My wife, Donna, and I live in a modest house that we own. About 1600 square feet. But until recently, it felt smaller than that  - a lot smaller.

We didn't set out to fix that problem; not really. We had someone come in to remodel things cosmetically, to make the house feel more comfortable - not bigger.

But something unexpected happened. The livability of the house increased far beyond expectations, and you can do something similar for a relatively low cost.

By adding light throughout the room, we went from having a room we barely used at all (it felt like a cave) to one of the most inviting rooms of the house.  We effectively increased the living space of the house by that amount.

At some point I may video our living room (once we have it showcase ready). For now, here's an example of how light greatly increases the accessibility of a room.

If you are on a modest budget, and your living space includes some dark rooms, one of the least expensive and most effective ways to give your quarters a huge boost is to improve the lighting.  The more natural the light, the better, but even some of the foolish green products are better than darkness.

If lamps are an option you want to explore, you can find many lamps with good reviews at Amazon.

This is a much lower cost solution than knocking out walls, and creating a major catastrophe on your way to improving things, and if you are renting, it may be your only solution.

Might be worth giving a thought or two.