Faced with the prospect of attempting to squeeze the best possible use out of a small living room interior, you should take a positive view, as you can definitely pack a lot of style into every 100 square feet that you have to work with. Making your small living room really work for you is all a question of deciding on your specific design focus and then arranging the furniture in the best configuration in order to achieve your aims.

Make the fireplace work for you

If you have a fireplace in your living room then you should certainly consider making it the focal point of the room but always bear in mind that you don’t necessarily have to be facing it square on for it to be the main focus of everyone’s attention.

Look for some attractive and tasteful furniture that suits your style and taste and then arrange your pieces in an intimate circle or maybe a rectangle or square around the fireplace.

Starting a conversation

A living room is sometimes for chilling out and just watching TV but for many, it is also the place to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and start up a decent conversation.

Use the intimacy of your small space to encourage plenty of intentional dialogue by using the classic combo of a sofa on one side and two cozy chairs on the other side of a coffee table.

If you are really pushed for space then you could use a large foot stool that can double up as a coffee table when you want it to or maybe a large upholstered ottoman, which can manage to be a drinks table, foot stool and extra seating, meaning you get the maximum use out of the space it takes up.

Beautiful Mill Valley retreat with a treehouse feel

Dining area

For some people the living room has to double up or give up some its space over to being a dining room as well.

If your space happens to need to be two spaces in one, create a harmonious aesthetic relationship between the two functions by making sure that they are connected by way of decor, color and share the same style too.

Using rugs

Another good design trick is to use rugs and furniture placement as a way of defining different areas of your room, which works well in an open-plan environment.

You should aim to maintain the same color scheme and theme so that everything flows visually but use rugs as way of creating a distinction and a focus that each defined area has its own personality and function within the grander scheme of the overall design.

Dividing wall

Another good way of creating a distinction between different areas is to use your sofa as a dividing wall.

If you arrange your sofa close to the focal point of the room such as the fireplace then the back of the furniture will become the equivalent of a mini-dividing wall and allow you to create a separate space where you might want to put your dining table or a desk for any work or study that you are doing.

Some other tips to consider when trying to make the most of a small living room are to choose furniture with legs, as this helps to create a greater illusion of space and also consider using some scaled down furniture as a way of getting the look you want without having to make sacrifices on your choices.

There are plenty of solutions available to make the most of a small living room space, all it needs is a bit of creativity and planning to make it work for you in your home.

This guest post was contributed by Luke Connor who has had a successful career in interior design and a great love for form and function. With years of experience under his belt, he enjoys blogging about design tips and tricks for today’s modern homes.

Photo Sources: 1. Jan Skacelik, 2. BHG, 3. Apartment Therapy, 4. Daffodil Design, 5. Artistic Designs for Living, 6. ASD Interiors, 7. Design Indulgence, 8. New England Home, 9. Iron and Twine, 10. Garret Cord Werner Architects, 11. Found Design, 12. Sealy Design Inc, 13. Urrutia Design, 14. Erika Bonnell Interiors, 15. Mandeville Canyon Designs, 16. Pinterest, 17. Apartment Therapy, 18. Apartment Therapy, 19. Alex Amend Photography, 20. Apartment Therapy, 21. Niche Interiors, 22. Coddington Design, 23. Pinterest, 24. Tom Stringer Design Partners, 25. West Elm, 26. Apartment Therapy, 27. Dwelling