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53 small living room ideas for compact spaces
We've sifted through a plethora of pictures from the vast House & Garden archives for both living room ideas and small room ideas alike in search of the very best small living room ideas. The interior designers on our pages have a wealth of solutions for small rooms, designing clever seating that maximises the floor space available, building shelving into the walls to provide storage, and making use of deep, moody paint colours to create an enveloping atmosphere. If you have limited space, everything has to be carefully considered, and it's what these designers do best. From furniture finds to keeping clutter at bay with storage solutions - these small living room ideas prove space and style aren't mutually exclusive.
Small living room ideas from the House & Garden archive
Mark Anthony Fox1/53In the sitting room of Christian Bense's Battersea flat, the anchor piece came from a traditionally inspired cabinet that Christian had made bespoke for Wow House, which features floral paintings by decorative artist Tess Newall and now hides his television. ‘Although this is a new piece, it doesn’t jar with the old bones of the flat,’ he explains. Next came a little vintage sofa from Retrouvius and a practical sofa bed from Sofa.com – one of the few new pieces – that Christian had restuffed by his upholsterer.
Mark Anthony Fox2/53When it came to the palette, Christian’s mantra, like for many of his projects for clients, was ‘light not white. As such, walls throughout are largely painted in Paint & Paper Library's ‘Slate 2’, with woodwork in the brand's ‘Slate 4’ and black doors in ‘Pitch Black’ from Farrow & Ball.
Mark Anthony Fox3/53A sofa bed from The Sofa & Chair Company means a snug in this Wimbledon flat by Emma Burns also serves as a guest room. Above it hangs a framed antique silk panel from the Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler antiques department. The walls are painted in ‘Baked Cherry’ by Little Greene and in the bookcase are a pair of late nineteenth-century stained glass roundels, which Emma had made into lightboxes.
Mark Roper4/53The first-floor sitting room in this Georgian house in Islington uses clever colour combinations to big effect. The walls are painted a duck egg blue from Papers & Paints with ruffled chartreuse blinds in glossy a moiré jacquard taffeta from Turnell and Gigon. Dainty mouldings were applied to the walls to frame a work by the fashion photographer Tim Walker and a vintage Suzani. A similar motif was echoed on the bespoke upholstery of the sofa, a Facebook Marketplace find, reupholstered in a pink fabric from Romo with coral-red piping.
Boz Gagovski5/53Daniel Slowik and Benedict Foley's Hackney flat is a lesson in elegant small space style. Their bedroom and bijou living room is separated by a curtain.
The fireplace is a painted wooden bolection type from a bank in Poole; Daniel and Benedict adjusted it to make it flatter, and their friend Charlotte Freemantle from Jamb advised on and supplied the marble slips. The antique wing chair and the lantern are from Sibyl Colefax where Daniel formerly worked. The painting over the fireplace is by Francis Cyril Rose and belonged to Cecil Beaton – it once hung in his drawing room in Pelham Crescent.
Chris Horwood6/53In the acute corner of this invisible house hidden away beneath a stylish Shoreditch street, the sofa was custom-designed by Shaw and upholstered with Kvadrat fabric. The blue recycled plastic lounge chair, console table and lamp on the table are all also by Shaw.
© Rachael Smith Photography Ltd7/53This cosy living room is in the centre of two 18th-century Norfolk cottages designed by Anna Haines. A sofa in Tinsmiths’ ‘Checker’ fabric in dawn grey picks up on walls in Paint & Paper Library’s ‘Porcelain V’, while an ottoman in Robert Kime’s ‘Caspian’ cotton, a kilim from London House Rugs and slipper chairs in Rose Uniacke cotton velvet in cedar introduce warmer tones that echo the original fireplace.
Mike Garlick8/53When adding character to this new-build flat, Sarah Vanrenen did not hold back on pattern and colour. “If there’s no fireplace in the sitting room, you can use a bookcase to be the centrepiece of the room instead,” explains Sarah. The bookcase is painted in ‘Vert de Mer’ by Edward Bulmer, a colour which runs across the woodwork of the flat, a decorating trick that unifies the entire space."
