The living room is your social sanctuary. It’s where you entertain guests. It’s where you spend a lot of time with loved ones. And it’s where you spend a lot of time relaxing on your own. That’s why there’s a certain pressure on how to decorate it. As challenging enough as that is, imagine having limited space for all the ideas floating in your head.
Designing a small living room can be quite tricky. But, fret not because there’s plenty of ways to decorate your small living room and make it look nice and cozy without compromising functionality and space. There are even plenty of ways to make space look bigger than it seems. The key is to take full advantage of simple small space design solutions. If you’re up for sprucing up your small living room, here are some tips to help you maximize your space.
As tempting as it is to pick up the huge cloud-like comfy-looking sofa, small spaces can rarely handle large and bulky furniture. So, if you don’t want your furniture to become the main culprit of making your small living room all the more smaller, opt for smaller scaled furniture. For instance, you may prefer sofas with clean arms and low backs. If not, you may opt for settees and love seats instead. You’ll find that there are plenty of them around that are just as stylish, comfy, and cozy as the huge ones. One other good tip to remember to make sure that you’re buying just the right-sized furniture is to measure your room. That way, you’ll avoid purchasing the wrong thing and be able to find the right fit for your space.
Small living rooms can only accommodate as much furniture. You may be able to place a sofa, a coffee table, a small end table, and a couple of other things. But, fitting in two more chairs, another end table, and a few other seating options would quite be a bit much. Plus, it’d be the perfect dropping off place of clutter. So, practice a bit of minimalism and take in only what you need. This way, you’ll get more floor space, visual space, and you’ll be able to avoid a messy looking place. One way to reorganize your whole space is to push everything to one corner. Then, bring in your most essential living room furniture, the sofa, and work on from that.
In decorating any room, color plays a huge part in how big or small it can look. And for small living rooms, too much color and pattern can easily overwhelm the look of the room and make it look less spacious and a lot more messy than it is. To avoid this, try sticking with light colors and neutral tones. More often than not, small spaces work best with neutral themes or a three-color palette. If you want to add in a little more color, try creating an accent wall or add a few wall decals. You can also add a little bit more splash of color to your living room by incorporating it into your decor and furnishings.
Transparent or leggy furniture can drastically increase the visual space in a small living room. To get this effect, you can opt for glass or lucite coffee tables or end tables. The transparent effect will make the room a lot more spacious. And the same effect is achieved with leggy furniture rather than with furniture with full bases. You can also make your small living room a lot more spacious by adding reflective surfaces to your design.
All spaces look wonderful without clutter but, more so with small spaces. Too many things can simply swallow up small spaces. So, it’s important to keep them all tucked away if you simply can’t get rid of them. One way to do this is to have hidden storages. It would help if your furniture comes with them. But, if they don’t, take full advantage of the spaces under your end tables and coffee tables. You can also opt for faux built-in storages for your wardrobe, kitchen, and closet. However, if your storage areas start filling up as well, you better start thinking about serious decluttering and getting rid of things that you don’t need anymore.
Another way you can expand your small living room is to think vertical and expand the room upwards. While it doesn’t necessarily add extra seating space, it does add visual space and interest. To achieve this, you can try vertical striped wallpaper. You can also try hanging your curtain rods up higher than the window tip if your wall space would allow you. Then, pair it with flowy curtains to maximize the effect. You can also put up a gallery wall or floating shelves to draw the eyes upwards.
Natural light does wonders for small living rooms because it simply opens up space. However, natural light wouldn’t always be an option for a lot of small spaces. To remedy this, bring your own lighting fixtures. But, remember to choose the ones which won’t take up too much space as well. Maybe try to opt for wall-mounted lights, shelf-mounted, or hanging lighting to take up less space. And don’t forget to open the windows every once in a while to get some fresh air flowing into space as well.