Big ideas for a small living room
Decorating a small living room with the right furniture proportions and multi-purpose pieces helps your space feel larger and more functional without sacrificing comfort.
Your small living room looks bigger when you use glass surfaces, low-profile seating, and tall lamps that draw the eye upward and create the illusion of height.
Natural light is your best asset, so keep your windows unblocked and consider light-colored walls or vertical-striped accent walls to maximize the sense of openness.
Hiring a local interior decorating professional provides expert guidance on furniture placement and lighting design, helping you make the most of every square foot in your home.
A small living room space can feel limiting, but it doesn’t have to be. Before you demo your walls or put your house on the market, check out our advise and try these small living room hacks to maximize the space and make it feel roomier.
A small living room can make arranging furniture tricky, but not impossible. These tips will have you lounge comfortably, no matter the size of your space.
When working with any small living space, it’s important to use the right furniture for the space. Using furniture that doesn’t proportionally fit the room will make the space appear smaller than it really is. This may mean trading that large sectional for a smaller sofa.
Multi-Purpose furniture is a great way to get all of the functionality you need out of your living room furniture without taking up the space.
Different types of this furniture might include:
Floor lamps with shelving
Storage bins with solid lids for table surface and seating
Coffee tables with compartments and drawers for storage
An entertainment center can take up a lot of space in a small living room. But, that doesn’t mean you have to choose between a comfortable living space and the entertainment center of your dreams.
To maximize the space in your small living room, make sure your entertainment center is not covering up any windows providing natural light into the room. The more natural light, the bigger your room will appear.
Next, if you can, mount your TV on the wall so you can opt for a smaller and narrower entertainment center that won’t take up as much space.
Instead of solid wood or plastic surfaces, consider switching to glass. The transparency of glass surfaces on coffee tables, entertainment centers, and shelving units can help a living room look less cluttered.
Opting for low-lying furniture can give the illusion of higher ceilings. Playing with different scales and proportions throughout your living room can help bring more dimension to the space.
If your small living room has French doors or a sliding glass door, use it to your advantage. Be sure to not block either of these pathways so that as much natural light can get through as possible.
Also, consider mounting a large mirror on the wall opposite the door. This will help reflect the natural light coming in through the glass, making the space appear larger.
Clutter can make any space seem smaller than it actually is. Keep your small space tidy with storage solutions that won’t take up too much space.
A storage ottoman is a great option when working with a small living space for multi-use purposes. Not only can you store things like extra pillows and blankets, but an ottoman can double as seating. Place a tray on top and you can use it as a table, too!
Floating shelves have the storage of a bookshelf without taking up the space of one. Floating shelves are a great storage option because they can hold a lot of things without taking up valuable space on the floor.
Backlight your shelves with LED strips for added ambiance and to create the illusion of higher ceilings.
Much like an ottoman with storage, a coffee table with storage is a great way to hide the smaller things in your living room that might make it look cluttered.
Opt for a coffee table with room for drawers or storage baskets underneath.
Tasteful decorating is a great way to make your space feel homey while expressing your unique personality and style. Added bonus—strategic decór can actually make your space look larger. Use living room decór to your advantage with the following tips.
Adding mirrors to a small space helps to move more light around the room while creating the illusion of more space.
You might think that a gallery wall will make a room look smaller, but if done correctly, a gallery wall can actually make a ceiling appear taller than it actually is.
When adding a gallery wall to a small space, extend the frames all the way up to the ceiling (or just below).
Just because you’re working with a small space doesn’t mean you have to forgo holiday decorations when the season strikes! The right decorations can even make your living room look even roomier.
Make your ceiling look taller by hanging holiday lights in the corner between the wall and the ceiling. Take it one step further by opting for a tall Christmas tree. Remember to leave just enough space for a tree topper!
Yes, it is possible to maximize your small living room space with accents!
You’d think that a small rug is an optimal choice for a small living room, but that might not be the case. Instead of fitting an area rug in the center of the room in between your furniture, invest in a larger rug that is big enough to lay underneath your furniture.
Certain wall and ceiling colors are better for smaller rooms than others. It is generally a rule of thumb that darker colors make a space appear smaller while lighter colors can make a room look bigger.
If your living room has a lot of great natural light, you may be able to choose a darker color or opt for a dark accent wall.
Show off your personality and design taste by creating an accent wall. To make a room appear larger, opt for an accent wall that is either lighter than the other walls, includes vertical stripes, or has a glossy/metallic finish to it.
Whether you’re dealing with a low ceiling or just a small living room in general, the right lighting can make your living room look larger.
When adding either floor lamps or tabletop lamps to a small space, try to pick out ones that are relatively tall. Taller light fixtures will draw your eyes up towards the ceiling, creating the illusion of additional height.
Backlighting is an easy way to add more ambient lighting to a room. Simply take an LED light strip with an adhesive backing and stick it behind furniture that is pressed up against a wall (think TV, entertainment center, bookshelves, etc.) to create an “uplighting” effect. Uplighting against a wall helps to make the room look bigger and the ceiling look higher.
Many LED strip lights come with Bluetooth connectivity—allowing you to change light colors and patterns from your phone.
If you can, try to avoid ceiling fans and semi-flush lighting fixtures. These lighting options can make your ceiling appear lower than it actually is.
Instead, opt for recessed lighting. Recessed lighting is installed within the ceiling, keeping your ceiling level throughout the room.
Natural light is a small room’s best friend. To keep your living room looking bright and spacious, keep your windows from being blocked by furniture or your TV. You may even want to opt for light sheer curtains so that as much natural light can get through as possible.
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