Design Hacks! 8 Clever Ways To Make Your Small Living Room Look Larger

hello everyone I'm Julie and in today's video I'm sharing eight clever ways to make your small living room look larger whether you're moving into your first apartment or you're downsizing from a smaller space small living is so common for many people it can be easy to get overwhelmed with the challenges of Designing a small space if you're starting with a blank slate or you're finally ready to invest in some Quality Furniture by the end of today's video I hope you get inspired to make some small changes to your living room that will make a huge impact to your home and lifestyle with years of experience under my belt I can literally walk into your home right now and tell you exactly how to improve the flow and space plan there are so many pro tips and little design hacks that you can Implement into your small space right now so it doesn't feel so small you have to first understand your needs of the space determine the function of the room measure accordingly so you understand scale and proportion and then we can start planning so grab out your tape measure and let's get to this list the number one way for you to make your small living room appear larger is to get rid of your oversized sofa I get it you didn't purchase that sofa you didn't specifically pick it out for your home it might have been your childhood sofa it might have been passed down to you you may have found it on the side of the road in perfect condition and you decided to bring it home I get it you did not plan to have this oversized sofa in your space but here you are now with this big piece of furniture in your small little living room the number one way for you to make this small space appear larger it's just not rocket science your sofa is overs scaled for the space how do you know when your sofa is too large for the living room well that's really simple it's like sticking out from the walls that's probably the number one chair far away that you know that your sofa is too big for your space another indication is that you don't have room for any other seating we always talk about creating a conversational seating group in a living room that is a number one way for you to use this living room effectively you want to have multiple people using the living room and seated in a way where you can have a conversation and you're speaking to each other so if your living room is already housing a much too large sofa and you can't even fit like another accent chair in it let alone a coffee table or another usable surface then your sofa is just way too large this is when the tape measure comes in handy I want you to sketch out the parameters of your living room length times width now if there is a door or a path or an egress or an aisle that you have to move around to get to another room or an adjacent space you want to subtract at least 30 in or 36 Ines if you have a larger space from the aisle or the pathway so you can move around your furniture now after you have subtracted that 36 in the space that you have left over on the interior of that grid is really the space that you have left to play around with the next step is to figure out what your focal wall is in the living room if you use your living room predominantly to watch TV which is very common then you want to locate where your TV is going to be placed and on the opposite side of the television you want to flank your sofa if the opposite side of the television is a solid wall that's really great that's easy you just measure the length of the wall then you can max out that size if you want the largest sofa possible but if opposite the television is just an open area then you have to determine how to demarcate space based on how you want to move in the room once you understand your focal point and that flanking the largest piece of furniture against the focal point is really going to create and map out that space for you then that is the size that you should be looking towards if you're going to invest in another sofa that's going to be appropriately scaled for your space keep in mind the measurements of the sofa you want to measure the length of the sofa the width of the sofa the depth of the sofa especially when you're dealing with a living room that's not a perfect square or rectangle check out these petite sofas and sectionals that my team rounded up all items featured in this video will be linked in the description box below now that you understand the ideal measurements of your sofa you want to flank that sofa against the farthest wall in the room to make your small living room appear larger you know what that's like when you walk into a small living room and then all of a sudden you're met with like the back of a large piece of furniture it just feels closed off it feels claustrophobic and it's not open or Airy one of the biggest issues with this type of layout is that hey you just put your television or your focal wall against the only wall in the living room so now how are you going to push your sofa against another far wall right therein lies the issue if that is the case and you want to open your space up and you don't want to flank the larger sofa opposite the television especially when you don't have another solid wall in place then you can put it on an adjacent wall that is a wall that is perpendicular to the focal point instead of being directly opposite of it this is where you get to use your living room as a laboratory so you can play around with this configuration try the sofa against the opposite wall try putting the television on a smaller console that's on the side of the space for any interior design plan to be really successful you always have to determine the function of the room the function of the room usually starts as a hierarchy right this is the number one thing that you do in the room you could watch TV you could be doing your homework you could be having a conversation with other family members or your guests so you always want to First sit down and really investigate how do I use my space what do I need it for how do I create this focal wall so I can then lay out the furniture to support the primary function of the room when you anchor your sofa or the largest piece of furniture against the farthest wall of the room that just opens up the space it doesn't block the aisles it clears the walkway and it just makes everything feel larger and more expansive if the largest piece of furniture in the living room is your media console then that's great you can put the media console against the largest wall what if it's a huge honk and entertainment unit you always want to keep in mind the scale and proportion of all the furniture that you're fitting into the space you want to make sure that you're not blocking any aisles you're not blocking any Pathways so that you can move freely from one side of the space to another the next clever way to make your small living room look larger is to remove the clunky Furniture we're still on that heirloom kick I know you did not purposely choose the furniture for your space it was handed down to you but please please get rid of recliner I know it's super comfortable it's your favorite spot in the home but you know what it's just