How to enlarge a small living room while maximizing its decoration? This is the question we will try to answer, through tips and tricks for designing a small designer living room that gives the illusion of being more spacious. In this article, you will discover that it is possible to save space with certain pieces of furniture, to give the impression that the room is larger with the help of a mirror or to optimize the storage spaces by combining them.
1. Choose the right size furniture and multiply the mirrors
Choose light-colored furniture but also a format that matches your living room. Avoid imposing furniture, prefer furniture with “light” lines and materials such as rattan furniture which is popular at the moment! If you like bright colors, bring them in touches, with decorative objects or cushions. Ally of small spaces, the mirror reflects the light and multiplies the square meters! The tendency is toaccumulation of mirrors on a wall. In addition, if you have a closet with sliding doors, do not hesitate to put mirror doors in place of traditional doors.
2. Open your living room to the outside
If your windows overlook a landscape without vis-à-vis such as a garden, garden level or simply a clear view, do not obscure them with curtains . To do this, take care to clear the space in front of the windows. Thus, the eye is drawn to the view and the living room seems to extend outside!
3. Select dual-use furniture
If you don’t need an everyday dining table in your living room, choose a console table or lift-up coffee table. Practical, space-saving and decorative, they can be transformed into reception tables when the time comes!
4. Choose low lines for the furniture
It is quite possible to give a feeling space to one of your rooms . For this, choose low furniture that allows you to clear the view and space in the height of the room like this small low table or this sofa. Also consider putting a rug that will give your decoration its final touch and visually consolidate the ensemble you have created.
5. Bet on the light
Rooms well lit always appear larger than dark rooms. Multiply the light points to illuminate each area of the living room according to your needs. You can not only choose classic lamps, suspensions and floor lamps, but also equip your furniture with strips of LED in order to enlighten them.
6. Enlarge a living room with white furniture and walls
If your living room is too narrow, the first trick to making it larger without breaking the walls is to choose the colors that will create an impression of space. We forget the dark furniture, charcoal gray sofas, black rugs and other heavy dark velvet curtains. Instead, we go for a total white , off-white or ivory look to catch the light. Thus, your small living room immediately appears larger.
On the walls, focus on material effects rather than color, stay in light tones. As for the sofa, coffee table or carpet, also choose models in light colors. The illusion of space is immediate. And to avoid too brutal delimitations, bet on furniture with rounded lines, soft cushions, a round coffee table, a cozy carpet … You will get a cozy living room without being stuffy!
7. Expand a salon by focusing on the continuity of materials and colors
This rule is valid in any room where you want to create a sense of space! Be careful not to have sharp cuts in your decoration. It is important that the room keeps a visual unity , and that there is no obstacle on which the eye will come up against. So, opt for materials that respond to each other and make subtle mixtures, in variations of light colors.
If you opt for a pretty wooden wall, choose light woodwork and pair it with a white brick wall, and a light floor. If you are installing a nice laminate floor, choose it in a shade that will not contrast with the color of your walls. Avoid patterned wallpapers, stay sober, for better visual continuity and an enlarged room. The challenge is not to create a break in your room, so that the eye does not come up against an obstacle. Also, banish screens and bookcases across the room, so that the decoration remains airy, for a small living room that appears twice as large.
8. Optimize space with low furniture
When furnishing your living room, it is essential to keep in mind that furniture is bound to take up space in the room. If your living room is small, go for furniture that lets the space breathe. A low sideboard will be less eye-catching than a large chest of drawers, a bottomless bookcase, which reveals a clear wall (as long as it is not overloaded with books and knick-knacks) will breathe new life into your layout, unlike a large wardrobe.
Bet on light furniture, in light tones and materials that reflect the light. A touch of copper or silver, light wood, white. The golden rule for expanding your living room is not to clutter up this small room. By choosing small storage , you can choose a more comfortable and larger sofa, without taking up all the space in the living room.
9. Extend the living room with extremely practical modular furniture
Who says small living room necessarily says space. We accumulate a lot of objects, especially in this living room where the whole family comes and goes. To free up space and enlarge the living room, it must always be tidy. This frees up the view and the living room appears larger. How do you get there when you don’t have a lot of space to install storage? By choosing smart solutions, 2 in 1 furniture, such as a coffee table with drawers or made from wooden boxes, which will also serve as a bookcase!
Be sure to install small storage solutions, such as pretty boxes or baskets , that you will always have on hand so that nothing is lying around in your small living room. A room that is always in order is already a much more airy and spacious surface. Be original and imagine yourself the practical furniture for storage, which will help you give the illusion that your small living room is not that much.
