Whether large or small: the living room is the center of every home. Here you can not only relax in the evening, but also receive guests. Various leisure activities, such as watching TV, reading or relaxing on the couch come together in this room.Small roomsaresometimes a real challenge. Our interior experts will show you that size doesn’t always matter! Because even asmall living roomcan be set up with the right tips, ideas and targeted eye-catcher pieces. Get inspired!
1. Design your living room with light colors
Creating a bright base is key for a small living room!Light colors such as white, cream or beigemake a room appear much larger. Therefore, paint the walls in your living room in soft tones. It is best to combine furniture that matches the color, either tone on tone or in lightwood tonessuch as birch or beech.
This creates a natural and harmonious atmosphere – the room immediately appears friendly and inviting.Individual dark accents are particularly interestingas acontrast to the light base : You can make statements in a bright room with dark picture frames, a tinted vase or a side table made of black metal.
If pure white seems too boring for you, you can also decorate the walls in your living room with horizontal stripes. Thesemake the room appear widerthan it actually is. Either you paint a stripe or stick a border on the wall – or you choose wallpaper with a striped pattern!
2. Set up a small living room: The right lighting counts
Natural brightness is the be-all and end-all in a small room – the windows should therefore remain free and not closed. Therefore, rely ontranslucent curtains. The general rule when it comes to lighting is:less is more. The bulkier and more conspicuous your lamp is, the more likely it is to diminish the space. Minimalist and simple lighting can also be just as eye-catching as magnificent lamps!
In addition to theright design,you should also ensure there is enough lighting.Indirectlightingin particularmakes your living room appear cozy in the evening hours.
3. Set up a small living room in the right living style
To breathe coziness and atmosphere into a small living room, you should firstget rid of unnecessary ballastand sort it out properly. Once you have done that, you can thenthink aboutsuitable living styles. Minimalism,true to the motto “less is more”, is of course perfect here.
But it can also be arustic industrial stylewithlots of wood, metal and a rough touch. This is also perfect for rather simple pieces of furniture. CozyScandi chicwith bright colors, graphic patterns and lots of natural materials is also ideal. These styles can be ideally combined with aminimalist living room.
4. Choose transparent, shiny or natural materials
GlassandPlexias well asnatural materialssuch as wood, rattan etc. are ideal for smaller living rooms. Shiny surfaces, such as metal, also make the room appear larger due to light reflections.The light reflectsyou, creating a friendlier, larger and brighter space.
Attention: You shouldn’t mix too many different materials in a small living room! Otherwise the overall picture quickly appears overloaded and chaotic. Therefore, limit yourself to around 2-3 different textures when setting up.
5. Furniture with a slim silhouette in a small living room
Delicate, graceful shapeswork better in a small living room because they create an impression of lightness. So choose sofas and armchairs with a slim silhouette. Particularly large furniture such as sofas or sideboards floatmore elegantlyon the delicate feet and appearmore airy. Rattan chairs or wire wicker chairs also look discreet and do not block the view. Another option are organic shapes, which also appear much more delicate.
6. Leave open spaces in the living room
Minimalismis one of the top virtues when you want to furnish a small living room. So be careful not to overload the space available. Leave enoughfree floor spaceand choose the pieces of furniture that you really need.
The same applies to the walls: limit yourself toa few picturesand/or elements and leave plenty of space around them. A low sideboard goes wonderfully with this. Because this makes the roomappear more spaciousthanks to the free space above. If your room also has a low ceiling, a picture in portrait format helps: it visually stretches the room.
7. Design a small living room: Use the height
Where are all the things going? Don’t worry, even if your living room isn’t particularly large, you can still create storage space. And upwards! Ahigh bookshelfthat reaches to the ceiling is ideal for storing lots of things. You can also decorate this with decorations and accessories. However, small items should be stored instorage boxesto keep things tidy. It is best to place the shelf on a side wall that is not the first thing you notice. So you have both combined: free space and the opportunity to create storage space.
Also useful for additional storage space: wall shelves that you attach at a height, for example above the door.
8. Create a center and group the living room
The highlight in the small living room is clearlythe sofa. Arrange all other pieces of furniture and home accessories around this main piece. This makes the room appear more comfortable. It is best to place the sofa in the middle and not against a wall,so the room immediately appears larger.
