Small Living Room Decorating Ideas

Use space-savvy furnishings, clever storage solutions, and chic decorative touches to make your small living room feel and live large.

Choose furniture strategically
Whether purchasing new furniture or pulling pieces from other spaces in your home, think first about how the pieces work and the space they take up. The right choices can make the room look and function bigger than its space. Consider these ideas.

• Use furniture than can multi-task. An oversized ottoman in the center of the seating area serves as a coffee table with a decorative tray added, while the piece can double for extra seating. Or, trade a coffee table for a woven trunk with storage space inside.
• Select smaller, portable pieces that can be rearranged. Three small end tables grouped as a coffee table are easy to sprinkle around the room to open up traffic flow when entertaining or to clear space for children to play.
• Incorporate built-ins that provide storage, as well as architectural dimension. This wall of built-in cabinetry offers decorative display space and functional storage. Plus, a recessed daybed incorporated into the wall eliminates the needs for a sofa in the room. The living room can even double as a guest room.
• Choose furniture that doesn't overwhelm the space or hinder the traffic flow. For example, a pair of slipper chairs add functional seating without heavy arms that take up space and interrupt movement through the conversation area.
• Add round elements to a small, square room. A curved-back sofa, round coffee table, and circular ottoman open the visual and physical flow in a small space. Soft edges, instead of rigid corners, turns small into cozy.
• Defy the idea that only small pieces can be used in small rooms. Sometimes, a few oversize furnishings can make a small space appear larger, while too many small pieces can create a claustrophobic feeling. This generous sofa capped with a chaise lounge helps this room live large in form and function.

Incorporate storage in clever ways
Your living room is not only a space for people to gather and sit, it's a place where the family plays and works. If the room is small, it has to work even harder to function efficiently. Incorporate some of these smart storage suggestions.

• Choose seating and ottomans that open to reveal hidden storage. Use tables with shelves underneath, or slide baskets and bins beneath open tables to make the most of the empty space.
• Arrange bookcases as room dividers that create intimate seating areas and offer storage. Position a low bookcase along the back of a sofa to double as a console table.
• Pull the sofa or chairs away from the wall to make space for a console table that provides display space on top and storage below. Creating a cozy conversation area in center of room, with decorative space along the perimeter, makes the room feel larger because there are multiple zones.
• Keep bookshelves tidy and clutter minimal on mantels and tabletops to keep the room looking open and airy.

Use decorating tricks
You can't change the dimensions of your room, but you can fool the eye into seeing the space as larger than it is. Try these decorating tricks to visually enlarge your living room.

• Use scale to deliver big impact. One oversized piece of art on a wall can create a strong focal point that actually opens the room. To the contrary, multiple pieces scattered around the room make the room feel cluttered and small. Achieve a similar effect by covering one wall with an eye-catching patterned wallpaper.

Add Color to Your Living Room

Our Freshest Living Rooms

Expert Decorating Tips