Decorating a small room is not always a straightforward task and there may be some challenges to overcome. However, if you are clever about the colour scheme, furnishings, and decor that you choose, you can create a warm and inviting terraced house living room that offers the illusion of extra space.
If you're not sure where to start or can decide how to decorate your small living room, check out these tried and tested small terraced house living room ideas that I have collated for your inspiration!
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Things to Consider Before Redecorating
I can certainly attest to the fact that decorating a room can be stressful and time-consuming, but doing it in a smaller room can compound the problems further. This is mainly due to the extra difficulty of getting furnishings out of the small space, or at least moving it sufficiently so as not to be in the way.
Furthermore, if you are happy with your walls and foundational decor as it is, there is no need to make huge, costly changes. Simply make smaller adjustments, removals, or additions to get the look that you desire.
Is Your Living Room Too Dark?
If you have a particularly dark room, both in terms of natural light and the colour scheme, it will almost always feel smaller. If this is the case, consider the following simple fixes to brighten a dark room :
- Are the windows blocked ?
- Are the curtains or blinds too heavy?
- Is your light shade blocking ambient light?
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Simply switching to lighter curtains, both in terms of the colour and the material used, or choosing Venetian blinds instead of a roller blind, can significantly increase the amount of natural light that a room receives. Likewise, making sure that your windows aren't blocked by furnishings or clutter will also benefit the space.
Letting as much natural light as possible flood into the living room is key to making it feel bright, airy, and spacious during the day. In contrast, at night your light shade plays a much more important role. Not only in the amount of light your room receives but also the overall feel of the space.
Choosing a light shade that focuses the majority of light upwards ensures that light is diffused softly throughout the room. Otherwise, the bulb will create a harsh concentrated light surrounded by multiple shadows.
Is The Room Cluttered?
Clutter makes a room feel cramped and claustrophobic, especially if the clutter is in the way of the most frequented areas and furniture.
If you want to keep all those little knick-knacks that are taking up valuable space, try putting them on shelving just above eye level. That way they will still be seen, but will not get in the way of other room decorations.
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Is Your Furniture The Right Size?
Furniture is expensive, so it makes sense to keep hold of items that are in good repair for as long as possible. However, if your furnishings are too large and cumbersome for your living room, consider getting rid of any unneeded items, or selling unsuitable furniture to make more space for appropriately sized pieces (for example, trade-in your couch for a snuggle chair).
Do You Have Enough Storage Space?
While it may go against interior design ideas to add more elements to an already cramped space, cleverly deployed storage solutions are an exception and can make all the difference to how you use the small space.
By gathering together non-essential clutter such as old magazines, dog toys, or children's toys into one, compact and attractive storage location, whether that be a seat with an interior compartment, a
hanging storage
If these questions and answers don't cover the problems you are experiencing, or you're just looking to change the decor or design of your small terraced house living room, here are some specific small living room ideas that you can utilise and try out today...
20 Small Living Room Decorating Ideas
My hope is that the following small sitting room design ideas will help you decorate and furnish your living room with ease, whilst also making the most of every inch of space available.
My living room ideas range from small changes that can be made quickly and easily, to bigger changes that require redecoration or new furnishings.
All of these interior design styles are effective ways to make the most of your space and decoration.
Once you are feeling truly inspired by these small living room ideas, you may like to check out my other living room decor ideas that I have put together.
1. Use Your Walls to Minimise Clutter
Image credit: cheerfulcrickets.co.uk
Hanging decorations which double as storage solutions are a great way to keep your small living room feeling spacious, airy and uncluttered.
Hanging small knitted baskets on the wall, or a cloth storage tower from the ceiling are both decorative and practical options to store small loose items, such as children's toys and small games. This will ultimately keep your living room looking tidy and less cluttered.
I have written another article dedicated to wall storage ideas that may be of interest to you.
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2. Cover Up The Floor
Image credit: Amazon.co.uk
My next tip is to cover the floor, not entirely of course! These days wooden flooring is generally more desirable to homeowners than wall to wall carpeting. Therefore, if you are in this camp, and your living room is covered with polished floorboards, I suggest covering up part of this with a sizeable rug. This will break up the floor space and give the illusion of a grander room, creating more defined areas.
Rugs also add texture, warmth, and visual movement to a living room, which is otherwise (by necessity of its size) plain.
Choosing a rug for your living room, or any other room in your home for that matter, is an important decision that will make a big impact on your room's decor. You need to not only consider its size but also its colours, pattern and the material that it's made from.
