Maximize Your Living Room Space with These Clever Layout Tricks

Your living room is the soul and social hub of your home. A space for warm gatherings of family and friends, excited chatter of your little ones and a room where you can relax after a hard day’s work. It’s only natural that you would want your living room to feel cosy and inviting.

It’s not always easy to make it happen though. Living rooms come in all shapes and sizes and you will need to use some clever tricks to make the most out of your floor space.

Small, cramped living rooms

If you are feeling boxed-in, chances are you will need to rethink your living room layout. Here are some tricks to make a living room appear larger:

De-clutter

Thoreau rightfully suggested that we ‘simplify, simplify’. Small spaces especially benefit from the lack of clutter. Channel your inner Marie Kondo and discard those elements that do not serve their purpose anymore or seem outdated. The lesser the belongings, the more space you free up.

Use multipurpose furniture

There are many creative furniture options out there that serve a dual purpose – as seating and storage. Look for furniture with hidden compartments, like a trunk that serves as a coffee table. Ottomans with tops that can be lifted. A sofa that also doubles up as a bed. These kind of furniture will give you more space to stash stuff without taking up valuable floor space.

Keep it light

Neutral and light colours reflect light while dark colours absorb light. For small living rooms, it’s best to go light to give the illusion of a bigger space. Paint the walls in muted and soft tones. The same applies for your floors. Pale, light or medium wood-effect planks or muted stone-effect tiles would help expand the room visually.

Place mirrors

Strategically placing mirrors is another simple, yet effective idea to evoke the feeling of extra space. Mirrors tend to bounce light and they make the room appear larger by reflecting the surrounding areas. Think large mirror above your seating to lend the room additional depth.

Rise up the level

Even if you have a shorter ceiling, you can create the illusion of height with some clever tricks. Hang photo frames higher up. Place your curtain rods closer to the ceiling instead of at the window frame level. These will help draw the eye upward, thus lengthening a small living room.

Try floor patterns

Parquet floors are a great way to create movement and trick the eye into believing the space is larger than it is. Herringbone, for instance with its abstract, fluid quality can actually help widen a room. But remember to use light coloured herringbone floors or soft grey ones, if you wish for a more modern edge.

Large living room

A long living room can end up feeling very empty, cold and sterile, if every element is pushed to one corner. Instead, try to cleverly use all the space available in such a way that it feels harmonious and free-flowing.

Section it

Zoning is a modern décor trend that would work beautifully in a large space. You could section your room into a lounging area and a work station or dining nook. These nooks can be further accentuated with clever flooring. For example, the seating area can have raw, dark wood-effect planks that flow effortlessly into crisp white marble-effect tiles for the work area.

You could cleverly divide the two spaces with an L-shaped sofa and a bookshelf. For a harmonious balance, you could also tie in both these areas with a common element, like statement lamps or area rugs, for instance.

Bring the outdoors in

Adding large plants not only makes the space feel soothing and natural, but can also cover up those unutilized dead spaces. Monstera or Swiss Cheese plant and Rubber plant are great choices.

Keep it soft

Think about investing in furniture with more rounded and softer edges to counteract the straight, sharp lines of a long room. A circular coffee table, an English arm roll sofa, throws with flowing weaves and vases with soft curves will help lend warmth and a snug feeling.

L-shaped living room

This type of room can feel awkward if not tackled right. Thankfully, there are some easy tricks to make it work.

Decide on functionality

If you want a larger seating area, you would want to utilize the larger part of the L-shape for this purpose. The other part can serve as a dining corner. You can separate the living room further by adding in partition pieces – a bookshelf, a console table or a rug could do the trick. You could also use different, but complementary wall and floor colours to separate the areas while maintaining harmony.

Go for larger furniture

You could arrange a sectional sofa, an L-shaped sofa or a long couch to make the most of the expanse. Floating chairs and a small table could be placed at the intersection of the L-shape to create additional seating options.

Awkward living room

Some living rooms have an unusual and unconventional configuration. Slanted ceilings, nooks, alcoves and sloping walls are not so easy to tackle and need some thought to make the room feel cohesive.

Create a focal point

Find the most prominent wall in the room and place your main furniture against it. This clears up the space for the rest of the furnishings.

Keep away from the wall

In case you have oddly slanted walls or barely any wall space, don’t push your furniture against it. Instead, bring your sofa and coffee table to the centre of the room. You can free up the wall space to add pieces that hide the clumsiness of the wall, like a tall bookshelf or a large potted plant.

Create snug nooks

If you have an awkward alcove, you can create a lovely reading nook by throwing in some cushions and a soft blanket. An oddly angled corner can double up as a meditation space, by adding in an ottoman with Tibetan bowls and incense sticks placed on it.

Light it up

Lighting is essential in this case, since it can enhance the feeling of harmony in an awkward space. For a slanted ceiling, try blending in pendants of different heights to lend a more structurally stunning look. Recessed light fixtures work great for low ceilings. Go for warm and cosy lights as opposed to bright, glaring ones since they only manage to enhance the irregularities.

What’s your living room like?

Flooring is a major part of your living room and can be used cleverly to enhance the good and hide the ungainly aspects. Browse through our brochure to feel inspired by some stunning living room floor ideas. For more details, we are just a call away.