Paul Massey9/53This east London terrace is the perfect illustration of interior designer Rachel Chudley’s ability to create a narrative that carries through every room. In the soft pink living room, a good mix of textures and patterns of a cohesive colour story makes for quite the cosy room.
Mark Anthony Fox10/53In this flat decorated by Emma Burns, the small living room is full of the owner's collected pieces. ‘Tang yellow’ by Papers & Paints makes a bold backdrop for pictures and objet d’art, and is well matched by the tones of the both the Thirties rug by Marta Maas Fjetterstron and ‘Craft’ fabric in ‘Curcuma’ by Pierre Frey on the bespoke Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler sofa. The tapestry chairs are from French dealer in the Dordogne.
Mark Anthony Fox11/53In the small sitting room of this old rectory designed by Anna Haines, Walls in Farrow & Ball’s ‘French Gray’ are the backdrop for a ‘Tamburlaine’ sofa with seat cushions made from an antique jajim, both from Howe London. A bespoke ottoman is covered in a Robert Kime ticking and the antique armchair in his ‘Ume’ linen. The ‘Quenby’ chandelier is from The English House.
Lucas Allen12/53Behind the main sitting area of this house designed by d’Erlanger and Sloan sits this snug. An ottoman in Namay Samay’s ‘Marak’ sandalwood silk and cushions from Penny Worrall, Susan Deliss and Robert Kime enliven a custom sofa, curtains and tented ceiling, all in ‘Humbug Ticking’ cotton from Howe at 36 Bourne Street. The bespoke woven wicker panels are by Atelier Vime.
Chris Horwood13/53In this flat designed by Laura Stephens, a little Georgian chair, bought on eBay, separates the living room from the study area. “It was such a bargain, I just love the shape,” says Laura. “Then I upholstered it in my favourite fabric. It's become my favourite thing in the house.” Walls are painted in Hague Blue from Farrow and Ball create a cocooning effect. The sofa is from sofa.com. The chaise longue was an antique, and as covered in a Robert Allen fabric. The armchair was also an antique, covered in a fabric by Vaughan. The coffee table is from West Elm.
Dean Hearne14/53A light, airy colour scheme helps to create the illusion of lots of space in this bijou sitting room in Daisy Sims Hilditch's London flat. The bookshelves are from Neptune, and are painted in their own ‘Ink’. Wall lights on either side have lampshades from Howe. The sofa is Neptune's ‘George’ design, while the cane coffee table was a find from Sibyl Colefax and John Fowler. The rug is from Retrouvius.
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15/53The sitting room in this Sarah Vanrenen project boasts high ceilings and a large window peering out into a nearby square but the room is fairly small. Vanrenen balanced colours and neutrals to create a calm, elegant space for the family. She designed the Percy armchair, covered in her green Horizon Stripe fabric, and the Obi side tables in indigo blue.
Chris Horwood16/53Tonal patterns have been used to introduce texture in the small living room section of this room by Salvesen Graham. Claremont fabric on the ottoman and armchairs blends perfectly with the Robert Stephenson rug and the Robert Kime Field Poppy cushion covers.
Kristin Perers17/53In the living room of interior designer Catherine Olley's flat, the walls are painted in Farrow & Ball's Setting Plaster No 231. For contrast, the interior shelving has been painted in Dulux's Florentine Red. Underfoot, a coir rug from Alternative Flooring provides warmth. The TV box is a custom made piece by Catherine, created using Ikea frames filled with Andrew Martin's Penny Post wallpaper in red.
Simon Brown18/53The small sitting room in Emma Burns' former London flat is a striking demonstration of her clever way with space. Filled with an impressive amount of furniture, art, books and collected objects, it nevertheless looks calm, harmonious and comfortable.
A generous L-shaped sofa wraps around the walls, and a bookshelf incorporates a small desk as well as plenty of storage. Another bookshelf was custom-made for the space between the windows, and Emma designed a banquette to go beneath it, so that the glass dining table could be squeezed in as close to the wall as possible.
