Small space living can be challenging, but there are simple strategies you can employ to make it feel larger. From furniture selection and arrangement to wall color, these design solutions will help maximize your living room while elevating its style.
Furniture that serves multiple functions is key to optimizing your space, from ottomans that provide seating and storage to bar carts on wheels – select pieces that can easily be moved around as needed.
1. Use Furniture that Fits
Furniture selection for small living spaces is key. Pick slimline pieces without being overstuffed.
Play with proportions by selecting a lower sofa with narrow arms to visually expand your room.
Make sure your furniture can serve multiple functions, like an ottoman that also doubles as a coffee table. Furniture with multiple uses can save both floor space and storage.
2. Create Multiple Functions
Individuals increasingly live in small spaces that must serve multiple functions – this may include the bedroom, living room, home office and dining area.
Furniture that serves multiple functions can be an ideal solution, such as a sofa that transforms into a bed or tables that double as storage shelves.
Alternative strategies include blurring the distinctions between zones by using colors or furniture that visually leads to adjacent areas, creating the impression of more openness in your space and less clutter.
3. Paint Your Walls White
Selecting the ideal white can be tricky. Pure white shades may not be forgiving if your walls contain imperfections; to find an ideal hue for you, hire an expert.
Apply a similar hue to both walls and trim for an aesthetically pleasing aesthetic in any living space that connects to an outdoor area. This technique will make the room feel cohesive.
Mirrors in a small living room will both open up sightlines and scatter light across the space, expanding sightlines while dispersing more light throughout.
4. Use Area Rugs
Area rugs are an effective way of delineating spaces without creating walls, and can even serve to anchor pieces of furniture within a room and bring together its aesthetic.
Select light-colored, low pile rugs in light colors for visual expansion of space. Layer different rug styles by selecting ones with similar shapes and motifs.
5. Add a Built-In Banquette
Just like its restaurant equivalent, banquette dining provides cozy comfort in a limited space. Additionally, these tables often include storage options to reduce clutter and accommodate larger tableware like vases and pots.
Here, a curved banquette wraps around this kitchen window to provide ample seating. An upholstered bench seat and custom back cushions add style and functionality to this small nook.
6. Hide Your Media Console
An expansive media console can quickly consume precious floor space in a small living room, taking up valuable real estate on its own or as part of a cabinet. To free up some floor area and save floor area for other tasks, why not mount it vertically or inside an cabinet instead?
This creative design trick also lets you display books, vases and other decorative objects without adding more clutter. Utilizing vertical space is key for optimizing small spaces; so use it wisely by hanging plants, art pieces and furniture items high above.
7. Create a Seating Area with Two Chairs
If your living room doesn’t allow for a sofa, try opting for two accent chairs instead; they provide comfortable yet cozy seating while leaving plenty of room to move around freely.
If your space feels like an unwelcoming corridor, leaning a large decorative floor mirror against one wall can visually increase its width while using furniture with different heights can add visual depth.
8. Add a Bar Cart
Bar carts are an efficient way to add storage while creating an eye-catching feature in any room. Use an attractive cart for books, magazines or any other clutter that tends to collect on the floor.
Choose a cart made of glass or acrylic to lighten up the visual footprint, or opt for tall furniture or hanging an eye-catching piece of art above a cart that draws the eye upward and creates the impression that the room is larger.
9. Don’t Be Afraid to Mix It Up
Be it an individual living in a studio apartment or an entire family living in a small house, using clever storage solutions and visual tricks can make any small space seem larger. Choose furniture that folds up neatly for storage purposes; utilize colors with contrast between rooms; use long patterns like stripes and waves as ways of visually expanding living spaces; all these tactics will help make any small living space seem bigger!
10. Declutter
Larger spaces make it easier to disguise messiness, but in a smaller one everything is visible. Start by clearing away obvious forms of clutter such as trash, broken items or overfilled storage containers.
Once your surfaces have been decluttered, turn your attention to hidden clutter such as paper. Assign an area specifically for filing or framing documents before disposing of any others.