If your room is too narrow for this, place the sofa along a wall to open up the room and create a passageway. Room dividers or shelves separate the living area and work area. Narrow shelves on the walls or multifunctional furniture such as a fold-out dining table are smart additions.
9. Small living room: use wall space and window sills
If the floor space is very limited, you canstill create enough space for storage space and decorations that you can place on them withwall shelves. Also clever:don’t leave corners, sloping ceilings and niches empty!Corner shelves are also very popular here. For example, you can optimally place a small table in a niche. But also integrate free wall space into your furnishings. And don’t forgetto take advantage of window sills. These are ideal for storing books and plants, for example. Only taller objects block the light too much.
10. Storage and space: right furniture for small living rooms
Small but mighty! A living room that is only a few square meters in size can still be equipped with all the important pieces of furniture. You just have to choose the right interior pieces – they shouldn’t be too massive but rather delicate! Also use unpleasant corners with practicalcorner shelvesor use shelves in the middle of the room asa room divider. However, there should also be closed storage space because it looks tidier! Cabinets and chests of drawers are suitable for this. Butpractical pieces of furniture with hidden storage spaceare also a must-have when furnishing a small living room.
11. Small living room with multifunctional, practical furnishings
Fold-out tables, high shelves and round poufs are usedmultifunctionallyin a small living room and look absolutely stylish. Foldingfurniture is not only practical, but also really beautiful. Folding chairs are indispensable, especially if thesmall roomneeds to contain a dining area. When it comes to sofas, you can choosemultifunctional furniture such as a sofa bedor a modular model. If the space in front of the seating is very limited, a small side table is also the ideal coffee table replacement.
12. The wall design: Mirrors expand the living room
Decorative wall mirrorslook great and give a small living room more space. These can also be large – here,instead of “less is more”, “more is more” applies for once! It is best to place the mirrors on the wall or leaning on a chest of drawers. Anaccent wallin the living room in a color that is not too dark is also recommended. This is how you create contrast and more width!
13. Decorate your living room with optical illusions
Horizontal stripes make you look wide– something that is usually undesirable in fashion can be used when designing small rooms. Stripes or borders on the walls makeyour living room appear wider. You canalsovisually increaselow ceilingsby painting one wall in color and leaving a stripe white at the top. Another tip for this would be to use vertically striped wallpaper.
14. Set up a dining table in the small living room
Eating together with family and friends is a beautiful tradition. But most of the time a kitchen does not have enough space toaccommodate a dining area. If you don’t have a separate dining room, the living room is also a cozy option for eating and sitting together. Now you’re probably wondering how another piece of furniture should fit into your small living room?
Don’t worry, there are actually a few solutions that can be used wonderfully. If you want to use thecorners of the room, a round table is ideal. Only square tables should be placed directly against the wall to save living space. By the way, there are also greatfold-out tablesthat also save some space. With a few delicate chairs, the dining area doesn’t look too overloaded and fits in harmoniously with the rest of the living room.
15. Set up a small living room: the right decoration
When it comes toliving room decoration,the same applies in a small room:less is more!Therefore, choose puristic, but high-quality accessories that give your room that certain something. Elegant vases with fresh flowers, patterned carpets and a tray withdecorative candleson the coffee table stylishly round off the look in your small living room.
You can also add colorful accents to the sofa or armchair with decorative pillows and a blanket.Green houseplants,on the other hand, improve the indoor climate and also ensure freshness and liveliness. In a small living room you can alsoplace these in hanging hanging baskets. This means you don’t have to go without plants, but you also don’t waste any unnecessary space on the ground.
Setting up a small living room – checklist
- Keep the living room in light tones.
- Use lots of indirect lighting and enough light.
- Opt for a minimalist living style.
- Choose furniture made of glass – they visually fade into the background.
- Furnish your living room with small and not too bulky furniture.
- Also limit yourself to the most necessary pieces of furniture – the more free floor space the better.
- Do you have high rooms? Then use this as optimal storage space.
- Group your living room furniture around the sofa.
- Use window sills, but don’t let them block the view.
- Sort through and focus on enough storage space ideas.
- Choose furniture with clever functions.
- Place a mirror opposite the window to make the room appear even larger.
- Use horizontal stripes for optical illusions.
- Add a small dining area.
- You can round off the look with high-quality, rather subtle decorative accessories.
