How to Make Small Living Room Look Bigger

If you want to make a small living room feel open, calm, and intentional, you’re in good company. Small living rooms are among the top ten design difficulties, particularly in apartment living and smaller homes. 

This article is well worth reading for its clear, practical ways to make a small living room feel bigger. Costs little or nothing, and trendy tricks that look cool in photos just won’t work here. 

All is really practical and designed with the end in mind to make your room feel larger and sunnier in real life.

Ideas here range from the general to the specific: how to arrange the layout and how using paint color, lighting, and the choice of furniture make an important difference.

Get these decor items below to design your space:

Make a small living room feel bigger by starting with the layout

Starting with the layout can make a small living room feel bigger. Many people like to fill their small living room with formal furniture, but it actually makes it feel even smaller.

Small living rooms often feel cramped because furniture is pushed around randomly without purpose. Importantly, when you arrange furniture with purpose, the room feels more open and breathable.

Of course, you don’t need to use the golden section to find the right proportions. Another approach is to try floating key furniture pieces slightly inward, even just a few inches. A sofa pulled away from its wall can sometimes help make the room feel larger.

To get the right layout for such a room and make it work for you, the layout comes first.

How does furniture placement draw the eye in small living rooms?

Not sure if you realised that, as you move the furniture around, it can naturally draw the eye to various areas of your space. While doing so, try observing whether your eyes flow smoothly from one side to the other.

If they do, then the whole room will seem balanced and thought out. This is particularly important if you are lacking space.

Avoid cutting off well-trodden routes through rooms, and don’t block people’s eyes if at all possible. Lower, lighter furniture with directly placed legs allows light to enter from elsewhere, and the room will at once look much bigger than it otherwise would. 

Now, suddenly, a small living room space looks bigger rather than heavy, without altering the entire space.

Choose the right furniture pieces for a small living room

Avoid overlarge furniture as it can swamp a small living room. For example, when selecting furniture for your living space, ask yourself, which is more important, scale or style?

Pick furniture pieces that fit in the living room rather than filling it from corner to corner. A slim sofa, armless chairs, and a narrow coffee table maintain a visible floor space.

From any point in the room, the furniture appears to rest on an island of carpet. A small living room should support movement, not restrict it. It’s one of the best ways to make a small room feel more open.

What paint color really makes a small living room look bigger?

The quiet but supreme role of paint color in making a tiny living room look larger. Lighter tones reverberate with sunlight in the room & help to broaden out your quarters.

Soft whites, warm creams, gentle taupes, and serene greiges all work as well in small living rooms. That doesn’t mean you need to do all white in a room.

A consistent paint color on all walls in a small living area helps blur the edges of the room and maintains visual continuity within.

When walls in a small living space flow together seamlessly, rooms look bigger, quieter, without extra decoration. 

How vertical space can make a small room feel taller

People often fail to make use of vertical space. But as long as you do so, it is very easy to make a small room look taller.

Now look up at the top of the walls, and, magically, the ceilings seem higher; the whole room feels more expansive.

Tall bookshelves, ceiling-high curtains, and wall-hung items such as paintings all help visually stretch the space by making you look up.

Plus, you can help the space feel larger by setting curtain rods higher (and not directly above a window). For example, this can effectively downplay a low ceiling.

When you are trying to create a light, airy feeling in a low-ceilinged place, this subtle method often does wonders.

Lighting ideas that help a small living room feel bigger

It has been said that the lighting in a space will completely change how the room feels. For small living room lighting ideas, layering is key.

Instead of relying on a single overhead fixture, use a combination of floor lamps, table lamps, and wall lighting to spread light throughout the room.

Soft, warm lighting reduces the harsh shadows that can make a room feel cramped, which is why good lighting makes just about any space seem larger and more comfortable.

Make sure the lighting frames are not too chunky. Slim and simple ones are the best fit to take up less space in your home.

Mirrors and reflective decor to create the illusion of space

Using mirrors, a tried-and-true decorator’s trick, could lend you a much larger sense of inner space. When hung opposite windows or other light sources, mirrors will reflect and distribute light throughout a room, which can make the space feel brighter.

A huge mirror can visually double the depth of a tiny living room. Glass tables and other reflective elements can also enhance the room’s elegance, gracefully increasing its elegance without completely taking over.

A fundamental key for this type of transformation is to balance the space so that it feels intentional and not too touristy.

How to make a small living room feel bigger with rugs and flooring

Flooring choices are among the things most people never give a second thought to. If a carpet is too small, it will visually shrink a room. 

On the contrary, if a carpet extends under your main furniture pieces and the living space spills out uninterrupted, there will be room for everything.

Showing too many breaks in flooring can make a small space feel choppy. A larger rug can lengthen the space visually and support the deception of spaciousness. In other words, such an approach actually makes a small living room feel larger while also tying it together.

Decorating ideas that make a small living room feel intentional

Decor shouldn’t fight the room; it should complement it. The best small living room idea is to keep the decor tidy and economical. An excess of accessories can make a room crowded or too energetic.

Choose a few focal pieces and spread the colors around the room. This integration makes the entire room feel more consistent.

This, in turn, makes it easier to see where everything fits. Thoughtful decorating ideas will help the living room seem less cluttered. Naturally, it will seem larger and more comfortable.

Final ways to make a small living room look bigger without remodeling

Don’t feel like you have to renovate. Just simple things, like shifting the sofa, re-painting a wall, and adding better lighting. It makes a big difference!

When creating a small living room, make sure that the routes of light and sight, as well as the object size to space volume ratio, are all met.

These ways of making a small room look larger work every time. They are timeless. These techniques can turn your tiny living room or apartment into an entertaining and comfortable space.