A small living room doesn’t have to feel cramped. Try these 5 easy tricks to help you make your living room look bigger and maximize your square footage.
1. Light Wall Colors
Lighter colors reflect natural and artificial light, while darker colors absorb these wave lengths, making it more difficult to notice different textures and depths and ultimately shrinking the space to a more “intimate” setting (which we all know is a polite way to say cramped and small). Whereas in a lighter room, where light bounces off more surfaces, our eyes are tricked to believe more room exists between objects. We notice more texture and depth at play and the space feels less cluttered, fresher, and is less stimulating (stressful) for the mind.
2. Show a Little (Furniture) Leg
Imagine choosing your furniture is like prepping your body for beach season. Shedding off the winter pounds to show off a lighter and more refined version of yourself is how you made it through those hours you spent at the gym that’ll you never get back. In that same way, you want to glow up your living room furniture too. Utilizing too many pieces that carry a lot of visual weight and anchor down the space will make the room seem fuller and clunkier, so avoiding heavy and skirted pieces is key. Just like it is when you’re rocking your new swim suit sitting pool-side there is no such thing as too much leg. So, liberate your furniture, take off those skirts and get a little leggy. Keep it light, bright and keep the weight where it highlights your best assets.
3. Glass Furniture
Utilizing coffee tables, dining tables, buffets or consoles that are either glass or reflective glass make a big difference in smaller spaces. Because these pieces are either see-through or mirrored they don’t appear as visual obstacles that block your sight through the space. Transparent furniture that does not interrupt or block one’s line of vision, as well as reflective furniture that redirects the eye to another focal point, creates a visual illusion that tricks the mind into thinking less space is being used while making the space more interesting for the eye.
4. Use Lines Well
Unlike the rules of fashion, in design we welcome all lines. Vertical, horizontal and diagonal all have a place in beautiful interior designs. Vertical lines cause the eye to focus on the height of the room, while horizontal lines open up the breadth of the space making it seem like there is more interior volume available while melting away some harsh corners. Vertical lines can be employed in accent walls or art pieces that serve to expand the overall feel of the room, visually pushing the ceilings higher and the floors lower.
5. Multipurpose Furniture
Finally, we all know simply reducing clutter and crowding in a space opens it up immensely, so our last tip for you is making sure your furniture is both functional and beautiful. Having ottomans or chaises with secret storage compartments allow you to hide your dirty little secrets without dumping your things or having to go to the storage locker to pull out your old DVD’s of Law and Order SVU that you swear you don’t binge on anymore.
Need Additional Design Help?
Struggling with ways to make your small living room feel larger? Leave a comment below and either myself or someone from the interior design team at Design Inside will help you out.
Still need some more help decorating your living room? We are here to help! We offer interior design services for those who need a little design help to those that need a lot of design assistance with designing and furnishing their home. If you don’t live in the Chicago or Milwaukee area, fear not! We offer online interior design services allowing us to help you with your design problems anywhere in the world.