Monday 30 May 2011

Small Living Room Design Tips To Fool The Eye

If you have a small living room, chances are you also have small furniture and fixtures to match. But this doesn't have to be your final resort if you do have a small living room. Designing a small living room may be a challenge, but it is quite fulfilling when you see the finished product of a small living room design that fits your small space and lifestyle.

1. Use lighter shades of green, blue and yellow for your walls. These lighter colors or pastels help open up the room and give it a more airy feel. If you want a cozier feel to your
living room, use darker shades of red, blue and brown.

2. To help further open up the room, use mirrors and glass table tops. Mirrors reflect light and give the illusion of a larger room. Make sure that the mirror reflects a view or an ornamental item to enhance the room. Use glass table tops to give your small living room an open feel, rather than using hard wood table that further shrinks the
room.

3. Avoid using heavily printed upholstery for your seating and sofa. Use light, monochromatic colors that match. Avoid mix and match of colors as well, as it makes the room look smaller and tight.


4. Use light gauzy and filmy fabrics for your window treatments. These fabrics let natural light pass through and adds more personality to you r living room. Do not overdo and avoid using heavily printed fabrics in a small living room design.

5. If you want to accessorize your
small living room, choose the items that will compliment your furniture and fixture. And make sure these items are also functional to help you keep the room spacey and clutter-free.

6. Choose the right-sized fixtures and accessories. Do not over-decorate your small living room; instead, look for items that will help make the room look bigger. Choose reflective items such as a good-sized glass-top coffee table, a wall mirror and a few functional items that add style and class to your
small living room design.

Friday 27 May 2011

Decorating Ideas For Small Living Rooms

The living room is an important area since you spend considerable time in this area with your family or just relaxing. It has to be comfortable, inviting and should reflect personal style. Redecorating the living room can transform it to cater for all these factors. When decorating it, the amount of space you have will be a great determinant of how you go about it. If you have a small living room, too many accessories will leave it crammed up.

For small living rooms, there are certain techniques you can use to make it appear large and more spacious. Installing large mirrors on the walls is the first major step to make the room appear larger. The mirror also serves the purpose of reflecting light leaving the room a bit brighter. This will be achieved best if the mirror is placed opposite to a window. Another trick you can employ to make the room area appear more spacious is the use of hanging ceiling mounted curtains. Lightweight curtains should be used on the windows since heavy fabric curtains will make the
living room appear constrained and small. Install different types of lighting to change the look and feel of the room. Using overhead lighting only will make the room look very clinical. Use of table lamps or lights with dimmers will create more warmth in the room giving it a cozier and ambient feel. To avoid spoiling your decoration efforts, remove all clutter in the room. This will make the room look bigger and spacious.

Apart from small living rooms, decorating of a budget can also be a problem. However, you do not need to dig into your bank to ensure a stylish space. There are certain cheap
decorating ideas you can use to overcome this. You can add style to it by using attractive and unusual light shades. Your local flea market should have antique light stands and shades that you can use for this purpose. These should be placed in a corner or on the coffee table to give a special area that can even be used as a reading area. You can also accentuate your living room by having one wall painted a deep color to complement the other walls. For instance, one of the walls can be painted turquoise blue while the other walls can be painted white or beige. You can also paint the ceiling a different color from the walls for a similar effect. However, for the ceiling this needs to be a brighter shade. If your living room couch is worn out, you do not necessarily need to upholster it or buy a new one. You can give it a makeover by simply buying new cushions. You can mix cushions of different shapes, colors and designs. The color should aid you in choosing the cushion colors. If its light colored, orange and jade cushions will work well to brighten up the room.

Thursday 26 May 2011

How to Decorate a Small Living Room

Even though your living roomis less spacious, it does not mean you cannot have the same to notch styles and designs found in homes with large living rooms. After all, it's still going to be used for activities such as entertainment, relaxation and holding gatherings, the same activities that are held in big living rooms. These days, there are many interesting designs that you can use to decorate it. Remember the design style you choose should be one that you like and at the same time should make it look cozy.

As you may already know, making your
small living roomappear larger is the first step in your decoration efforts. Make sure the room is not cluttered since clutter significantly reduces space. Most modernized designs are ideal for this purpose as they enhance space in the living area by reducing the number of items battling for space. The color scheme you choose for your room should also complement your efforts of creating space. There are certain colors which when used on the walls make the room appear more spacious. Many people suggest that you should only use light colors in it. However, you can use other colors and still get the desired effect. For those who prefer deep colors you can use the monochromatic decorating theme and still make the room appear spacious. You can also use a decoration theme whereby all the colors have equal brightness levels.

You can also have a colorful scheme by mixing blues and greens with equal intensity. To create depth in your living room, paint the wall opposite to the entrance a deep color. You can also make the room calm and peaceful by painting a monochromatic color scheme of moss greens. Painting the walls pale tones such as gray-blue helps create the illusion of a larger room as it makes the walls seem to recede. Other interesting colors with the same effect include green, blue and purple.


When decorating the living room, furniture placement plays an important role in determining the outcome. The principles of Feng Shui can be used to decide where you place furniture items and accessories. Make sure the furniture is not too close to the entrance, as this would limit space. The furniture size you choose should be relative to your room. small and medium sized pieces will do for a
small living room. You can substitute a large sofa with a love seat. This will save on space while still allowing your guests to be comfortable. Although you may use smaller furniture items, it does not mean that every other accessory should be small. Mixing small furniture with large accessories will add charm to your living room. A large mirror or art piece on the wall will help create a charming atmosphere.