Skip to main content

Make your small living room look massive with these 4 easy accessorizing tips

Small living rooms don’t have to feel cramped or cluttered. While there is a tendency to over-accessorize and under-accessorize these spaces, finding a balance between sparse and overwhelming is actually much easier than you think.

We’ll be diving into some of the best tiny house accessories you can bring to your home to help open up your small living room. These are simple, practical changes that can be implemented in any space to help your house feel less cluttered and appear much larger!

small living room with tiny rug and decorative plants
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Showcase your floor

One of the best ways to make a space feel larger is to showcase the floor. Have you ever moved houses and walked into an empty room after all of the furniture has been taken out? Did you think to yourself, “Wow, I never knew the room was that big!” The reason for this is because now, you’re made aware of the amount of floor space available.

Cluttered rooms or spaces where the floor is covered up can often feel smaller than they are. While this is considered cozy in some places, tiny homes should avoid hiding the floors at all costs.

Don’t use oversized rugs

One of the easiest ways to enlarge the look of a small room is to avoid using oversized rugs. Large rugs can look massive in your space, and they cover up the stunning flooring found in your home. If you plan to use rugs, consider opting for carpeting instead. Or, use smaller rugs that don’t take up too much floor space. Patterned rugs, in particular, can also cause your room to feel cramped. Consider opting for a more minimal design to avoid this.

Use furniture with legs

Box furniture and fixtures without legs sit low to the ground and hide your flooring. This creates a sense of closure in a space that can feel cramped, making a room appear visually smaller. A good trick instead is to use furniture with legs. For example, hairpin side tables, tv stands with legs, and coffee tables that seamlessly float above the floor can help make your room appear larger.

Utilize wall shelving

If you have a lot of items cluttering your floor, you might want to consider utilizing vertical storage. Instead of using a standard bookcase or cabinet, which can use up valuable space, opt for wall shelving that helps lift items off the floor and creates a visual appearance of additional space. Wall shelves are perfect storage solutions for small rooms, both in tricking the eye into thinking a space is larger and for maximizing the space available for your knick-knacks, decor, and essentials.

Use blinds instead of curtains

Curtains are a dominating feature in many spaces. In most cases, they scale the wall from floor to ceiling, creating a sense of separation from the outside world and the living room. Unfortunately, long curtains can make a tiny room appear even smaller. They can cover inches of flooring and have the ability to make your room feel closed in on itself.

Instead of using curtains on your windows, try including blinds in your design. While blinds can sometimes be cheap and poorly made, there are several fantastic options that invite more luxury into your space. Linen, wood, and paneling are amazing options for implementing a sophisticated detail into your design.

Don’t neglect the use of mirrors

It’s a well-known design trick that mirrors can open up a room and make it appear larger. If you’re looking to decorate your living space’s accessories, try including mirrors in your final design. Tall, full-length mirrors are great for reflecting the space and adding the appearance of additional square footage. Of course, a simple wall mirror or mirror collage can also work wonders in your tiny living room.

Additionally, reflective decor items and glass objects can give the feeling of a larger space. Their reflective nature bounces light, creating a brighter atmosphere that feels much grander than it is.

small living room with minimal wall decor
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Keep the wall art minimal

If you want your space to appear large and bright, you’ll want to avoid cluttering your walls with decor or artistic pieces. A few statement paintings, mirrors, shelves, and other displays can add character and sophistication to your space. However, try not to get carried away with the details. Too many items can cause your room to feel cramped and cluttered. Additionally, try to stick with only three to five colors in your palette to ensure the wall decor doesn’t begin to clash with your overall design.

Accessorizing a small living room doesn’t have to be challenging. You can avoid the barren look without making your space look too cluttered or cramped. The key is to keep the flooring visible and to utilize vertical space as much as possible. Additionally, avoid any gigantic pieces of decor or furniture that will make the room feel claustrophobic or underwhelming. With these tips, you should be able to decorate your tiny living room in a way that makes it feel expansive and inviting.

Editors' Recommendations

Amelia Wilson
Amelia Wilson (author pen name Amelia J. Wilson) is a content writer in Greenwood, IN. She often enjoys topics on…
Modernize your oak wood decor with these gorgeous paint colors
These colors can give oak wood a modern, refreshing look
Kitchen with black cabinets and dark wood inspired by midcentury design

Whether you’ve just installed your favorite oak kitchen cabinets or you’ve decided on a stunning oak wood floor for your home, it can be difficult to find a modern color palette that looks seamless alongside these warm wood tones. While oak wood is stunning with traditional design, modernists who favor its classic appeal might find blending this tone with their existing palette frustrating.

Oak wood has a tendency to look outdated or overly traditional in a home's design. This happens for several reasons. For example, a dark or brown color palette makes oak look a bit drab in spaces where modernists prefer light or airy tones.

Read more
4 outstanding paint colors for your small laundry room upgrade
Don't settle with a dark and dreary laundry room. Try these paint colors to brighten and refresh the small space
Laundry room with shelving and cubbies

When styling a small laundry room, you've likely struggled to find a paint color that brightens the space. Even when opting for neutral tones, you find yourself entering a space that is cramped or dreary. The challenge with small laundry rooms is that they often appear dark, bleak, or dingy, making your already small area appear more cramped than it actually is. To prevent this from happening in your home, it's best to choose laundry room colors that help illuminate and expand the room's look.

While light neutrals and bright whites may seem like the obvious choice, we're here to prove that there are several fun color alternatives that will improve your space. Below, we've chosen four amazing paint colors perfect for opening up and brightening a small laundry room.

Read more
25 stellar staircase ideas to freshen up the look of your home
Not ready for an entire remodel? Update your staircase with one of these ideas
Young woman on stairs in a loft caring for potted plants.

If you want to change the interior of your house, you can change out throw pillows and invest in new furniture, but your stairs are a set thing, right? Not quite. You may not be able to move stairs or rip them out entirely, but you can get creative about your stair design.

Changing up your staircase can be one way to upgrade the look of your home and it isn't as difficult as you may think. If you aren’t sure how to accomplish this, we’ve got 25 ideas ranging from subtle to dramatic to help you figure it out. Keep reading for inspiration on how to update your staircase.

Read more