10. Visually enlarge a living room using multiple mirrors
This simple little trick lets you make any small room bigger. By installing mirrors, of all shapes and sizes, you are bound to give the illusion that your living room is bigger than it actually is. It is obvious, the surface of the room is reflected in the mirror and multiplies. You can play with a large mirror that you install horizontally rather than vertically, or have fun accumulating small mirrors.
Be careful, however, of overloaded frames and dark colors, which would darken the room and clutter the eye instead of widening the horizon. Mirrors also have the advantage of capturing and reflecting light, which further accentuates the impression of space. All you have to do is find the right mirror, to enlarge your small living room in the blink of an eye.
11. Choose a shelf without bottom or sides
To store your books and display your decorative objects in your small living room , choose a shelf that only includes a structure and boards and therefore lets the wall appear in the background. This will give the wall an airy side while providing you with storage space.
Be careful, however, not to overload the shelf and to choose a piece of furniture with a minimalist design to maximize the refined effect, such as the Solomon shelf.
12. Choose 2-in-1 furniture that conceals storage spaces
To organize your small living room intelligently , choose furniture with many functions to make the most of the space. Take the example of this side table with a trendy design … But not only! You put your glass, your book and a lamp on your tray. And we put away what is lying inside, from magazines to throws, to cushions.
13. Bet on a soft sofa in a light and sober color
Be sure to choose a sofa that is compact in size , but also enough to sit comfortably. We favor a sober and clear color, a height close to the ground and a soft and curvaceous design, perfect qualities to put your living room in cocooning mode.
This sofa from the Luciano collection is the perfect example. A pearl gray color, a calculated contrast between lines and curves, a comfortable seat and small feet in fine metal. Take a look at all the sofas and armchairs, and do not hesitate to consult our article in which we give advice on how to buy a sofa online without testing it.
14. Pot your plants in hanging pots
In a small and compact living room, the floor should be cleared as much as possible . Rather than putting plants on the ground, hang them in pretty planters. The example chosen illustrates this idea perfectly, with a plant in a beautiful flowerpot hanging next to the sofa. We love its black metal structure, the brass material of the plant pot and its overall very sleek design.
15. Place a round coffee table with a transparent top
To make your small living room design and give it a cozy and airy feeling, we focus on the transparency, on the curves and on the rather low height of the chosen furniture . It is natural that our choice is a small coffee table, with an elegant brass structure and a glass top. It will give a chic side to the room while maximizing lightness, clarity and discretion.
16. Hang or place a large designer mirror against the wall
A simple trick to making the room look bigger is to place a large mirror on your wall. This accessory will play on depth and perspective and give your living room an airy feel. Choose a large mirror with a sober design , like the one from the Wilson collection.
17. Place a rug in a sober color on the floor
Nothing like a beautiful carpet to give a cozy and warm side to a room. If your living room is small, avoid rugs that are too colorful and colorful. Instead, choose a rug with a simple design and a sober color. The Mala rug gives a feeling of light to the room, with its unbleached solid color, but also a very cozy side, with its thick and soft material.
18. Use your walls to store your things
In a small living room, the walls are profitable by hanging wall storage furniture . Be careful, however, not to overload the boards with decorative accessories and books galore. Let yourself be tempted by a shelf without feet, such as the one from the Jory range, to clear the floor and give a feeling of lightness to the room. Its sleek and fine structure goes straight to the point, and that’s exactly what is needed for a small designer living room.
19. Mix the styles of lighting with care
The brightness of a room has a lot to do with the impression we have of it. In a living room, the ideal is to have several types of lighting to obtain balanced lighting, neither too subdued nor too aggressive . To maximize the cozy side of the living room, we first choose a ceiling light with spotlights to direct. But above all, we place a floor lamp to give height to the room and light it gently.
Preferably choose a floor lamp that does not take up too much space to insert it without worry in your tiny living room. It may be discreet, the Tina floor lamp will give a lot of character to the room, with its refined look, its Scandinavian design and its adjustable brightness.
20. Prefer light fabrics to thick ones for your curtains
When choosing the fabric for your living room curtains , keep in mind that lightness is essential at all costs. Thin, supple and light curtains will give the room an airy side, while thick fabrics may cause a feeling of heaviness. So choose carefully the color, rather neutral and sober, and the material, with cotton and linen at the top of the list, of your future curtains. Also, be sure to take enough length for the fabric to caress the floor, giving the room a sense of height.
