A useful guide to help you decorate a compact lounge...
Looking for small living room ideas? Whether you have an open-plan living room layout or a small box-shaped sitting room – no space is too little for a brilliant decorating scheme. As the most-used communal room in the home, it's important that your living room caters to your needs, even if you're working with a compact space.
'The first step to maximising storage in small living quarters is, of course, to declutter,' says Kelly Collins, interior designer and head of creative at Swyft Home. 'Once you’ve decluttered, you want to find alternative ways to store away everything you need, without having to compromise your living quarters. Multi-functional furniture is the key to small space storage.'
If you've struggled to arrange furniture or choose a colour palette, these clever small living room ideas can help. We cover layout, storage, multi-functional pieces, colour schemes, clever visual tricks and more. Here are 33 decorating ideas and design tips to help you make the most of your space.
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Small living room ideas: Slim silhouettes
In a small space, slim silhouettes are always a safe bet – chunky furniture can interrupt your line of vision, and obstruct the depth or width of a room, making it feel smaller. Glass coffee tables with slim legs double the effect, as do low sofas that show off more of the height of a room.
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Small living room ideas: Utilise every corner
In a small living room every inch of space should be cleverly utilised. We love this idea of turning alcove shelving into a simple and clutter-free work from home area. For narrow alcoves, you may want to consider a desk that sits flush with – or protrudes slightly over – your alcove so you're not knocking your elbows on adjacent walls whilst typing.
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Small living room ideas: Furniture with storage
Multi-functional furniture is a gift in small spaces. Storage ottomans that double up as extra seating are ideal, especially those set on springs or hinges for easier access to the bits and pieces underneath.
Pictured: House Beautiful Layla Sofa at DFS
READ MORE: 14 of the best modular sofas for flexible living
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Small living room ideas: Consider footprints
When space is of a premium, you have to be careful with the footprint of your furniture. Choosing pieces that are slightly smaller than standard – like this compact accent chair and super slim floor lamp – is key to adding everything you need for a comfortable living room without sacrificing too much floorspace.
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Small living room ideas: Embrace maximalism
One for the maximalists. Just because you have a small space doesn't mean you have to decorate modestly. If bold print and lots of pattern brings you joy, just work it in cleverly – this living room still has space to manoeuvre, but brings colour and pattern in every single piece.
Pictured: Furniture and accessories at John Lewis
READ MORE: How to carry off maximalist interior design in every room in your home
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Small living room ideas: broken-plan
Small living rooms can suffer from a lack of natural light, so if you’re in a position to make structural changes, adding an archway or even a pane of glass can recruit light from adjacent rooms without creating something totally open-plan.
Pictured: Divider wall painted in Conch Shell 052 at Benjamin Moore
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Small living room ideas: Opt for light colours
Smaller living rooms are best decorated with light, pastel colours. From dusty pinks to chalky greys, a soft colour palette will ensure your room feels spacious. We love this creative combination of pink and lilac.
Shop the look at Oak Furnitureland
READ MORE: 50 inspirational living room ideas
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Small living room ideas: Multi-use furniture
This small living room has a few carefully selected pieces to maximise space. An upholstered footstool doubles as a coffee table – and the tray keeps accessories contained – whilst the console table has a drawer for storage. An unused fireplace is always a good spot to display books, too.
Pictured: Walls in Honest John™ No.58 at Mylands
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Small living room ideas: Think carefully about flooring
'The flooring plays a key role in setting the tone in every space, but particularly smaller rooms, so choosing the right style is a must,' says Sarah Escott, Design Manager at Amtico. 'When decorating a small living room, it's important to focus on simplicity, as the space can get cluttered very easily. Light woods and stones are perfect to give the lounge an open and airy feel and draw in the natural sunlight from outside.'
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Small living room ideas: Modular sofas
A modular sofa with a chaise is a great option for adding a bit of extra comfort in narrow living rooms where the width of your sofa is restricted. Swyft Home is a great brand if you need something customisable – this Model 03 goes from two seats to 10, in a left or right corner shape, with or without an ottoman. ,,
Pictured: Model 03 Two Seater Left Chaise in Pumice at Swyft Home
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Small living room ideas: Statement pieces
Instead of filling your room with lots of statement accessories, choose fewer but larger pieces. It could be an eye-catching floor lamp, accent chair, or a pendant hanging from the ceiling. In a small space we're looking for impact over volume.
Pictured: Zambia Accent Chair at DFS
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Small living room ideas: Add a mirror
Mirrors are a classic design trick for making a small room feel bigger. They are great for bouncing light around a small room, and a wall-mounted option doesn't take up space. Consider placing two mirrors on opposite walls to magnify the effect. Mirrored surfaces on your coffee tables or sideboards have similar impact.
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Small living room ideas: Don't be afraid of wallpaper
Choosing wallpaper for small rooms might be a little daunting, but don't let that put you off. 'Don't be afraid to combine different patterns. Mix classic designs such as stripes or florals with exotic styles such as ikats and kilims,' says David Harris, Design Director at Andrew Martin. 'Avoid making the space look too busy by choosing patterns in colours that complement each other.'
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Small living room ideas: Be clever with your display
If you like your living room to be full of trinkets and treasured objects, contain them to a single sideboard. This will create a busy corner that draws the eye without having to add extra side tables or shelving to accommodate everything you want to display.
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Small living room ideas: Contain everything
Even neater than a sideboard is using trays to contain your accessories to a single spot and stop them drifting across tables or mantelpieces – you forgo none of the decorative extras, but just keep them arranged within a tiny footprint.
Pictured: Scalloped Wooden Tray at Accessorize
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Small living room ideas: Add a gallery wall
Wall art is an easy way to add decoration without taking up floor space. A busy display of photographs, posters and prints in a gallery wall is a popular and impactful technique to use in small living rooms and narrow hallways.
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Small living room ideas: snugglers
Wider than an armchair but smaller than a standard sofa, a loveseat offers versatility when configuring your living room seating arrangements, especially in a compact space.
Pictured: Coxon Snuggler and Elswyth Bishop Stool, both at Barker & Stonehouse
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Small living room ideas: Make sure there's plenty of light
A great way to ensure your living room doesn't feel cramped is by letting the light flood in. Large windows or French doors are a gift – if you can, go without window dressing to maximise the light.
Pictured: Ercol Marlia Chair at Furniture Village
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Small living room ideas: Scandi inspiration
Scandinavian style is a great fit for smaller living rooms owing to its natural brightness, use of light woods, slim silhouettes and minimal decoration. We've got our eye on Ikea's shelving boxes, which have been artfully placed on this living room wall as a hybrid storage/decorative feature.
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Small living room ideas: Bring the outside in
Add invigorating elements from nature to breathe a bit of life into a cramped living room. Here you could use a lot of plants – brilliant for encouraging cleaner circulating air in stuffy rooms – or simply rely on a nature-inspired colour palette full of mossy greens and sunny yellows.
Pictured: Walls painted in House Beautiful Back to Nature at Homebase
READ MORE: 30 on-trend paint colours for every room in your home
