Wendy Kuncken had tried to gain open space by pushing furniture to the walls, where it collected clutter. “People in small spaces often try to get the room they want by moving stuff to the edges,” author Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan says. “But it kills warmth.” Kuncken obscured the windows behind layers of plants and curtains. Without a coffee table, the room’s dominant presence was a chair facing a television.

Acquiring Mind

Kuncken, 45, works at an antiques gallery and spends her free time collecting. “I do love acquiring weird and wonderful stuff,” she says. The downside is that her purchases prevented her from taking full advantage of her small apartment.

Let the Light In

When the curtain rods extend beyond the window frames, the curtains allow in more light and draw the eye outward. “Windows are the eyes of the room,” Gillingham-Ryan says. “When you cover them up, you make your place smaller.”

Center the Room

To enliven the space, Gillingham-Ryan suggested a sociable triangle consisting of a Chris Madden classic sofa ($799, www.jcpenney.com), a Room & Board Flynn club chair ($699, www.roomandboard.com), and a slipper chair moved from the bedroom. The neutral-colored Ikea Inez rug ($149, www.ikea.com) helps unify the room. Pier 1 Imports Lijang hexagonal trunks ($225 each, www.pier1.com) are combined to form a coffee table.

Concentrate Collectibles

For more impact, Kuncken’s pottery was collected on the Crate & Barrel Aspect leaning bookshelf ($199, www.crateandbarrel.com). “The way you display something can be as important as the collection itself,” says Matthew Dennison, coauthor of At Home With Color (Ryland, Peters & Small, $27.50, www.amazon.com).