10 Small Living Room Ideas To Inspire Your Modern Living Room (2024)

One way to open up the room and make it feel bigger is by sticking to a specific color pallet. “We like to keep the palette light and monochromatic to keep the space feeling airy and clean,” says Laetitia Laurent, interior designer for Laure Nell Interiors. “We pay particular attention to the vertical lines, making sure the coffee and side tables line up with the sofa, so your eye can travel freely in a small space. By keeping the colors unified and the proportions to the right scale, we create a sense of softness and coziness in tighter spaces,” she explains.

Curtains play a significant role in the living room. They can add color, texture, and comfort. But they can also play with how big or small a room looks. Avoid bulky or dark shades and choose lightweight fabric curtains instead. They let more light come into the room and increase its brightness, giving it a more spacious appearance.

When decorating a small living room, vertical space is key. Use ladders, wall shelves and other elements to make the most use of your walls. Additionally, you want to add upright plants and vertically arrange your wall decor. The idea is to keep most accessories up to distract the eyesight from the floor, instantly giving the illusion of more space.

A modern, small living room can get inspiration from the minimalist aesthetic. Keep decor to a minimum, so there’s not much that interferes with the eye. Add bold elements like plants and colorful accents, but keep most walls free of decorative elements to let the eye focus on the furniture instead.

An open space layout is the best way to make any small living room appear larger. Merge different rooms by keeping the same color palette, styles and aesthetic. When the living room and dining area combine, it instantly makes the rooms seem more spacious.

While most small living rooms will keep walls white or neutral colors, an accent wall can help them appear more spacious. Using a bold color for the wall behind the sofa will separate the living room from the rest of the house and give the illusion of more space. Any solid color such as blacks, blues, oranges and reds will help make your living room appear larger.

Glass is see-through, making it ideal for decorating small rooms. Glass coffee tables and side tables let the eye see through them, giving the appearance of more space. Likewise, mirrors can brighten up the space, reflecting other areas of the room, instantly making it seem larger. Interior designers often recommend placing large floor mirrors opposite a window to maximize its effect and capture as much light as possible.

Choosing low-profile furniture is one easy way to decorate a small living room with a modern aesthetic. Sleek furniture takes up less visual space while maximizing the area. Leaving much of the eye-level surface free of clutter gives the illusion of a bigger space. Opt for light-color and leggy furniture in a small living room. Furniture pieces that let the eyes scan the floor make the room seem less constricted and trick the eye into believing there’s more space.

If you lack the luxury of space, you have to make the most of every inch of the room. Rethink the living room area, and don’t be afraid to incorporate pieces like a small bistro table that can double as a desk or dining table. Small elements like these can complete the living room and make this space feel more functional.