Design Ideas for Small Living Rooms

Small Living Rooms

The living room should be both a space to unwind as well as a room where friends and family can come together to spend time, so it needs to be somewhat of a multifunctional area. But what if you are faced with a small living room? How will you fit in everything you need without ending up with a room that feels cramped? We make it easy with our clever living room design ideas for small living rooms.

Living Room Furniture – Big is Beautiful

The living room has a few essential furniture items that are vital to its function — a sofa and other seating and a coffee table. Of course there are other living room furniture items which help too, but let’s start by looking at the pieces which tend to take centre stage and on which the comfort-rating of all living rooms is hinged.

Small living rooms do not have to equal small furniture. Whilst it might be tempting to think your living room design ideas should be limited to only compact pieces, the reverse can actually be true.

Large items of furniture, such as a large coffee tables or an over-sized sofa, will actually work to maximise the sense of space — just one statement coffee table, as opposed to a jumble of smaller tables dotted all over the place, will eliminate any sense of clutter in a room and draws the eye away from the proportions of the room.

Multi-purpose Furniture

It makes sense in small living rooms to choose furniture that can multi-task. What this means is that not only should it perform its primary function well, but also be capable of providing storage — all whilst looking great, of course.

Look for items such as coffee tables with storage and sofas with lift-up seat sections or pull out drawers to accommodate everything from DVDs and console games to toys, spare throws, books and remote controls — the less ‘stuff’ you have lying around the better in a small space.

When choosing coffee tables with storage, look for light, elegant designs that won’t visually ‘bulk out’ your space. Those with lots of drawers are useful, but a model glass shelves to place all your bits and bobs beneath will ensure that the coffee table maintains that sense of an unobstructed, free-flowing layout which is important in small spaces. Take a look at the coffee tables with storage from Zespoke — all of their customisable designs come with optional glass shelves.

Other useful pieces to consider include upholstered ottomans, built-in window seats with lift-up lids, high-level shelving around doorways and windows (which will also increase the sense of height in the room and make the most of high ceilings) and do make use of alcoves for shelving and cabinets — it won’t eat into useable floorspace, but will look fantastic.

Colours for Living Room Furniture

Colour can play a huge role in how big or small a room appears. As a general rule, stick to neutral and lighter colours in order to increase the sense of space — both on the walls and for your furniture. A gloss white coffee table or light grey model will take up less ‘visual space’ than a dark, heavy timber one.

Same goes for walls — greys, cream and white should form the basis of your overall colour. Use accessories to introduce colour — such as colour-rich throws and cushions, wall art and curtains.

Furniture Forms

There are a few sneaky tricks to employ when choosing your furniture that will help make the space feel bigger.

Choosing curved or circular coffee tables over rectangular or square models has two benefits. Firstly they are easier to manouvre around in awkward spaces. Secondly, they can actually fool the eye into believing there is more space around them than there is.

If you have low ceilings, choosing low level seating and coffee tables will make them seem higher, and opting for furniture with space beneath is a better option than more solid forms without legs.

More Tricks….

• Swap standard doors for those that slide away into the walls or bi-fold models that don’t take up space when open
• Keep window dressings fuss-free — blinds make a room feel more spacious than curtains
• Consider transparent furniture in particularly tight spaces — Perspex and glass, for example. And don’t forget, big mirrors will reflect lots of light and give an impression of space
• Don’t feel that all furniture has to be pushed up against a wall to maximise floor space — pulling your sofa out into the room and creating a walkway behind can actually make the space feel bigger
• Corner or modular sofas give lots of seating space without encroaching too much on space
• Loveseats and ‘snugs’ provide a good alternative to two-seater sofas