How to Make the Most of Your Small Living Room

Are you moving into your first apartment, dorm room, or other small space? While furnishing and decorating a small living room does present a bit of a challenge, there is no need for small space living to be cramped. The right furniture combined with sparse but effective décor can make the smallest room seem larger and cozy rather than closed-in.

Before you get into décor and furniture, there are a few things you might want to do before you start moving everything in. Of course, you will need to make sure that you are within the terms of your lease or residential agreement. Barring those potential limitations, you can do some very basic and inexpensive things to make the room look bigger.

• Dress your window with light and gauzy curtains that allow sunlight to filter through during the day, with drapes to pull shut in the evening.
• Make sure you take advantage of every available space. If you have some odd nooks, you might build in some shelving or a TV stand before furnishing.
• Use a flat white paint. You may want to have an accent wall of a color that matches your desired living room furniture, but there are other ways to do so, such as…
• …using vertical wall coverings, borders, or accents to make the ceiling seem higher.
• Use a sofa for a small living room that goes from wall to wall, paired with a smaller coffee table. It will make the room, and the couch, seem bigger.
• To save floor space, make sure you have installed adequate hanging lighting. A ceiling fan is perfect for keeping the small space from seeming stuffy.

Making these decisions and preparations are much easier to do before you start moving in furniture, decor, and belongings. While you are preparing to move into the apartment, you will undoubtedly get some great ideas for furnishing your small living room.

Start with these small living room décor ideas

The key to making the most out of your small living space is to have as much floor space as possible. This opens up the room, makes it seem bigger, and also reduces clutter for a modern look. To keep the minimalist attitude, you can go light on wall art, choosing instead to use accent wall ideas for small living room in bold colors or vertical patterns to add depth and character.

Another item that can throw a glitch in your plans for open floor space is a television. The best small living room ideas with TV are those that use different methods to mount the TV. Other small TV room ideas include mounting a sturdy shelf or hanging entertainment center, as well as using nontraditional seating like gaming chairs.

Finally, there are some additional pieces of furniture that you may not normally like for your living room but do help make it seem bright and airy. Mirror tables are the perfect example. If you don’t normally like the glam look, you can get some mirror tables for living room that are tasteful for the modern living room.

How to choose furniture for small living room

Which sofa is best for small living room? Most people are not interior designers and have no idea where to start in finding the right sofa for a small living room design. Luckily, some of the guess work can be taken away by getting sofa set designs for small living room.

These small living room furniture sets usually include two loveseats rather than a loveseat and full-size couch. You can also get matching accent chairs, if you have room for them. The small modern living room is well suited to those with a minimalist attitude. 

The more floor space you can keep open, the larger the room will feel, particularly when paired with the right accent area rug. Choose furniture that has exposed or stick legs, particularly with accent chairs, accent tables, cocktail tables, and more.

Before ordering your furniture, check the dimensions of both the furniture and the room to make sure it will fit appropriately. It may help to create patterns of paper or cardboard from which you can design your living room in real life, then look for furniture that meets those measurements and specifications. Alternatively, if you’ve already found a furniture set you like you can create a pattern based on the set’s dimensions to make sure it will fit. 

How to arrange furniture in a small living room

If you already have some living room furniture and you’re on a budget for your new apartment or tiny home, you should try to use as much of it as possible to cut down on the costs of furnishing and decorating your living room. However, don’t get hung up on trying to make all of it work. Small living rooms do best with small living room furniture. 

To start off right, look for living room furniture arrangement examples similar to the shape and dimensions of your small living room. While you’re at it, look for ways to make your small space pull double duty by incorporating furniture with hidden storage. Studio apartments can also make use of small love seats with a pull out bed or futons. 

If you have existing furniture, actually put it in place so that you can get a clear perspective of how much space you have left to fill. You may also find that furniture you thought would fit into the small living room doesn’t work at all, and you may need more items than you first thought.

Challenging small living room layouts

Although any small living room can be hard to decorate, there are some rooms that are more challenging than others. If you have a small living area that is a perfect, or near-perfect, square, you are very lucky. Even a rectangular living room with a fire place can be easier to furnish than a narrow living room or oddly shaped and constricted spaces.

The average living room takes up 15% of your small home, but a tiny house living room, student housing, and studio or small apartment living rooms may only have a great room in which you can decide for yourself how much of the space will be the “living room.”

Tiny homes, studio apartments, and mobile homes have another big disadvantage – a long living room layout. If you want the majority of the living area to be furnished as a small living room, you will need to choose furniture based on a narrow perspective.

How to arrange furniture in an awkward living room

If you previously lived in a home with a traditional living room floor plan, it might be difficult to arrange furniture in an awkward living room. Give up. While you might be able to use some of your pieces, you don’t want to use the larger furniture. Start from scratch with planning a design, then work in your existing furniture where you can, discarding the rest and buying small living room furniture replacements as needed.

If you can’t find a sofa for small living room that you like, you can choose small living room chairs with a dividing end table with exposed legs. You might also consider a chaise, which can give you about the same space as a loveseat but with a slimmer and more space-efficient design. A chaise and matching accent chairs may be available in small living room sets.

Sectionals for small living room are available, but they won’t work for a narrow living room layout or long spaces. Instead, look at modular sofas that allow you to choose how large or small you want the sofa, as well as the ability to arrange it specifically to the room. 

Final touches and small living room design ideas

Once you have finally purchased and place your small living room furniture, it is time to give your small space living the final touches. Wall art is always a good choice, but large pieces of framed artwork an make the room seem smaller than it really is, and you want the opposite effect. A gallery wall of smaller artwork in slimmer frames covers just as much wall space without taking away the benefits of the flat white.

Another thing to consider, touched on briefly earlier, is the judicious use of mirrors. Mirrors and glass reflect light, and with proper placement to your windows can really open the place up during the day. Consider glass coffee or accent tables that are both slender and lightweight. Placing a polished mirror on the wall opposite your window gives you even more light.

Shopping for your furniture and décor at the same time can help you pull together your small living room with ease. See our catalog of furniture and décor for small living rooms for more ideas!