Familiarity can make a small room feel larger than its measurements.

Space is partly a matter of knowing. In a room you have lived in, you no longer have to negotiate anything: your hand finds the switch, your body knows where the corner of the table is, and the attention that would go into navigating is freed. Ease reads as room, which is why a familiar small flat can feel more open than a large unfamiliar one.

Rather than wishing for more square metres, make the space you have more knowable. Fixed places for things, clear paths, fewer obstacles you have to think about. Most of the feeling of spaciousness is built out of not having to look.