Decor and Furniture Ideas for Decorating Small Spaces

Decorating small spaces doesn’t mean you’re limited to small ideas! In fact, learning how to decorate small spaces forces you to get creative and think about design in ways you may never have before. Making a space feel larger while maintaining function can be as simple as playing with furniture height, painting with the right colors, or choosing the right furniture to fit your space like smaller loveseats or zero gravity chairs.

Don’t be overwhelmed by your options when designing a small space. Take a deep breath and embrace the opportunity to show your creativity and impress everyone while creating a room you love.

7 Inspired Ideas for Decorating Small Spaces

Finding it hard to get inspired thinking of how to decorate small spaces in your home? We’re here to save the day! We’re taking a look at 7 decor and furniture ideas for decorating small spaces that will maximize your space and give you the living room of your dreams. Our inspiration includes:

• Playing with furniture height to manipulate the senses
• Floating chairs to make maximum usage of space
• Choosing a large rug to make the living seem larger
• Using white walls for brightness
• Embracing the size to create a chic jewel box living room
• Highlighting or exaggerating ceiling height with tall drapes
• Using mirrors to create the feeling of a larger living space

Play With Furniture Height in the Living Room

When decorating small spaces, it’s not just the ground space that matters, but the height of the room, as well. Incorporating lower furniture pieces into a small living space can manipulate the senses and make the ceiling appear higher. This fools your eye into viewing the space as larger than it really is!

Not all your furniture has to be exactly the same height, either. For example, you could anchor the room with a larger piece such as a short loveseat (the perfect alternative to a full size sofa for small living rooms) then accent that with a zero gravity chair or recliner.

Float Living Room Chairs and Furniture to Maximize Space

When you’re decorating small spaces your first inclination may be to move all the furniture to the perimeter of the room. While you can anchor one focal piece against the wall, such as a loveseat or couch, floating the rest of your furniture away from the wall gives more visual interest and will actually help make your living room feel larger.

Choosing chairs for your living room is ideal for decorating small spaces. Chairs make the perfect floating living room furniture pieces as they take up less visual weight than larger loveseats and couches. Adding a zero gravity chair or small ottoman creates more seating and keeps your living room setup very versatile for any occasion. The versatile aesthetic and health benefits of zero gravity chairs make them a popular option that adds style and function to rooms of any size.

If your space allows, consider avoiding any furniture against the wall at all! Creating a space behind your furniture makes the living room appear wider than it really is. Since you’re pressed for space and want functionality, as well, you could use the space behind your furniture for hidden storage or shelving that doesn’t cover the entire wall. Floating shelves can work together with your furniture to create the perfect illusion of a larger living space.

Choose a Large Rug to Make the Living Room Appear Larger

Choosing a large rug for a small living room may sound like a strange thing to do, but when decorating small spaces it’s important to not break up the space visually. Large living room rugs, even those with a bold pattern, create the illusion of a larger space. They can help anchor the space and give you something to use as inspiration for the rest of your living room furniture and decor.

Paint the Living Room Walls White

When you’re decorating small spaces, color plays an important role in how large the space appears. White walls don’t mean it’s a boring living room! To the contrary, painting living room walls white brightens up the space and keeps it from appearing cluttered. To avoid a boring space, add in pops of color with living room accent decor and furniture pieces.

Playing with color and texture with accents adds visual interest and keeps your decor versatile. Not feeling blue anymore? Switch the accents for green or yellow! It’s much easier to switch out living room accessories than it is to repaint the whole space.

Embrace the Small Space and Create a Jewel-Box Living Room

White walls just not your thing? Go the complete opposite direction and lean into the size of your small living room! Dark, glossy walls can create a very chic mood for your space. It’s the perfect backdrop for adding in luxurious fabrics and living room furniture pieces.

For example, using a deep, satin grey for the walls lets you bring in rich jewel tones with other living room decor. Lush fabrics soften the look and create a beautiful jewel-box living room. If you’re not comfortable painting all the walls a dark color, creating a feature wall can also make a space seem larger and visually interesting.

Pro Tip: If you’re looking to create a jewel-box living room, consider painting the ceiling the same color as the walls for an extra dramatic look!

Highlight or Exaggerate Ceiling Height with Drapes and Curtains

Whether your small living room is blessed with tall ceilings or not, you can create the appearance of more height through some simple tricks. Decorating small spaces requires you to get creative and look at more than just floor space. Creating vertical space in a small living room is a very effective way to make it appear larger than it really is.

A simple way to create the effect of higher ceilings with drapes and curtains is to mount your curtain rod higher than the top of the window, near the top of the ceiling. If your living already has floor-to-ceiling windows you’re in luck! If they don’t go that high, mounting the curtain rod nearer the top of the wall creates the illusion they go higher than they do. It’s a visual trick that adds visual interest and makes the space seem bigger!

Use Mirrors to Decorate Small Spaces

Using mirrors when decorating small spaces helps create a light, airy feel to the room. It plays on the reflective nature of mirrors and makes the illusion of more space! There are endless opportunities to use mirrors to make a small living room look larger.

One of our favorites is layering mirrors on a mantle. This not only adds mirrors to the room, but creates a visually interesting arrangement that can be modern or traditional. Other ways to incorporate mirrors when decorating small spaces could be to create a feature wall with hanging mirrors or adding a larger leaning mirror against one wall for dramatic effect.

Decorating small spaces doesn’t have to be limiting. In fact, it’s just the opposite! Decorating small spaces brings more opportunities to get creative with your design. You can add mirrors to create the illusion of more space, choose a zero gravity chair to provide comfort and function, exaggerate ceiling height to make a room seem taller, or any number of design tricks to create the living room of your dreams. The sky's the limit so get creative and think outside the box!

Zero gravity chairs aren’t just for the living room. Learn about 5 places in your home for a zero gravity chair that make them the most versatile chair you’ll ever own!

Learn more about zero gravity chairs here: What is a Zero Gravity Chair?