There’s a reason luxury brands don’t cram twenty handbags into a shop window. Or why high-end homes always seem to have a suspicious amount of empty hallway.
Space feels expensive.
And weirdly, the exact same thing applies to your website.
One of the quickest ways to make a website look more polished, premium and trustworthy is simply giving things room to breathe. Bigger margins. More padding. Fewer elements fighting for attention like it’s the last train home from Waterloo.
As a Squarespace website designer in the UK, this is probably the thing I tweak most often when someone says their website “just doesn’t look professional yet”. Nine times out of ten, it isn’t the colours. It isn’t the font. It isn’t even the photos.
Everything’s just… too close together.
The “Big House Energy” Theory
Interior design figured this out years ago.
A massive open-plan kitchen with one beautiful dining table feels luxurious. A tiny room packed with furniture feels stressful, even if the furniture itself is expensive.
Space creates calm. Calm creates confidence. Confidence feels premium.
Web design works exactly the same way.
When your text has breathing room, your images aren’t squashed together, and your sections aren’t stacked tighter than Ryanair seating, your whole site instantly feels more considered.
Why People Panic and Fill Every Gap
The funny thing is, most people do the opposite at first.
They see empty space on their website and immediately think:
“Quick. Add another button.”
“Maybe another testimonial.”
“Ooh, should the Instagram feed go here?”
Before long the homepage has become a digital junk drawer.
The reality is that white space, and it doesn’t actually have to be white, is doing a job. It’s guiding the eye. Creating hierarchy. Helping people focus on what actually matters.
Good websites don’t shout every single thing at once.
Easy Ways to Make Your Website Feel More Premium
A few quick wins:
Increase the padding above and below sections more than feels necessary
Increase the margins of your whole site to 600px
Keep text boxes narrower so your copy is easier to read
Let images stand on their own instead of crowding them with text
Don’t stack three calls-to-action next to each other
Resist the urge to fill every blank area immediately
Give important sections space around them so they actually feel important
If something looks slightly “too spacious” while you’re designing it, you’re probably getting close.
Would you rather just hand it over?
Totally get it! With my Expert Day, I'll spend six focused hours on your Squarespace site sorting the fiddly bits like this (and anything else on your list), so you can get back to running your business.