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3. Choose an Elevated Living Room Focal Point
Image credit: ishka.com.au
The focal point of a room is an important factor that has a hand in determining how spacious it looks and feels. For very small rooms, creating an elevated focal point can give the illusion of height. One example of an elevated focal point would be a shelf or statement light shade hanging from the ceiling.
Try to choose something that is largely transparent, or which has large gaps in it. If you don't stick to this rule, the feature piece may instead dominate the room, making it feel shorter and smaller. Moderation is the key here.
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4. Ideas For Small Living Room Furniture
Image credit: greatideahub.com
You may be considering furnishing your small living room, but are unsure where to start. One practical idea that an interior designer may use is dual-purpose or
function furnishings, they are real lifelines for those who own small terraced homes or flats. Sofa beds
Coffee tables that also hide chairs or chairs which can be folded out into single beds for guests are also practical ways to make your small living space work harder for you.
5. Consider Hanging Furniture
Image credit: pinterest.com
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Hanging furniture isn't everyone's cup of tea, either for the look or the often difficult and problematic fitting of it. However, if you have high ceilings and limited floor space, it could be just what you need.
Egg chairs
Furthermore, you could opt for a table or shelf which can be either raised to the ceiling via a pulley or folded against the wall. These furnishings will require more extensive instalments but are well worth the time, cost, and effort if your space is tight.
6. Decorate Vertically
Image credit: bhg.com
Whether you're considering family wall ideas, hanging plants, mirrors, or even fabric hangings, you should always decorate vertically in a small room.
Low, wide arrangements will make the space feel smaller by drawing attention to the lack of width in the room. Instead, opt for a mosaic layout, which utilises small pieces added to the wall in an uneven upward and outward orientation.
Alternatively, you could consider a single, large piece of artwork which is taller than it is wide. Whatever you decide, always remember that wall art is important when it comes to the finishing touches of a room. The wall decor you choose can make or break the overall aesthetics of the space.
7. Mount Your TV and Sound System
Image credit: uk.pcmag.com
TVs, sound systems, and gaming consoles can take up a lot of space in a small living room. Adding a wall-mounted TV, using
wall brackets
To create the ultimate focal point for your room, why not create a modern tv wall.
8. Make The Most of Mirrors
Image credit: Idealhome.co.uk
When you are dealing with a small living room design, carefully placing
wall mirrors
This may be one of the oldest interior design ideas in the book, but it is also one of the most effective, and why it is still often used by professional interior designers.
If you can, choose an extra large mirror that takes up most of the free wall space and make sure that it is situated to catch and reflect as much of the natural light as possible.
9. Contrast Light and Dark Colours
Image credit : asimplerdesign.com
Conventional interior design dictates that you should use pale or neutral colour schemes in a small room. White, cream, grey, silver, and pale variations of primary colours are most often seen in smaller living rooms.
The reason for this is that they make the most of the available light, visually opening up the space, while dark colours are traditionally avoided. Despite this, contrasting light and dark colours can provide a stunning overall effect.
Choosing a light colour such as white or grey for your walls and adding dark accents, for example, by painting furnishings or skirting boards, will give the room more depth and interest.
10. Paint or Stain The Floorboards
Image credit: decor24online
While a lighter colour scheme is generally recommended when painting or papering walls in a small living room, flooring should generally be darker. This serves to maximise the look of the space you have, especially if your walls are very pale. It also creates an aesthetically pleasing contrast between the walls and floor.
There has been a trend, recently, for painting floorboards black, but for me, dark mahogany is a far safer bet if you're not feeling overly brave!
11. Colour Block Your Clutter
Image credit: Notonthehighstreet.com
A splash of bright colour is certainly the key to livening up a bland room, but in small rooms, the trick is to have colour, but not let it overwhelm the rest of the decor.
This is where 'colour blocking' could be used. If you have not heard of this before, colour blocking is the practice of keeping items of similar colours together. For example, organising your bookcase by colour scheme, or having a block of coloured cushions placed on the couch. This will make the room look more organised and cohesive and also help to add layers and depth to the overall aesthetic of the room.
12. Avoid Angular Shapes
Image credit: blackroosterdecor.com
In small spaces, rounded shapes are preferable to angular ones. This is especially true when it comes to tables, where sharp edges will catch passing legs.
Choosing oval or
round tables
13. Choose Furnishings With Exposed or Narrow Legs
Image credit: Pinterest
Furniture with thin, spindly legs and exposed sides creates the illusion of space by allowing us to see through and beyond them. In short, when you have a traditional coffee table or bookcase, the area that they use to function is taken from the room, but so too is all the space that they cover.
