Furnishing a small living room can be tough. With doors in awkward places, little in the way of floor space and tight corners to manoeuvre around, choosing furniture to maximise your living room space is a difficult, demanding task.
Using these seven helpful tips from AHF, you’ll have no trouble creating a spacious, comfortable living space in even the smallest of rooms.
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Mount televisions and speakers on walls
With the days of bulky CRT televisions largely behind us, mounting a television on the wall is no longer difficult. Purchase a wall bracket for your television and set it on the wall to save on floor space. Stereo systems and home theatre equipment can also be mounted on the walls of your living room to maximise usable space.
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Avoid purchasing oversized furniture
As tempting as a three-seater couch might be, small living spaces are almost always better suited to small furniture. Measure your living room before you go shopping to make sure you buy furniture that’s appropriately sized for comfortable living.
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Use lighting to increase perceived space
Your living room’s lighting will have a huge effect on its perceived size. Dark rooms, particularly those with dark wallpaper and little natural light, will look smaller than they really are. Conversely, rooms with ample natural light, large mirrors, and light wallpaper will appear to be larger than they really are.
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Replace bookshelves with wall shelving
Bookshelves take up valuable floor space that can be used for end tables and other living room furniture. Instead of buying freestanding shelves, install wall-mounted shelves in your living room to free up valuable floor space.
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Avoid excess sofas and recliners
Unless you frequently invite large groups of guests into your home, it’s best to pick furniture that can accommodate one or two extra people, at most. Extra sofas and recliners might look nice, but they can quickly clutter a small living room.
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Create a plan before you buy anything
Walking into a furniture store without a plan is a recipe for disaster. Before you buy any furniture for your living room, prepare a plan that takes into account the room’s dimensions, your needs as a household, and your living room furniture budget.
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Arrange furniture around a focal point
Without a central focal point, even a room with little furniture can feel cluttered and uncomfortable. Choose a single point – a television or fireplace, for example – to use as a focal point for all of your other living room furniture to be arranged around.