Deep, elegant cornicing and skirting boards, simple curtains and pale grey paint on the walls form an elegant backdrop to Emma's collections.
Owen Gale19/53A light palette and natural materials help the sitting room of Laura Logan's house to feel light and airy. A table lamp from A New Tribe adds another tactile element to the space. The white vases are from Ditte Blohm and the artwork is Lucy Naughton.
Romain Laprade20/53Fabrizio Casiraghi describes the small living room in his Paris flat as “a collection of memories.” It has a mirror and sofa which he commissioned for the space, an art deco fireplace and a collection of paintings by his father, which are very close to his heart.
Chris Horwood21/53It is perfectly possible to create a sense of luxury in a small space, as this sitting room in a Mayfair pied-à-terre by Salvesen Graham demonstrates. The grasscloth-covered walls form a warm backdrop to neutral upholstery and patterned accessories, as well as a collection of contemporary British art.
Paul Massey22/53The small living room in this Victorian townhouse by Todhunter Earle is full of great ideas; a wall light instead of floor lamp frees up floor space; the wooden chair takes up less space than an armchair, and a coffee table instead of an ottoman also creates the sense of more space. Walls in Paint & Paper Library’s ‘Sand III’ provide a calm, pale background for a set of botanical prints and a David Seyfried sofa, covered in ‘Gonfaloniere’ linen in grass by John Stefanidis from Tissus d’Hélène.
Tom Griffiths23/53The front door of Victoria Barker's cottage opens into the sitting room, which is painted in Farrow & Ball's ‘Setting Plaster’. The ceiling and original beams are painted in ‘Pointing’ to help bounce the light through the small room. The timber lintel over the inglenook, which was set alight by a previous owner and had suffered a heavy burn mark, is also painted in ‘Setting Plaster’. The sofa is upholstered in sage green corduroy with a mattress cover from Cutter Brooks and handmade quilted cushions. The armchair was an Ebay find and the footstool is from Pato Interiors, both covered in their original chintz fabric.
Bess Friday24/53The living room in this basement flat in San Francisco maximises its space by adding in plenty of seating with this baby blue L-shaped sofa and a lower coffee table; the colours, too, add space too, as well as an air of calm.
STEPHAN JULLIARD25/53In the sitting room in this tiny Parisian apartment designed by Marianne Evennou, Marianne used three colours from French paint manufacturer Ressource: ‘Mid Medici Blue’ on the top part of the wall; a thin stripe in ‘Dark Stone’ in the middle; and the sandy-toned ‘Maya’ on the lower area.
Sarah Griggs26/53The main sitting room in this sophisticated terraced house in Chelsea, though on the smaller side, was designed for entertaining, so plenty of seating was brought in. The lime green mohair armchairs are of the designer's own making.
Mikey Reed Photography27/53In the sitting room of this light-filled house in Belsize Park, the sofa and ottoman from sofa.com make up the seating area which is separated from the kitchen and dining spaces - sometimes better than an open-plan concept. The ottoman is upholstered in a vintage William Morris fabric.
Simon Brown28/53In the sitting room of this glamorous yet comfortable London house, the leather armchairs and sofa are by George Smith. They provide a smaller, more private sitting area within the living room, essential in a tiny house.
Martin Morrell29/53In a characterful cottage in Chelsea, designer Remy Renzullo has created the ultimate mix of bohemian and chic by combining old-school antiques with more modern stripped back walls of bare plaster and simple colour palette.
Jake Curtis30/53In the sitting area of Thea Speake's basement flat in London, a sofa, made to a design by Thea’s friend and former colleague Jessica Summer, two reupholstered Victorian armchairs and two leather chairs cluster around a vintage table. The tall sculptural lamp cost £20 and Thea found it on Golborne Road. The little picture is deliberately hung low so that it can be easily seen while sitting.
Mark Fox31/53This Scandi-cool flat in Hackney is small, but its furnishings and layout helps to open up the space. The throw is from Beau Marche in Copenhagen and picks up the colour of Alfred's fish hangings.
