ground between the hard lines of blinds and the flowing fabric of curtains. When raised, they fold into a neat, horizontal stack of fabric, providing a structured and tidy look. A quality option from a place like The Shade Store ensures the mechanism is smooth and the fabric choices are modern.

For maximizing space, choose an inside mount. This means the shade fits entirely within the window frame, leaving the surrounding wall space completely clear. This clean-lined approach prevents the window treatment from visually infringing on the room’s square footage.

This style allows you to introduce color, pattern, and texture without the bulk of drapes. A flat-fold Roman shade in a simple linen or a subtle pattern adds a layer of sophisticated design that feels intentional and uncluttered, enhancing the room’s style without overwhelming it.

Pottery Barn Mirror: Fake a Window, Double Your Space

One of the oldest tricks in the design book is also one of the most effective. A large mirror can mimic a window, creating an illusion of depth and bouncing light around the room. A windowpane-style mirror, like those often found at Pottery Barn, enhances this effect by explicitly referencing window architecture.

The key is strategic placement. Hang a large mirror on the wall directly opposite your main window. It will capture the natural light and reflect the view, essentially doubling your light source and creating a "view" where none existed. This can dramatically transform a dark or interior room.

Don’t just hang any small mirror and expect a miracle. The effect is directly proportional to the size of the mirror—go as large as you can for the space. A tall, floor-length mirror leaned against a wall can also work wonders, creating a vertical line that, much like a high-mounted curtain rod, draws the eye upward.

West Elm Panels: Layer Sheers for Visual Depth

Layering window treatments adds a level of sophistication and functionality that can make a room feel more thoughtfully designed. Using a double curtain rod, you can combine a sheer inner layer with a slightly heavier (but not bulky) outer panel, like the modern options from West Elem.

The inner sheer curtain stays closed most of the time, providing daytime privacy and beautifully diffused light. The outer panels are purely functional and decorative; keep them pushed to the sides to frame the window, and only close them at night for complete privacy. This setup gives you maximum flexibility.

This layering technique creates literal and visual depth. The space between the two layers of fabric makes the window area feel more substantial and less like a flat plane. This subtle dimensionality adds richness and interest, drawing attention to the window as a feature and making the entire wall feel more expansive.

Ultimately, treating your apartment windows isn’t about hiding them; it’s about celebrating them as your primary source of light and air. Think of your curtains, shades, and rods not as accessories, but as architectural tools. They have the power to lift your ceilings, widen your walls, and fill your home with light.

The core principle is always the same: go light, go high, and go wide. By focusing on enhancing light and creating vertical lines, you can overcome the limitations of your floor plan. You’re not just decorating a window; you’re actively expanding the feel of your entire living space.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the high and wide curtain method to make apartment rooms look bigger?

The high and wide curtain method is an interior design trick where you mount the curtain rod close to the ceiling and extend it past the window frame. This placement tricks the eye into perceiving the ceiling as taller and the window glass as significantly wider. Extending the rod 6 to 12 inches past the frame allows drapery panels to rest against the wall when pulled open, keeping maximum natural sunlight unblocked.

What does matching window trim color to wall paint do to a room?

Painting window trim the same color as the surrounding walls removes harsh visual borders to create a seamless, uninterrupted space. Contrasting trim cuts a wall into multiple smaller visual segments, which draws attention to cramped boundaries. Using an identical shade—especially soft neutrals like off-white or light gray—blurs the edges of the room and makes exterior light feel more expansive. Choose a satin sheen for trim and matte for walls to maintain subtle dimension.

How do I hang a curtain rod to make apartment rooms look bigger?

Mount the curtain rod 4 to 6 inches above the window frame, or roughly halfway between the top of the casing and the ceiling line. Use a steel tape measure and pencil to mark bracket locations, making sure they sit 8 to 10 inches wider than the window edge on each side. Fasten the brackets securely with drywall anchors and a power drill, then thread your panels so they skim within one-half inch of the floor surface.

How do you style window sills in small apartments to maximize space?

Style small apartment window sills by keeping the surface mostly bare, limiting decor to one or two low-profile items. Clutter on a ledge blocks inward light angles and closes off the transition between indoors and outdoors. Place a single clear glass vase or one shallow ceramic succulent planter in the corner rather than lining up multiple bulky objects. Wiping the glass and sill with a microfiber cloth weekly keeps the sightline crisp and open.

Are light filtering curtains or roman shades better to make apartment rooms look bigger?

Light filtering floor-length curtains are generally better than roman shades for making small apartment rooms look bigger. Floor-length curtains introduce vertical lines that visually lift the ceiling, while translucent fabrics allow ambient light to flood the room. Roman shades, by contrast, create horizontal stacks at the top of the casing that can visually truncate window height by several inches when raised. Choose flat-panel roman shades only when furniture placement prevents curtains from dropping to the floor.

How many inches wider than the window frame should a curtain rod be?

A curtain rod should extend 8 to 12 inches past each side of the window frame, creating a total rod width 16 to 24 inches wider than the window. This additional length provides adequate stack-back room for folded curtain panels to sit completely outside the glass when opened. Freeing up the entire pane lets in 100 percent of daylight, preventing the window from looking shrunken or covered by bulky textiles.

What window decorating mistakes make a small apartment room look cluttered?

Selecting heavy, dark drapes that terminate halfway down the wall is the most common window mistake that makes small rooms look cluttered. Opaque, dense fabrics like velvet swallow ambient light, making interior corners appear murky and cramped. Floating curtains that stop at the sill cut the wall in half horizontally, which emphasizes low ceilings. Avoid busy, high-contrast geometric prints on drapery panels, as busy patterns command focal attention away from open sightlines.

Is it worth hanging a mirror directly across from an apartment window to make the room look bigger?

Hanging a large mirror directly across from an apartment window is worth it because it reflects natural daylight and doubles perceived outdoor views. Positioning a 24-by-36-inch or larger framed mirror on the opposite wall bounces incoming sun rays deeper into dark interior alcoves. This optical reflection creates the illusion of a second exterior opening, visually pushing the wall backward by several feet. Ensure the mirror reflects an outdoor scene or an open area rather than household clutter.