In most homes, the living room is the center of activity, entertainment, and family bonding. It is where receiving visitors, family gatherings, and warm game nights happen. The living room is also perhaps the most well-kept space in any home as it receives high foot traffic.

Before you think you’ll need a spacious living room to make the most of it, think again. New furniture and decor items are now suitable for smaller living room spaces. And with these five design ideas, you’ll turn your tiny living room into a clean, organized, and well-decorated area:

Use Smart Lighting

Light is crucial to creating the illusion of larger spaces. Choose lighting features, such as sconce lights and pendant lamps. Sconce lights are attached to the walls and are great for adding dimension to any room. They also frame pieces, such as your couch, paintings, or hanging decorations, which create a statement to your living room wall.

Pendant lamps mimic the effect of chandeliers. Their large sizes help distribute light in your living area evenly. Both sconce and pendant lighting features don’t use floor space as they are hung or mounted, which means you’ll have more floor room for other furniture pieces.

Use the Space Under Your Stairs

The under of your stairs are nooks suitable as an extra room or storage. For example, the L-shaped stairs of Bloomfield Heights’ houses have ample space below for a couch, china cabinet, low shelves, or a table. 

If you often use your living area as your home office, convert the under of your stairs as your work area. Use modular furniture pieces, such as a foldable chair and Parson’s desk, to construct your under-the-stairs home office while maintaining the imaginary “divider” between your work area and living room.

Suppose you are planning major renovation projects for your living room; consider building cubby holes under your stairs. Use the shelves to store shoes, backpacks, umbrellas, indoor slippers, and decorative trinkets.

Make the Most of Vertical Lines

If your home doesn’t have high ceilings, incorporate vertical lines. Use wallpaper with stripes to visually elongate your floor-to-ceiling height. If your living room has a window, “lengthen” it by placing the curtain or drape bar a bit higher than your window’s frame. 

Hang narrow paintings on your wall to create more dimension and texture. Install floating shelves that go all the way up; add books and interesting trinkets to bring onlookers’ eyes to the ceiling.

Add Low-legged Furniture

Another way to visually elongate your ceiling is to introduce low-legged furniture into your living room. Let’s say you’re just moving into your new, cozy home. The shortness of your couch, coffee table, and guest seating creates the illusion of higher ceilings. Most low-legged furniture pieces are also more compact, making them ideal to put in smaller living rooms.

Couple your low-legged furniture pieces with Muji-style decorations, such as a small bonsai plant, Tatara seats, and a tea set on your coffee table. You’ll save space by achieving a Japanese zen style for your living room.

Build Recessed Wall Storage

Got an awkward nook in your new home’s living room? Convert it as inside storage. Depending on your desired interior, you can either build a hidden compartment or an open shelf. 

Store towels, cleaning supplies, household tools, pet items, and other things you don’t want cluttering your home in your secret wall storage. Decorate your open shelf with books, paintings, family heirlooms, and small house plants. By building inside storage, you won’t need to take up floor space in your living room that may be suitable for other furniture pieces.

Small living rooms may be tiny, but they are larger than life. They provide room for homeowners to “think outside of their cozy boxes” to style their living areas without overwhelming their homes. Use these five design tips to turn your small living room into an organized and well-decorated area that your family will love.