When Small Is Said and Done: How to Free Up Space in a Compact Room
If you take a cue from our small living room ideas, you’ll be able to transform your small room into a space with personality and style. To create a relaxing space you’ll want to spend time in, pick and choose from the space-saving ideas listed below, and maximise the space you have.
Choose Furniture With Legs
Choose furniture that doesn’t touch the floor. By choosing a sofa or armchair with raised legs or hairpin legs, you can make even the smallest living room feel airy and full of light. When you can see more of the floor, the room looks bigger. Plus, when furniture isn’t placed directly on the floor, you can use the space underneath for storage – just remember to keep it neat (wooden crates are a good idea, for example).
Use Multi-Functional Furniture
The number one rule for making the most of a small living room is to buy furniture that can be used for more than one thing. A storage ottoman is a great idea because it can be used as a footstool, coffee table, and storage box, for example. It’s a beautiful piece of furniture that can also be used to store things. To use as a table, just add a tray and some coffee table books. What other items of multi-functional furniture could you have in your room?
Use Broken Plan Designs
Broken plan layouts are the modern take on open-plan living and are great for small living room ideas. You’ll have the same sense of space that comes with an open floor plan, but what a broken plan also does is give you a better way to see the difference between your zones without having to put up doors. If a wall that sticks out doesn’t do enough to separate the rooms, try glass doors instead.
Build In As Much As Possible
If you need a lot of storage in your living room, why not have everything built in? Built-in shelves and cabinets are a much better way to save space than freestanding shelves and cabinets. But if you also build in a place to sit and add storage under the bench, you won’t waste any space at all. You can also make the room feel bigger by choosing a coffee table with a wire base.
Choose Wall Lights
In small rooms, it’s important to save floor space so that the room doesn’t look too crowded. Keep this in mind as you look for the best lighting ideas for your living room. Choose wall-mounted lights with a slim profile to get back valuable floor space that floor lamps or side tables with lamps on top would take up.
Use Stools
If you have a small living room, you should never put too much furniture in it. Choose a sofa that fits the size of the room instead, and if you still need more seating, use stools. They will take up much less space than big armchairs and are easy to move around or use as footrests.
Look for furniture that you can hide away, like cube stools that you can put under a coffee table when you don’t need them. Think about sofa beds if you like to have people over, so you can put guests up on occasion.
