Either you're living in an apartment or in a house, there are high chances that your living room isn't a very spacious place, so you might feel discouraged when it comes to choosing the right decorations.
It's definitely true that decorating a small living room can be quite a difficult problem to solve. This is because the living room is a place for the whole family, so the lack of space can be pretty frustrating.
However, there is a solution to every problem, and this case is no exception. Here are several small living room decorating ideas, that will make it look not only bigger, but also extremely comfortable.
And don't worry, there isn't a standard way to decorate a small living room, so if you don't like something about a style, you can change it however you want and decorate it according to your own taste.
The most important thing is to follow the main ideas, that will transform your small living room into a cheerful, spacious room, perfect for family conversations.
The best thing you can do when it comes to choosing the color for your living room is deciding on a light shade, either white, pastel or beige. This will not only expand the room, but it will also make it look fresh and relaxing.
If, however, you think that a light color isn't the right thing for you, you might like a combination between verdancy and white or pastel shades.
Green would go very well for curtains and paintings, while the light colors could be a great choice for the walls. In this way, your living room will have a fresh, natural look.
In case you want an unusual design, you could paint one wall in a darker tone and let the others remain in a light color. This will surely impress.
Another idea for people who aren't huge fans of white walls is the combination between beige for the walls and dark blue for the decorations. This will make your living room seem more spacious and will create a beautiful contrast between the walls and the furniture and decorations.
Many accessories and furniture pieces could easily decrease the already narrow space. That's why, you should keep only the essential.
This doesn't mean that you have to choose a minimalist style, not at all, you only have to keep the most important things so that you give the impression of bigger space.
A small sofa, a coffee table and a few shelves are enough when it comes to a small living room's furniture. Of course that there is no certain rule, you can add or remove any other things, this depends of your room's dimensions. The important is to keep as little things as you need to prevent your room from seeming overcrowded.
It's really important to choose your furniture's dimensions according to your living room's proportions. Even though a bigger sofa is much more comfortable and appealing, it will make your room lose a lot of important space. This is why a smaller couch would be just perfect.
Also, if you want to gain more space, you should consider choosing a type of sofa without arms, as there are a lot in every furniture shop. The table and the other objects should also be as small as possible if you want a spacious look (here is an example of a small table, that would make your narrow room look perfect).
This is one of the most common mistakes people make when they're dealing with lack of space: even if they don't do it on purpose, they end up filling up all the free space with unimportant things, which makes it seem extremely crowded.
This thing happens most of all on the floor, because this is the most common place people use to deposit everything.
So, try to let the floor empty as much as you can, going instead for a vertical storing. Also, try buying furniture pieces with feet, that will make your room seem bigger and also more elegant.
The coffee table should also have feet and medium dimensions, and if you manage to choose the right color, it would look more than fantastic. Here's an example of what coffee table would be suitable for this kind of room.
Low ceilings are a very common problem for people with small living rooms. Like it wasn't enough that they are small, they also have a low ceiling that makes them look even smaller.
However, the solution is to use a wallpaper with vertical stripes, that gives a feeling of higher room. If you're not a fan of wallpapers, there's a simpler solution: use a big painting on one of the walls, as this will help you attract the attention on it instead of the low ceiling.
This is a great trick for people who have small houses, as it can be used in every single room. In case you didn't know, a mirror placed on the opposite wall, face to face to the window, can easily increase the dimensions of the room, by reflecting the natural light.
Of course that you shouldn't exaggerate and place 5 mirrors all over your room, but placing a big one in the right spot will definitely bring you a lot of benefits.
Even if you believe that a lamp is enough for your small living room, a lot of light can actually change the whole room.
This is why, you shouldn't stop once you find out the perfect lighting. You can also add some lamps, reading lamps or even a torchere. They will all make your room shiny and more spacious.
No matter how beautiful cotton curtains are, the only thing they do is to take away some of the little space your room has, and you definitely don't want this.
If you can do without them, very good, but most people don't, so a great solution would be to replace hard curtains with the ones made from delicate textiles, such as sheer fabric. Also, it's really important to choose a light color, allowing light to enter the room.
If you're having a hard time decorating your small living room, keep in mind that there are some small tips that could make a huge difference.
Choosing a light wall color and going just for the essentials are the basic steps, but doing this isn't always enough. Simple furniture pieces, that have feet can also improve your room's aspect, especially because they won't overcrowd the floor, giving a feeling of more space.
Wallpapers make miracles for low ceilings, and mirrors are a great choice if you want to give the feeling of larger space. Adding more lighting fixtures could also enlarge your room, but only if you go for light, thin curtains that would allow the light to enter.
This post is really great and will probably save me from myself. I am what you will call a decorating failure. I love walking into a well arranged space (be it living room or bed room) but I can never get mine to look and feel comfortable. I will try some of the ideas you stated and see what happens. I really need to get my act together as I plan on moving into a new home soon. Thanks for the info!
This is a very valuable article on small living room decorating ideas. Great tips here! I never thought about a lot of these.
My own living room is actually pretty big but it is narrow, like a hallway. I never thought of using furniture with legs, I will definitely consider using this tip.
You have a definite flair for decorating and excellent ideas for setting up classic, elegant living rooms.
Hey Jess,I'm really glad you found some useful info.
Yes, I know that type of living room you're talking about, it can be pretty frustrating decorating it because you seem to have a lot of space the first time you look at it, but in reality it's quite the opposite, so you have to make sure you have enough room for everything, it's a bit annoying.
Using furniture with legs instead of low furniture is a great idea in situations like yours, when you have a tall, narrow room, because it manages to create a similarity between the room's width and height, making it seem rather quadrangular, which is exactly what you want.
Excellent tips! I could use some of these ideas for my home. We have a small living room area and it just got smaller with a baby crib. Sometimes it can be overbearing but I think it's due to the number of furniture in that room as well. I'll definitely look into getting rid of some of the non-essentials and go for minimal and see how that works out!
I like the idea of the removal of cotton curtains, but I think that most people would keep them for privacy reasons.
Hey, thanks for your words.
Before I continue, let me bookmark this page……DONE!
What excellent tricks you have for decorating. I am a young lady planning on moving out later this year and I really fancy having a nice small apartment to live in.
Yes, these tips are really simple to apply and they don't require a high budget, so they're affordable for everyone.
Thanks for this! I have been living in Asia for about 7-8 years now, and if that has given me a lot of experience at anything, it is small living spaces! It can be a nightmare to get a nice feeling as well as use the space in the most efficient way. I think your decorating ideas are going to come in handy next time I move into a shoebox here!
Those were some really great suggestions that you presented in your article. I have an apartment living by myself. If anything my living room looks kind of spartan. The suggestions about extra lighting, putting up small portraits/pictures and having small furniture are all great ideas for making that room appear larger than it is.
Interestingly enough my bedroom with a queen size bed, bureau with a large mirror, small dresser table and my desktop computer station by contrast looks quite full.
Then again originally I did not plan on living here for a long while, (in fact having boxes which I've never bothered to unpack).
If I ever move to a different and larger places the ideas that you proposed to make especially the living room more appealing would be sound ideas to implement!
If you don't plan living in this place for a long time, there's no point getting items appropriate for those kind of rooms, so it's better to do this once you decide on a certain house/apartment. After this, you can use any of these tips, and in case you have any small room, I'm sure that they would help you make it look larger.