If you’re in the mood for small living room ideas, then you have come to the right place. From a tiny sitting room where only a sofa fits, to an open plan living area which is limited by neighbouring kitchen, there is no space to small to design a brilliant scheme. No matter how large or small your living room is, it should be able to fit a lot of seating, have a good floor plan and storage.
Maximizing storage in a small home is always a matter of getting rid of clutter, of course, says Kelly Collins, interior designer and head of creative at Swyft Home. After decluttering, you want to get rid of this need to sacrifice living space and find alternative methods of storing everything you need away. Multi-functional furniture is the key to small space storage.’
You can use these 44 decorating ideas to utilize your mini living room if you have ever had a problem arranging furniture and choosing the right color, lost hope of finding the right pieces or thought of a few tricks to make your living room look bigger.
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Slim silhouettes
It’s all about light and bright. Pick furniture that has visual lightness, such as light fabrics for upholstery, light finishes for tops on armchairs or console tables, and light frames for armchairs and TV stands; all in the smallest of rooms. A small, very well shaped flat with sunny buttercup yellows and light woods – these are used to lighten and raise a flat.
Colour drenching
Charlotte Crosby, head of creative at Farrow & Ball explains, ‘Using a single colour throughout the walls, woodwork (including bookcases and shelving) and even up onto the ceiling will make the room feel larger and uncomplicated, and can make it look like there’s more space.
Loveseats
Also known as a love seat, this option is wider than an armchair but not as wide as a sofa, making it a versatile choice for your living room seating arrangements, particularly in a smaller living room. The fun is that when making a loveseat, there’s a special emphasis on creating the design to make it as comfortable as possible, including deep cushions and luxurious materials.
Wood burners
Wood burners are smaller in size and don’t need a large fireplace, making them ideal for a smaller living room. This quintessential element – in this case in a small London garden flat – is striking and will add cosiness to any room.
Built-in shelves
If your alcoves are a space that needs to be utilized, you can make the most of them with a built-in shelving display. We love this example because of the varying heights of the shelves – a lack of uniformity like this can be really charming and allow for more space to display lamps and mirrors.
A ready-made scheme
A home design for a small space, ready-made by Emma Hoareau ( @emmahoareau ), which consists of a light cream wash for the walls and ceiling, uplighting the space, integrated shelving with cupboard storage to keep things tidy and decluttered and an XL mirror effect above the fireplace (no TV in sight, hoorah!) to bounce light around the room and make it feel bigger.
Furniture with storage
In small spaces, multifunctional furniture is a gift! Storage ottomans which can also serve as additional seating are perfect – particularly those with hinges or springs so the bits and pieces at the bottom are easily accessible.
The book on the Scandi design
Take a page from the Scandi design book and fill your little space with warm neutrals; hues that shift through the day in a colour palette that is a stunning manipulation; low floor-height sofas to create more room above and an oversized plant to bring the outdoors in.
Creative use of paints
Changing the view of your space with the help of paint effects is easy. Born & Bred Studio have added a lick of pure white to make the eye’s path go upwards towards the height of these ceilings and the interesting architectural features featured. This effect could also be used on a large window to accentuate the view outside.
Go for true white
White is very scarce, as it has little warmth. It should be considered in a very small living room however for its capacity to increase a sense of spaciousness. It is perfect in a house where there is a great deal of wall art and sculptures – it is for this reason that it is used in art galleries and museums, and is used as true white for images and sculptures to stand out.
Layer
It’s easy to think that you need to keep it as simple as possible as far as accessories and fabrics, but not so much that it is entirely without style. Layers are a little more forgiving – which is an inside designer superpower, in the Margate home of interior designer Natasha Lyon – since you can layer a couple of soft furnishings together to get that maximum effect, with minimum space.
Dramatic colour
Charlotte Crosby, head of creative at Farrow & Ball, says, ‘It can be really effective to embrace a small space by using strong, darker colours like Duck Green or Bancha to create a dramatic, intimate feel which makes you focus on the style of the room, not the size of it.
The TV hack
One or two features will be more noticeable in a smaller room; although this works for a patterned sofa or statement armchair, you wouldn’t want the TV to be the star of the show. Topology Interiors has a brilliant solution: a Samsung Picture TV with a realistic frame and artwork on it when not in use.
Go low
Notice the height of these sofas to the ground, the width of the surrounding tables and even the sheer height at which the art is displayed. This is a good technique for a small living room with a high ceiling – low ceilings will always look relaxed, informal and welcoming and the more room there is above the room on the wall, the more the sense of space will be enhanced.
Tackling doorways
The removal of doors and widening of doorways can make a world of difference to the flow of your home, as well as how much natural light you have. It doesn’t need to feel like you’ve lost a door, you can make it feel like you did, by following this really cool design idea by Retrouvious, who painted their door and window frames an endearing yellow to link them.
Chaise
Rather than armchairs, opt for a chaise as it will provide a bit more generous seating area, and do your research and see if you can find one with low arms and deep seats to invite lounging. This irresistible corner of artist Jessie Cutts’ (@cuttsandsons) abode goes an awful long way in convincing me that it’s better to decorate a small room than fill every inch with storage.
Consider footprints
If space is at a premium then you need to take care of the footprint that your furniture has. When selecting accent chairs and other smaller furnishings, like super slim floor lamps, a few things need to be taken into account in order to end up with an exceptionally comfortable living room, while still saving some floor space.
Rugs
So you don’t want to find yourself with a rug in the middle of your living room and feel the urge to say “no, that’s an afterthought.You don’t want to end up with a rug in the center of your living room and think “no that’s an afterthought. Rugs can be used to create zones and link furniture; a large rug can span the entire area of the furniture in your living room and will always look great, no matter how big the room is.
Modular sofas
Modular sofas – like these totally covetable pink Togo sofas in the home of Lisa Dawson (@_lisa_dawson_) – can totally alter the function of a small living room. Arrange your modules together for a family movie night or separate and line up around a coffee table for some fun!
Painting all over
Painting a small living room – including the ceiling – in an all-over uniform colour blurs its edges and boundaries giving the impression of space. This is especially effective when woodwork, door frames and radiators are painted to match.
A gallery wall
A gallery wall has been executed to perfection in this traditional family living room with a creatively eclectic twist – which is a sure strategy for decorating without sacrificing a single inch of living space. This antique chaise will also always be a bit smaller and narrower than modern furniture as well.
Multi-use furniture
This small living room has a few carefully selected pieces to maximise space. An upholstered footstool doubles as a coffee table – and the tray keeps accessories contained – whilst the console table has a drawer for storage. A vacant fireplace is always a great place to put books, as well.
Home bar
When planning the interior of a small living room, there are some features that may not seem possible to achieve, such as having a home bar. Miniaturising your plans, though – this sweet 2 tier side table packs in all the home bar must haves – gives you a little room for a few home bar must haves.
Cocooning corners
Follow Sophie Robinson’s lead and make something dark and cosy! The paint is doubly effective when it is absorbed into the ceiling to create a ‘colour drench’ effect, which is chocolate brown colour. Surrounded for comfort, the area is squeezed out to the full extent by the wrap around corner sofa – and this sofa is no ordinary sofa.
Contain everything
Contain your accessories in a tray to keep them in one place and prevent them from scattering around tables or mantelpieces – no decoration you miss out on but only an extra that you keep in a tiny space.