When you choose an open, thin-framed bookcase or coffee table, you can still see the walls beyond and the floor underneath them. While this makes no practical or functional difference, it does give the impression of more openness.
14. Try Mirrored or Glass Furniture
Image credit: choicefurnituresuperstore.co.uk
As you may be beginning to gather, the furnishings you choose for a smaller room are very important. Just as thin-legged furniture creates the illusion of space,
glass-topped furniture
Adding mirrored furniture creates interesting optical illusions, and brightens the overall feel of the room. This happens as they reflect and refract the natural light.
A common design challenge is balancing design with practicality, and the downside in this case is that glass and mirrored furnishings require far more upkeep. They will need to be polished and dusted regularly to remove fingerprints and other marks. Otherwise, they will simply draw attention to themselves and away from your room, which is not what you are trying to achieve.
15. Add Some Greenery
Image credit: Pinterest
This advice may seem to go against tradition, but there are always exceptions which prove the rule. With interior design, plants, more often than not, are this exception. Studies have shown that having plants in a room not only elevates your mood but is also good for your health and well-being.
Putting scented plants on a window sill, for example, will fill the room with a pleasant, natural scent, especially with a breeze from an open window.
Plants are also a good way to fill 'negative' space. Negative space is any space which cannot be easily utilised for anything other purpose. A good example of negative space is a non-functioning fireplace for instance.
Adding plants of different sizes to various places in the room will provide extra visual depth, freshen the air, and lift your spirits.
16. Use a Rooms Corners
Image credit: yellowbrickhome.com
Many people will tell you to keep furnishings away from the walls but, once again, there are exceptions to this rule. If you have a small kitchen living space that also doubles up as a spare room, consider using one of the corners to create a cosy reading nook.
For example, a corner booth-style seat placed against the wall accompanied by a low coffee table (preferably facing a window) will give you a sense of openness but with complete privacy. The perfect place for you to unwind and feel separate from the rest of the room, even though it isn't.
17. How to Arrange a Small Living Room
Image credit: Pinterest
Sit your furniture, especially seating and tables, at an angle rather than being parallel with the walls. This will not only make the room feel a little cosier and lived-in, but it will also allow for more flow when you move around the room.
Furthermore, angling your furniture in a way which allows you to move around and behind it, will give you a more functional and practical space.
18. Small Living Room Lighting Ideas
Image credit: Pinterest
Spotlights fitted into the ceiling, wall-mounted lamps, floor lamps, and the classic hanging shade in the centre of the room. These are some of the many options when it comes to
living room lighting
Whatever you choose, make sure that light is evenly distributed throughout the room. If this is not considered, you will find that the shadows will make the room look and feel much smaller.
You could also consider a clear shade if you have particularly low ceilings, this will allow the light to radiate much better and more effectively.
19. Take Advantage of High Ceilings
Image credit: hips.hearstapps.com
Some rooms, although small, have the benefit of having high ceilings. If your living room is one of these, you should make the most of it. You certainly couldn't get away with this colourful, busy and detailed wallpaper without them!
Tall storage units, shelving units, and light fittings which reflect and refract light should also be high on your list of must-haves. Anything which draws the eye up, and saves on floor space, is instrumental in maximising space in any small room. You could even add extra greenery to your living room by having hanging plants dangling from the ceiling.
20. Make Use of Architectural Anomalies
Image credit: windowfits.com
Indentations, protrusions, and strange shapes are very much a feature in small homes, especially in period properties, and they can make decorating a real nightmare... unless you use them to your advantage.
When you have a sizeable indented area, like an alcove, try putting furniture such as sideboards and sofas into that area to save floor space. Or even use the alcove to create your very own home office space.
Bay windows, in particular, can be a gift for small spaces. Placing a chair or small sofa into it, or investing in a bespoke box seat with storage, will save a lot of space within the main floor area and give the illusion of having more space.
My Final Thoughts
Above and beyond all of these small terraced house living room ideas, you should decorate your room in a way that pleases you and makes you happy. After all, this is your living space, no one else's. If you prefer solid, wooden furniture, choose that. If you would rather have an oversized sofa, have one.
These ideas are just that - ideas. You can always offset any pieces or choices that make the room feel small with other alterations discussed!
If you have now got a thirst for more inspiration and ideas, to help with the other rooms in your home, check out my 32 simple ideas for home decor interiors.
Author: Matthew Chiappini