too big for the living room especially when you want to make the living room appear larger I think having a space that appears larger is very ideal but having a space that appears larger and functions more efficiently for our space and our needs I mean that is just the ultimate goal if you want your living room to feel lighter and less cluttered you want to get rid of all of the furniture that is miscal for the space I always start with the footprint of my room and measurements in hand if I don't have a sketch of the living room I have no idea what I'm going to put in this space to help it flow efficiently you got to get rid of that huge recliner that's kind of blocking the entire space you got to get rid of that really huge China hutch that's just storing all of your junk and not displaying anything with thought and intent what about that huge storage automen that you're using as a coffee table that's not even really efficient you're kind of just pushing it up against your sofa so that you can kick back and relax in your space but what you've also done is made the space feel even more claustrophobic than it seems because of this oversized piece of furniture that smack dab right in the middle of the room understanding scale and proportion would be the key to your success because now what you're going to do is reinvest your time effort energy and money into sourcing furniture that is appropriately scaled for your space the next item on today's list of eight clever ways to make your small living room appear larger it's a source multi-purpose Furniture just think about it you have less pieces in the living room they all serve multiple needs Therefore your living room appears larger because there's less pieces of furniture in it when picking furniture for your small space I want you to focus on selecting pieces that serve multiple purposes look for petite size furniture and seating that's both stylish and functional if you're living in a smaller space and you find that you're using your living room also as your dining room and you want to dine there as well especially like plopped in front of the TV you also want to look for a coffee table that maybe extends into a dining table as well I've seen those really cool extension coffee tables the ones that kind of have like a hinge on the top of the table and they further Elevate so that you can be seated on the sofa or like a small little lounge chair and you can comfortably dine seated right in the middle of the living room I love that because the coffee table is typically lower than a dining table height so this extra extendable Leaf is hinged from the coffee table based onto a more ergonomic level so you can eat at the same time that you're watching television I mean that's really ingenious if you work from home and your living room is now a makeshift work from home office you could also use this coffee table as your work from home station look for sofas with beds built in especially if you know that you have guests or family members staying over you could also look for automans with storage the ottoman can double as a coffee table especially when it's in a smaller scale the small little ottoman can also double as seating especially if you need a pull up extra seating for guests you can look for seating with hidden compartments or storage built right in you can also even look for a trunk or a chest that doubles as a coffee table with all of that extra storage for your throws your pillows even decorative objects that you want to style on the Fly while that sectional sofa may look fabulous in the store it might not be the right scale for your space these are all really great options and just some ideas so that you never feel restricted by your small space again function is key here think about the function of all the pieces that are going into your living room then you can finally make sure that all of the pieces that land into your living room not only serve double but triple Duty so your living room functions just so efficiently for your [Music] needs the next clever way to make your small living room appear larger is to Source an oversized area rug I know what you're thinking oversized area rug like a large area rug in a smaller space won't that make the space feel even smaller on the contrary this is one of those designer tricks that the pros love to implement the smaller the space the larger the area rug needs to be because that is going to visually expand the footprint of the space now how do you know what size area rug to get for your living room well you've sketched out the room you have your measurements in hand you understand where you're going to place your seating group now act as if all of the seating is already in your space I want you to draw this imaginary rectangle around that seating group and that is the largest area rug that you can plop right in that space if you have a smaller living room maybe around a 10x 10 size or a 10 x 12 size I think an 8 by 10 area rug may be the perfect fit for that room if you're trying to kind of maximize all of the functionality of the space if you have an open concept space that is adjacent to a dining room or the kitchen and you have smaller Furniture in the living room you just want to carve out exactly what that seating group looks like and then purchase an area rug so that the front legs of the seating group front legs of the sofa front legs of the accent chair the entire content of the coffee table fits squarely on that area rug now is an area rug absolutely necessary especially in a small space absolutely not I don't have an area rug in my entire living room space I only have it dedicated to one side of the living room that's because the other side of the living room is like the Children's Corner it's kind of like a living room playroom combo so I have like rubber mats on the kids sides but I did Max out the area on the adult side so that I can fit the largest area rug in there which is a 9 by2 for like my little dinky sectional it actually expands the look at the area and makes the adult side seem way larger than it really is so that is the impact of these little design tricks right these little design hacks that make small spaces pure larger it's a large area rug you heard it here first get the largest that you can [Music] afford the next item on today's list of the eight clever ways that you can make your small living room appear larger is to bring your curtains all the way up what does that even mean and why do you even need curtains curtains to me as a design professional is one of those like non-negotiables I feel like curtains are the easiest way to elevate the look of a room when my clients ask me where do I splurge where do I save I always say invest in custom quality curtains of course you're on a budget I absolutely get it there are so so many amazing pre-fabricated curtains on the market today that are in varying Heights let's say you're working with an 8ft space an 8ft space equals 96 in in Imperial measurements and 96 in 108 in that's 9 ft 120 in these are Standard curtain panel Heights so you actually can get a Standard curtain panel in these varying Heights and install it in your living room to visually expand the visual height of the space bringing your