How to Make a Small Church Sanctuary Feel Bigger

Churches with small sanctuaries can feel cramped, leading to an unpleasant worship experience. Sometimes, you have the resources to build a bigger church, but a lot of churches cannot afford such an upgrade. If you can’t change your current sanctuary size, there are other ideas you can use to make a small church interior seem bigger.

Create Focal Points

Instead of having many pieces of sanctuary furniture or various decorative touches, go for a simpler layout. Choose a few pieces to be the focal points of your sanctuary; for example, a communion table, a pulpit, and a set of pulpit chairs. Keeping your sanctuary free of clutter will help the space appear bigger.

Use Lighter Colors

Another small church sanctuary design idea is to incorporate light hues, which can make a space feel open and airy. When choosing paint colors and furniture upholstery, try to stick to lighter shades. Solid colors are a bonus, since patterns can appear too “busy.”

Choose Scaled Down Furniture

If your sanctuary is small, it doesn’t make sense to have bulky furniture. Instead, opt for light, slim options, like this narrow pulpit or these portable lecterns.

Increase the Lighting

Whether you choose transparent curtains to let more sunshine in, or invest in more light fixtures around the sanctuary, increasing the lighting in a space can visually expand it.

For artificial lights, it’s best to use bright, soft lighting to create an open feel. Avoid harsh, direct lighting that can make the space feel smaller.

Incorporate Mirrors and Reflective Surfaces

Mirrors and reflective surfaces can create the illusion of a larger sanctuary by bouncing light and opening up visual space. Strategically placing mirrors along walls or behind focal points helps expand sightlines, making the room feel brighter and more spacious.

Polished wood finishes, glossy flooring, or subtle metallic accents can also reflect both natural and artificial light, enhancing depth and adding a sense of openness.

Highlight Vertical Space

Hanging chandeliers or pendant lights can add vertical interest and create a focal point without taking up floor space. Additionally, you can use vertical decorations (like tall plants, banners, or vertical stripes) to draw the eye upward and emphasize the height of the room.

Organize Worship Materials

A clutter-free room feels larger. It’s important to create an organization strategy for all of your worship materials, from musical instruments down to the hymnals. While larger things may need their own dedicated space in the sanctuary, hymnals can be tucked away neatly in an underseat book rack or stored in a box in another room.

Choose Flexible Seating

Pews are the traditional church seating option, but they can make a small sanctuary interior feel closed off and cramped. Plus, there’s no way to rearrange pews. Instead, opt for church chairs that can be moved around and stacked away neatly. This makes it easy to scale your seating up or down for various activities.

Try Different Seating Layouts

If you’re using church chairs, you can experiment with different seating layouts to see which one gives the most open feeling in your sanctuary. Sometimes, just rearranging your chairs can make a big difference in the way your worship space is perceived.

If you’re in need of flexible seating for your small church sanctuary design, ChurchPlaza has a wide selection of worship chairs. Browse our products or get in touch with one of our sales representatives at 1-800-927-6775.

Thomas McElheny