Many of us don’t have large, sprawling houses. So, what does one do when faced with the challenge of decorating a small space. Experience has taught me that there are no fixed rules. It all depends on the room.
Today, I will cover ideas on how to create an illusion of light and space in a small living room.
A very good starting point would be the walls. My advice would be to paint the walls in a neutral palette. Bear in mind that this trick will not work equally well for every other small room in the house. Secondly make sure that the room has plenty of light (natural or otherwise). When the walls are painted in a neutral shade and there is plenty of light in the room, half the battle is already won as both of these automatically give the living room a feeling of space.
Next, make sure that the drapes in the room are light and airy. Also arrange the drapes to be full length – ceiling to floor (even if your windows are not full length). This draws the eye upwards and creates an illusion of space. Avoid heavy drapes or those with loud and busy patterns as this will immediately make the room look smaller. If the room does not have much natural light, then invest in strategic ceiling lighting, instead of floor lamps that will occupy precious floor space.
While on the topic of floor space, keep furniture to the minimum. Ideally, have one large and comfortable sofa in a neutral colour and one or a couple of statement chairs. Avoid too many colours in the small living room. Stick to one neutral base colour and off set it with one or two complimentary colours – in cushions or wall art.
Avoid a big chunky centre table. Instead go in for a clear glass table. This again gives a feeling of space. This clear glass table will bring the room together. Give the table character with a big beautiful vase of flowers and some interesting coffee table books.
In my opinion, when you have a small living room, two things you MUST invest in are a statement mirror(s) and eye catching wall art.
To begin with, mirrors are another great way of opening out the room and your best conduit to give an illusion of space. You can either go in for one large mirror or an arrangement of several small and medium sized mirrors to create a collage. Make sure that you do not share this mirror wall with anything else, as it will reduce the impact of that wall and make it look messy and confusing
Secondly invest in a bold piece of art for another wall. In a small living room, do not have too many things on the wall as it will make the room look smaller. Restrict yourself to just one, for example – a bold and arresting painting, a framed oriental carpet or a wall carving.
In case your budget doesn’t allow you to splurge on wall art, you can still create your own work of art by putting together a collage of your family photographs, or your collection of Turkish or Moroccan plates that you bought on Arab Street, or simply interesting cane baskets. This collection if arranged interestingly like a collage will become a work of art in itself. Just make sure that this wall art is in colours that do not clash with the rest of the room and that it covers a significant portion of the wall. If your arrangement starts as close to the ceiling as possible and moves downwards to the floor, it carries the gaze upwards, hence automatically creating a feeling of space.
I hope this piece has been helpful to you and provided you with ideas and a broad framework to go about decorating your petite living room. Remember, small can be beautiful!
This living room is good example of everything done right – neutral wall colour and no drapes automatically creates light and space. Furniture is minimal in one neutral base colour and just one other colour to off-set the monotony. The same colour combination extends to everything else in the room, from cushions to wall art. The wall art is an arresting piece that extends the gaze from ceiling to floor giving an illusion of space. The centre table is minimal and fuss free, but made interesting with a unique flower arrangement and table top décor.
Another great example. Notice how well the room follows the simple rules of creating the illusion of space – right from the neutral wall colour palette in the room and light airy curtains to the clear glass coffee table and the stunning large mirror that extends from the ceiling downwards. Perfect!
If you don’t have the budget for a beautiful painting, you can create your own wall art using photographs of loved ones or simple and beautiful wicker baskets and arranging them in a creative collage. As seen in this picture, the collage extends from the ceiling to the floor, immediately making the room look bigger and interesting.
Some neutral shades that are ideal base colours for a living room.