curtains all the way up means installing the rod very very close to the ceiling close to the ceiling really means like two or 3 in from the top of the ceiling that is where you're going to install your brackets and your Rod then you're going to measure the top of your Rod all the way down to the floor and that is the height of your curtain panel designers talk about curtain panels kissing the floor okay kissing the floor sweeping the floor this literally just means that your curtains like touch the floor they kind of sweep the floor they kiss chefs kiss the floor it's barely sweeping the floor there's no space in between the floor and the bottom of the curtains so what this does is on one elevation where your window is no matter how small it is no matter how wide your windows are you always want to use these designer tips in mind when you're specifying the length of your curtain panels now our living room is already small we don't want to add like really heavy drapery or heavy fabric on our curtains you want to look for like a lightweight Shear or Gauzy material like I love shears layered with like linen curtains or really soft cotton if you're looking to add lightness to your windows without a lot of heavy weight you want to stay away from all those heavier textiles like velvets or tapestry or even lined curtains with like a blackout panel in the back could add some weight to the curtains if you want the elevation to feel lighter more open area then you want to stick to maybe like a single layer of curtain or at least some lighter weight panels This will limit the amount of space that the curtains take away and actually allow for more natural daylight to filter through the next item on today's list of the eight clever ways to make your small living room appear larger is to opt for legs you want to look for a furniture with legs leggy Furniture just instantly makes a small space appear larger why is that leggy Furniture can also improve the air movement in a room since it creates more space both above and below the furniture just think about it bulky items like Ottomans that kind of sit all the way on the floor just visually look clunky it can make your living room feel overcrowded it can make it feel even like dark and depressing sometimes even in lighter colors but imagine if you sourced an autom in that had legs it still has a storage compartment it's still a multi-purpose piece of furniture but now you you've just visually expanded the height of the piece and you can see the floor below it so it feels lighter it feels airier it makes the room feel more open do the same for your sofa your accent chair and even your coffee table I mean there's so many different varieties that are out on the market today so you almost feel like Paralyzed by all of the options out there but you've determined the function you know your needs you know the main pieces of furniture you need in your space you got rid of all of that clunky depressing furniture and now you are inviting more airier pieces into your space you can make the space feel airier and lighter using color you want like light tones less contrast but you also want to look for furniture that's sitting on legs but just remember the taller the leg the more you have to clean underneath it so even though my living area is actually small I Source leggy furniture for the side that I want to clean underneath that's kind of like the kids side and then the side the adult side living room you see that my sectional is like almost all the way to the ground I Source this type of sectional because I have kids you know their toys always roll around and it gets stuck under the furniture I have to clean underneath it we're losing missing little pieces all the time so I knew that this type of sectional was a non-negotiable for me but in the remaining spaces you'll see that I have a lot of leggy Furniture my home isn't large so leggy Furniture instantly just lifts everything right [Music] up and finally the last item on today's list of eight clever ways for you to make your small living room appear larger is with rounded Furniture I always say this when in doubt round it out curved Furniture allows you to move freely in the space there's no sharp Corners to bump into there's no edges that limit your path of egress just look at these two spaces here we have a curved sofa with a round coffee table and a really curvy accent chair rounding out this space now on the flip side we also have the smaller living room with all angular Furniture you have a rectangular coffee table you have a squared out sofa you also have squared out accent chairs that are flanking the sofa and rounding out the seating group now between these two living rooms which one feels more appealing to you we're not talking about the style of the design or the overall Aesthetics of the space just look at the impact of the room which of these do you think you can move more freely around which one feels more elegant to you ever since having kids I noticed that I got rid of a lot of my squared off furniture I got rid of my rectangular coffee table and now I have a mix shift ottoman that I'm using as a coffee table funu loves round Furniture I mean no poison arrows that is like a funu living room dream so rounded Furniture is not only conducive to a more free flowing environment it also has a lot of funid implications to promote better chi in the living room that's it for today's video I hope you got some really great tips on how to make your small living room appear larger all in all downsizing all of your belongings of course decluttering the space purging donating editing is the key to your success now let's get up remove all of that clunky Furniture shift some things around and then report back to me I want to know how much brighter lighter and airier your space feels from my tips if if you like this type of content you want more small space ideas please give this video a thumbs up and a like comment below and let me know after watching today's video what is the number one way that you can make your small living room appear larger right now share this video with anyone you know who's struggling with their small living room and don't forget to subscribe to my channel if you haven't already if you love this type of content definitely check out this video that I'm going to link for you right here it's four ways to maximize your living room layout so if you don't have a small space maybe you have a huge space maybe you have an open concept design that you just can't figure out this video will address all of your condition and offer some really creative ways for you to maximize your space thank you so much for watching everyone I'll see you next week

Channel: Julie Khuu

Views: 72,994

Keywords: interior design, interior designer, home design, home decor, home improvement, designer, common design mistakes, julie khuu, interior design ideas, interior design tips, small spaces, how to make your small room look bigger, small apartment, small living room, design hacks, how to make your small space look bigger, space saving ideas, small space design tips, small home design, small room design

Id: 5lCgcI2CfFQ

Length: 20min 39sec (1239 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 28 2024