The living room is such an important part of any home; it exists for the sole purpose of relaxation and entertaining guests, so it’s integral in turning a functional and utilitarian house into a cherished home. With this in mind, it’s understandable that we want our living rooms to look their best. However, designing and decorating a lovely living room can be more challenging in a smaller home where space is limited, so to help ensure that every living room, regardless of size, looks fabulous we’ve put together a guide to decorating little living rooms. Let’s get started…
The living room isn’t quite complete without a coffee table, but in a smaller home you don’t want to be tripping over a vast table that eats into the floor space. Instead, opt for something small and novel like the tiny wooden tables above.
It might be the oldest trick in the book, but it’s effective nevertheless: light wooden tones and white walls increase the feeling on space in a small room and reflect light to brighten up the atmosphere.
Comfortable seating is essential in the living room, but it also takes up a huge amount of space which might be problematic in a smaller home. Choosing low furniture will make the ceiling appear higher and thus increase the feeling of space without sacrificing any comfort.
Lots of natural light will create a bright and pleasant atmosphere, and in doing so it’ll make a smaller space feel a little larger. Even better if you can replace an entire wall with glass, as the architects have done in the stunning example above, as this effectively removes the barriers between spaces making the room feel connected to the outdoors.
Minimalist décor is all the rage, and by reducing the furnishings to the bare minimum this will free up space in the room and make it appear much larger.
Smaller spaces are more prone to clutter, so it’s particularly important in a smaller living room to ensure there’s plenty of storage. Storage can form an integral part of the room’s design as above, or it can as simple as a few high, wall-mounted shelves.
A strategically placed mirror can reflect light and drastically increase the feeling of space.
A feature wall can trick the eye into thinking the space is larger by drawing focus to a particular point in the room, as well as providing a fabulous focal point for your living room. A gallery wall of framed art or photos can be a simple and attractive solution way to create this effect.
Painting half a wall can create an optical illusion that makes the ceiling appear higher, and of course adding to the ceiling height will make the space as a whole feel larger.
Read on for more tips on making the most of smaller rooms.