Decorating a small living room can be challenging. You must decide whether to accept it as it is and decorate it or to play tricks with colour, light, and mirrors to create the illusion of a bigger space. Gharpedia shares some pointers on small living room design.
Is It Possible to Have A Multi-Functional Tiny Sitting Room?
Many flat conversions have left rooms that are either tall and narrow or low and long. However, it’s amazing what a few tricks with colours, furnishing and lighting can do to change the apparent shape of the room. Whichever you choose, you will have to maximize all the space you have by:
- Organising your possessions
- Using every storage alcove
- Wisely choosing colour scheme
- Optimising openings
There are many small living room layout ideas. For example, while planning a small living room arrangement, you first need to consider how many people will use it regularly. If it will be no more than two, then a small sofa and a place for the television, stereo, and coffee table are all that’s really needed. You need to get creative with the small living room setup if it’s more than two.
How To Make a Living Room Look Bigger And Brighter?
If you decide to make a feature of the room’s diminutive size, it can be made into a mesmerizing and tactile space where the edges between furniture, floor and walls are blurred. Remember the shag-pile carpet which must be due for a revival and wouldn’t break the bank in a tiny room; an alternative option would be a long-haired rug like the flokati, another 1970s favourite, which is hand-woven with a very thick, shaggy wool pile. A low couch, felt cushions, knitted throws and fake fur rugs are other things to consider. A sheepskin-covered bean bag would be the ultimate accessory. The lower walls can be either covered with soft-textured wallpaper or with fabric like a Bedouin tent.
Emphasize the coziness by painting the room a dark colour such as deep red or chocolate brown with gilded woodwork and have plenty of warm, low lighting and thick curtains. Vintage velvets, draped felt, or dyed blankets buttoned over a pole all work well.
Bring In Mirror While Planning Small Drawing Room Design
If you decide that the challenge is to make everyone believe that the room is twice its actual size then play with mirrors. Undoubtedly, if you line the entire wall with mirror tiles the room will appear double its size; but there are more subtle ways of using mirrors that will make the space appear bigger and make the shape look more interesting as well. You will need to watch the lighting, though, as the reflections can be blinding. A pair of wooden window frames fitted with mirrors will give the appearance of looking into another room; long mirrors placed across the corners of the room will make it look octagonal; and a large arched framed mirror will appear to be a doorway into an adjoining room. Plants in front of mirrors will also look twice as bushy thanks to the reflection. Use pale colours, playing around with two or three different tones of yellow, light blue or green. The deeper shades will appear to recede and give shape to flat walls. With these small drawing room interior design ideas you can create an illusion of a big room.
Small Sitting Room Ideas with Doors And Windows
Windows are best played down by fitting blinds or shutters into the frame. Keep the colour the same as or lighter than that of the walls. A half-glazed door or a window onto a passageway includes the space outside the room. And if you could do without the door altogether, it could remove it to give a more open-plan feel to the room. These small sitting room ideas will maximize space.
Small Drawing Room Interior Design Tricks and Tips For Tall Room
The ceilings are often high in old buildings that have been converted into flats. This is fabulous when the room is in proportion, but all too often, large reception rooms have been sectioned off and the resulting rooms are narrow and tall. There are a few simple tricks, which will help to squash the room into shape. Paint the ceiling and cornice down to picture-rail height using a dark matte colour. Hang the lights so that they emerge below this level and cast the light downwards. These small living room lighting ideas will brighten up your room. Use a patterned carpet or rug to attract the eye downwards and hang pictures a bit lower than you normally would. A tall and tiny living room will always have an extra height, which can be divided and used for storage purposes. Do something more substantial and build a platform to raise one-half of the room up to a different level. This would create useful storage space.
Small Living Room Design with Low Ceiling
If your tiny room has a low ceiling, and you need to raise the roof, then similar tricks can be used in reverse. Vertical stripes have an elongating effect, and a white ceiling with no centre light will give the room a lift. Use spotlights to pick out pictures or interesting objects, and wall uplighters for ambient light.
DID YOU KNOW…?
You can make a feature out of a small room by deciding firmly what it will be used for before you start. Say you decide you’ll be using it for reading, then have a long, low couch in neutral colours, which blend into the surrounding walls. Opt for floor-to-ceiling bookcases to complete the look.
FAQs
01. What Colour Makes a Small Room Look Bigger?
It is always neutral colours that make a room look bigger as it invites more light. Also, another important thing here is to choose the same colour for walls, furniture, and other décor objects. Keeping the same colour avoids contrast and does not divide the space.
02. How can I Make a Small Living Room Appear Larger?
There are many ways to make a small living room appear larger, however, placing mirrors is the best way. Mirrors will reflect the space and make it appear double. Decluttering is an important aspect while placing a mirror so that it can reflect empty spaces rather than unwanted objects.
03. What are Some Furniture Pieces that are Ideal for a Small Living Room?
Convertible furniture pieces are ideal for a small living room. For example, a folding sofa cum bed occupies less space and even fulfills the need for seating and bedding. Likewise, an Ottoman with storage, a folding table, folding chairs and many others.
04. How do you Balance Functionality and Aesthetics in a Tiny Sitting Room Design?
Make use of functional elements and discard all the décor objects that do not serve any purpose. In this way, you can balance functionality and aesthetics in a tiny room design. Now, make all the functional elements aesthetically appealing and place them wisely.
05. How can you Use Lighting to Enhance a Tiny Sitting Room Design?
Brightening up a tiny sitting room with light wall paint colours and light (both natural and artificial) reflects more space. So always add more lighting fixtures or invite natural light to your tiny sitting room to make it appear bigger. Low lighting and dark colours absorb light and make the room a cozy nest.
06. How can I maximize Seating in a Small Living Room without Overcrowding the Space?
You can maximize seating in a small living room by adding more seating (sofa or chair) but select slim and sleek modern furniture over bulky traditional furniture. This furniture design has narrow legs, which do not overcrowd the room.
These small living room interior design tips will surely meet your needs. Hope the suggestions in this blog help you to make your sitting room look ‘bigger’ than it is. Do share your creative suggestions and experiences in the comments section…!
Now that you are aware of small living room interior design, you might also like to have a look at our blog on smart furniture.
Top 7 Smart Furniture To Make Your Compact Homes Breathe
Author Bio
Huta Raval – An English Literature and Journalism Topper, Huta Raval has graduated from the L D Arts College, Ahmedabad. Post serving for 23 years in the NBFC and Public Library Sectors her desire for ‘writing the unwritten’ brought her to the creative field of content writing. Her clientele comprises of NGOs, Blogging Platforms, Newspapers, Academic Institutions, et al.