The living room of your home is supposed to be gracious and welcoming, inviting you to sink into its depth after a hard day’s work. It’s where you entertain your guests as well as spend the evening catching up with your family.

But when the living room is on the smaller size, decorating it can get quite challenging. Traditional ideas on living room decoration don’t work out here as they could cramp up your living room further. But having said that, there are numerous other options you can look at to make your living room feel less cramped and claustrophobic. Strategic use of colours and furnishings can make your living look aesthetically pleasing and cosy instead.

Here is a look at some innovative ideas on decorating smaller living rooms:

Decorative mirrors

Place mirrors strategically in small areas, to make them feel larger. They create a sense of space and light, especially when placed across a window, creating an illusion of another window and more light. A single, large ornately framed mirror used in a small living room creates a focal point, taking attention away from the room’s size.

Keep it vertical

Decorate the room to draw the eyes upwards and give the room a sense of height. Use long flowing floor-to-ceiling drapes instead of window blinds to fulfil this goal. Or you could decorate a wall with numerous small to mid-size frames drawing attention to the vertical space, thus enhancing the room.

Colours

Dark colours are taboo for smaller rooms as they make it feel even smaller. Go for neutral colours as they can trick the eye into a feeling of space. Numerous soft colours like off-white, beige, pale lemon, blue-grey or shades of light blue all add to the expansion of space, by creating a semblance of pushing back the walls. Neutral colours are also calming on the mind, aside from adding instant sophistication to a room.

Furniture

Go with select small-scale furniture as bulky, over-stuffed furniture will make the room look overcrowded and dominate the room. Sofas with small arms and tightly upholstered backs are better off here. Avoid dark wood and go with space-enhancing glass coffee tables and side-stools where possible. Also, do keep the furniture to a bare functional minimum to provide space for moving around.

Carpet

Pale coloured wall-to-wall carpeting will make the room look more spacious. But avoid going for carpets with deep or shaggy piles, to keep things to a minimalist level.

And if you have plants and mementoes to display, go vertical, use the walls.

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