Most rooms, whether living in an on-campus dwelling or off campus, are the size of a matchbox, or the carrying case for Derek Zoolander's cell phone. In other words, they're tiny. To implement effective change in a small living area, UW students and faculty weigh in on ways to live more comfortably.

The first thing you can do to make your living space look bigger is to clean it. Piles of laundry can be sorted and put away, unnecessary items can be taken off counters, and the coffee table can be cleared of magazines and week-old newspapers. Those small changes will make a huge difference.

"What really makes a room feel bigger is lack of clutter, so lots of posters, stuff and things scattered will not help," said Fiona Gibson, an interior designer with the University of Washington's Capitol Projects Office, who estimated she has worked on hundreds of buildings around campus.

She also said having more of a planned look — for instance, if things line up on the walls — can help.

"Part of it [making my room feel bigger] is using wall space. I found that too much clutter on my wall makes my room look smaller," said junior Bethany Robinson, a resident adviser in Lander Hall.

Clearing the center of your room from clutter and moving your bed can give the illusion that a room is larger. Putting the bed in a corner with the head and side of the bed against the wall frees up space in the middle of a room. This arrangement also makes a natural sleeping area, isolated from the other part of the bedroom that is used for studying or just hanging out.

If you can't paint a room without seeing your deposit dry up, junior Loc Trinh, who lives off campus, provided tips that can give even dorm walls some flair.

"Add some color. Buy butcher paper; it's super cheap and you can buy lots of it. Don't cover you entire room with the butcher paper, just one wall," he said.

In his room, he covered his wall in paint color chips from a home improvement store, while his roommate used Post-It notes.

"I covered my wall with white butcher paper and then glued the

sample paint chips on top, so it's easy to take down when moving. Stick to a color scheme, otherwise it gets busy. I used blues and greens, which is always good," he said. "You can even make a picture, using the sample paint chips as pixels."

Gibson advised against painting or papering all four walls in one bright color.

"Light colors can provide more of a feeling of space, but on the other hand a great color on one wall can be really interesting," she said.

Art or posters of landscapes can give a common living area a sense of expansiveness and can combat the claustrophobia that comes with having a host of roommates.

In terms of furniture, the free couch on the side of the road might be great, but it's smart to keep size in mind. If you already have a love seat and a futon, the curbed couch might just be a burden you'll have to slap a free sign on when you move out. For those in an apartment with a living room the size of a closet, it is helpful to keep it sparse and choose multifunctional items.

"Very light furniture is best — not overstuffed and not big. In this situation — dual uses for everything and flexibility really helps — using a single bed for a couch with lots of pillows is cheap and means friends can sleep over," Gibson said. "I've seen a lot of ottomans that can also be used for storage that are fun unobtrusive seating. ... Use a chest for a coffee table or get one with drawers underneath."

Too many cooks in a small, cramped kitchen can push anyone's temper to the boiling point. Before moving into a place with multiple roommates, it is wise to coordinate what utensils and kitchen appliances everyone is bringing, otherwise you might end up with a drawer filled to the brim with silverware and no baking pans.

"Instead of trying to cram a lot into a small kitchen, I'd try to decide on the minimum necessary for cooking and eating, so you have less stuff to stash away," Gibson said.

For any room, creative lighting can help create a mood, and bright lighting helps save your eyes from unnecessary strain when studying.

"I'd recommend lighting as a great, relatively inexpensive way to improve the feeling in a room right away," Gibson said.

Don't be afraid to have more than two lamps in a room. Lighting of varying brightness can bring variation and flavor to a living space, especially when Seattle winters get dark and stormy.

With some creativity and forethought any small room or apartment can be turned from claustrophobic to cozy. After moving furniture, painting a wall or simply putting away those dishes, you might discover that size really doesn't matter.

[Reach reporter Erinn Unger at features@thedaily.washington.edu.]