8 design ideas for small living rooms

Asha Bogenfuerst Asha Bogenfuerst
The Urban Retreat, ZERO9 ZERO9 Country style living room
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Small living rooms, if designed well, can be really cosy and comfy. Another advantage of small living rooms is that they're easy to keep clean and neat, especially if you consider this when you arrange the furniture. The downside of small living rooms is that they can also get cluttered more easily and look messy. Designing small living rooms requires restraint, simplicity and carefully thought out details. Generally, the less furniture, the better, but make sure you have enough storage space to keep everything organised. Join us in browsing through the images for more ideas on how to design small living rooms. 

1. Combine neutral shades with some bright colours

Living Room ZERO9 Country style living room Furniture,Property,Couch,Building,Table,Picture frame,Houseplant,Plant,Wood,Interior design

Colour is very important when it comes to small living rooms. To play it safe, make sure that the dominant colours are white or neutral and then add some bits and pieces of colour here and there to strike the perfect balance. Last but not least, avoid too many patterns and decorations. 

2. A foldable sofa

Investing in a foldable sofa is a great way to save space in a small living room. This way you can just enough space for the residents, yet always have more seating space that can be unfolded when visitors come. If you have enough space, we recommend an L-shaped foldable sofa like the one pictured here—because then all you need is one piece of big furniture and it creates a cosy seating arrangement too. 

3. Rearrange furniture

Move your furniture away from the wall. The room tends to looks smaller when you have furniture against the wall. You may also want to consider replacing some chairs with floor cushions to make more room.

4. Don't block the window view

If you're lucky enough to have a large window, never ever block the window view. To enhance the large windows, you can add sheer white curtains or a light curtain like the one pictured here. 

5. Be bold!

Don't be shy to use vibrant art pieces or bright decorations—not too much of course. Always balance it out with plenty of neutral colours. Adding an accent wall like the TV wall incorporated here can also help to brighten up and widen up small living rooms. 

6. Remove unused furniture

It may be difficult remove unused furniture, especially if they have a sentimental value, but small living rooms can't really afford to have purely decorative furniture. Just think about what else you could do with the living room if you made some extra space and you might have some motivation. 

7. Design your own furniture

Small living rooms sometimes have odd angles and weird corners—make use of these spaces by designing your own furniture to fit in those spaces. Design something multi-functional like window seating that doubles up as a storage cabinet for best results. 

8. Add more lighting

Adding more lighting to a small living room instantly creates the illusion of a bigger room. Try adding spotlights along the ceiling to create the maximum effect. 

For more inspiration, have a look at small living room tips

Which small living room design do you like best? Please share with us in the comments section below.

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