Creating an interior of compact spaces is always associated with certain difficulties for the designer, but if we talk about living rooms, where we spend a lot of time and most often receive guests, the lack of square meters can simply lead to a dead end.

How to preserve a sense of freedom and spaciousness, but at the same time ensure that there are additional seats for sitting? What furniture to choose and where to put it?

We have prepared for you a list of 15 ideas for creating a harmonious design of a small living room and 10 specific options for arranging furniture in it. 

1. Mirrors and wallpaper

A small living room can look like a box, especially if it has few windows. It is necessary to determine the central design element, to increase the illumination and create a sense of depth.

All these tasks can be solved quite easily by decorating the walls with the right wallpaper and hanging the mirror somewhere from above. Best of all, if it is directly in front of the window and reflect the surrounding landscape.

A nice sofa should be placed on the center of the walled wallpaper, and on both sides of it, put the appropriate to the style and size of the curbstone with table lamps.

A large braided ottoman made from straw can serve as a coffee table and an additional seat depending on the specific situation. If the area allows, you can put one or two small armchairs opposite the sofa. Landing places - from 2 to 4.

2. Hidden compartments for things

Pay attention to the furniture with different storage compartments, which will help to reduce the mess in the room. Chest or ottoman with boxes can serve as a coffee table, being in the center of the room.

Near the wall is better to place a chest of drawers or a shallow curb, and not a high table, as in this photo.

3. Small-sized furniture

Huge corner sofas and loose armchairs are unsuitable objects for furnishing the living room. Perhaps you will like something from antiquarian furniture of the middle of the last century or earlier period, when the typical apartments and houses did not differ too large.

The range of your search should be limited to compact sofas, banquettes and armchairs with narrow armrests.

A small sofa with elegant tables on both sides is located at the bay window. A pair of armchairs of the times of Louis XVI are in front of him, an old couch - to the left of the wall. The chest in the center replaces the coffee table. Landing places - 6.

4. Top Decor

If there are enough high ceilings in your living room, be sure to take advantage of this. Let the vertical space be impossible to fill with furniture, but the expressive decor of the walls can create the illusion of a larger volume than there really is.

Arrangement of an eclectic art gallery is just one of the design options.

5. Angles

This may seem illogical, but if a small corner is left unoccupied in your living room, a large piece of furniture is best suited for filling it.

A full-sized sofa like what we see in the photo, has a lot of seats, without dividing the space of the room into several parts.

The corner sofa with individual cushions and folding stools with leather seats form an ideal combination for friendly conversations in a pleasant company. If you want, you can find a place for a chair without armrests. Landing places - 7 or 8.

6. Sofa

Sometimes a full-sized sofa simply has nowhere to put. Then you have to confine yourself to a narrow sofa or elegant couch suitable design. Give preference to a simple model on the legs, which will not look too heavy.

A neat sofa with a rounded back is in the center of the room right in front of the TV. One chair and a soft ottoman, on which you can also sit, complement the living room. Landing places - 3 or 4.

7. Cushion

The best place for a sofa in the open-plan living room is in the center of the room, not at the wall. But even a modest size model in this case can absorb the lion's share of space.

Couch, that is, a sofa without a backrest, is a smart alternative to traditional options. It is convenient to sit down on both sides, and this is a very valuable quality in the face of a shortage of space.

8. Houseplants

We have already talked about the ability of reflective surfaces and wallpapers to visually change the depth and fullness of space. Indoor plants can also affect these subjective parameters. Lush greenery smooths the corners and creates an illusion of volume in those places where it does not exist.

The bright couch in modern style is in the center of the open-plan living room. Directly in front of her, at the windows - a pair of soft armchairs. A miniature table of unusual design complements the eclectic image of this combination. Landing places - from 4 to 7.

9. Multifunctional furniture

In a compact living room environment, only truly worthwhile objects should be included. Pay attention to the models of puffs, which can be used as a coffee table or an additional seat.

Other options are mobile nightstands, transformable stools and other universal pieces of furniture.

A simple sofa without arms is slightly away from the wall. Two low puffs of impressive size can be used for various purposes. Landing places - 2 or 4.

10. Built-in furniture

Instead of shoveling a lot of different things into the corners (bookshelves - here, a chest of drawers - there), select a whole wall for the arrangement of the built-in storage system.

Shelving height from floor to ceiling can accommodate anything: from decorative elements to the TV. And even a folding desk.

11. Folding chairs

In a really cramped living room, it is difficult to arrange a sufficient number of seats. But you can buy several folding chairs and store them in a closet or a pantry (or even under a bed), and in case of arrival guests withdraw them from there.

Built-in full-wall storage includes a niche for the TV, shelves and cabinets. A small sofa is directly opposite it. A low chair from plywood looks quite unexpected in this interior, but does not break it into pieces. Landing places - 3.

12. Non-traditional options

A small but very stylish living room is decorated with an unusual couch with a carved wooden frame.

Another window opening in the same living room is complemented by a wide bench decorated with bright cushions. A miniature table and a low round pouf form an additional rest area.

The couch stands opposite a small sofa, and a coffee table made from acrylic and a pouf with an artificial wool padding are located between them. The window with the bench is in the other part of the room. Landing places - 7.

13. No sofa

And who said that he must be? If there are not enough seats, try putting two or three compact chairs around the coffee table.

Two unequal chairs with leather upholstery make up a set with a low round coffee table located in the center of the room.

14. The illusion of invisibility

Furniture made of acrylic, glass or plexiglass is ideal for a living room, because it does not completely hide the visual volume. Pay attention to coffee tables or bedside tables with sloping edges made of these transparent materials.

15. Rest area by the fireplace

Put a pair of low seats without backs - benches or poufs - in front of the fireplace, to increase the number of places for rest, without crashing the living room space. Even better, if they are equipped with hidden storage compartments.

Two antique chairs fill the bay space, and a narrow sofa with a low back is located along the wall opposite the fireplace. The eclectic of the interior is almost imperceptibly formed by a coffee table made of plexiglas. Two soft ottomans are on the other side of him, by the fireplace. Landing places - 7.