1. Paint one wall a color and the others a different shade of the same color, and you’ll trick the eye into believing the space is larger, says Melissa Birdsong, director of trend, design, and brand at Lowe’s.

2. Natural colors—chocolate, reddish brown, deep green, warm gray—absorb artificial light and give a room depth, says John Bruce, an interior designer on TLC’s While You Were Out.

3. Select two adjacent colors from a color swatch and paint in 12-inch alternating vertical strips. Like a short guy in a striped shirt, the room will appear taller.

4. Paint the ceiling the same color as the walls and you’ll achieve an infinity effect, says Bruce.

5. If ceilings are lower than 10 feet, overhead lights are claustrophobic. Place several small lights around the room and wash one wall with light to create a sense of space, says celebrity designer Stephen Saint-Onge.

6. The eye perceives more room when there’s less visual pollution. Control clutter, keep artwork simple, and leave space on your shelves. Perhaps it’s time to retire the bowling trophy you won in 10th grade.

Upgrade Your Living Room

137 WAYS YOUR HOME CAN MAKE YOU A BETTER MAN

From the editors of Men’s Health Living

9 essential reference books
Swiss researchers found that men who recited poetry for half an hour a day lowered their heart rates significantly, reducing their stress levels and possibly their heart-disease risk. You don’t need to go all Emily Dickinson; just try reading aloud to your wife or kids. Or to yourself. (But not on the subway.)

Food
The Professional Chef, Culinary Institute of America ($40)
Eat your way through this book and learn the curriculum of the preeminent cooking school in the country.

Wine
The Oxford Companion to Wine ($40)
Filled with heavy aromas of expertise, guidance, and trivia. Consume responsibly.

Atlas
National Geographic Atlas of the World ($100)
The world, at your fingertips.

Design
Phaidon Design Classics ($110)
Nine hundred ninety-nine of history’s most impressive objects, a design marvel in itself.

Dictionary
Flip Dictionary ($14)
Articulate what you’ve always meant to say with this “reverse,” um, what’s the word for it . . . the place you look up words for their definitions: dictionary.

Music
The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll ($20)
The Rosetta stone to decoding the tangled roots of rock.

Movies
The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made ($17)

Manliness
The Alphabet of Manliness ($11)

Everything else
Schott’s Original Miscellany ($10)