Simon Bergström32/53Sebastian Bergström's tiny flat in Stockholm is a font of inspiration for small space decoration. In the living room, the sofa is an Ikea Karlstad sofa with a linen cover by Bemz Design, a perfect showcasing of the high and low. Sebastian added scallop to his coffee table and painted it in ‘Sage and Onions’ by Little Greene, infusing bright colour into the small space.
Simon Upton33/53This small sitting nook in a handsome Regency Grade-II house in Norfolk is ideally composed for a small but functional, liveable space.
Dean Hearne34/53In Nicola Mardas' cosy cottage in Deal, the living room serves as a colourful refuge. The woodwork is painted in Designers Guild's ‘Damask Rose’.
Helen Cathcart35/53A slim and narrow coffee table is the perfect choice fo he compact living area in Isabella Worsley's mews house.
Michael Sinclair36/53In the sitting room of her London house, interior designer Pandora Taylor has established a cocooning atmosphere, with Farrow & Ball's 'De Nimes' paint finding its perfect complement in the peacock colourway of Guy Goodfellow's 'Fez Weave' in the curtains. Pandora created the curving sofa, while the footstools are her own 'Humbug' design. "You always want to put your feet up on the coffee table," she says, "so I prefer using these instead."
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Simon Brown37/53In this small sitting room in a Georgian house in Berkshire, design duo Salvesen Graham have designed a sofa to wrap around the room, allowing plenty of space for seating. The dark, patterned sofa from Jerome Shorter is upholstered in Svenkst Tenn's ‘Baranq Linen Wine’ to make any stains or marks less visible. The rug is Salvesen Graham X Jennifer Manners in ‘Denim’ and is made from recycled plastic bottles.
Boz Gagovski38/53The tiny size of the sitting room in interior designer Lucy Mayers' London flat necessitated some ingenuity in the design–what Lucy calls ‘caravan-living logic.’ “This room had to function as a library, a TV room, a dining room, and a comfortable sitting room,” she explains. She found a useful banquette at OKA that could easily function as a sofa for movie nights or as seating for dinner parties, and designed a bookshelf to provide tailored storage for, among other things, a chess set, record player, bottles of wine and a taxidermied heron.
Michael Sinclair39/53In Ruth Sleightholme's relaxed, modern scheme for a studio flat, she has used curtains to create a tiny living area screened off from the rest of the space. "If constricted to a one-room flat, there is every chance you will want to screen certain sections off for privacy or for cosiness, such as a living snug or bedroom. Internal curtains are a perfect way to do this. They are easy to install and to move: far less of a commitment than other options such as a stud wall or crittal windows, and they easily open up to make the space feel bigger when they are not needed."
Rachel Whiting40/53Opt for sofas with slim arms (or chairs that forgo them altogether). Designer Jane Churchill's small living room in Chelsea includes two chairs covered in silk ikat, which inspired the scheme for the whole room.
41/53Work with, not against your home's natural architecture. It's an important lesson for any space, but especially true for small homes, as this space designed by Paolo Moschino proves. Here, an alcove by the window is made the most of with a small sofa nestled inside. The blue and white colour scheme also remains true to the style of the building -a fisherman's cottage by the sea in Cornwall.
James McDonald42/53In his small cottage living room, Tobias Vernon has kept the walls neutral and white, layering colour and texture over the top with his choice of furnishings. A Fifties oak and rope armchair attributed to Paolo Buffa and Vitra’s remake of Isamu Noguchi’s 1951 ‘Akari 10A’ floor lamp stand below a black and white oil painting by Swedish artist Bo Beskow. The rugs are Moroccan and vintage Swedish.
Christoper Horwood43/53Lucy Williams is lucky to have two living rooms in her London house. The front one is smaller and Lucy has enveloped it in Farrow & Ball's archive colour, Yonder, to create a cocooning effect. One of the first things Lucy decided to do was incorporate “bookcases and sliding pocket doors to divide the two sitting rooms.” Buchanan Studio stepped in to design the “clever adjustable bookcases," matching the fluted shelves to the fluted surrounded that can also be seen from the bar area. With the little handles found at Ardingley Market, Lucy says it "took ages to source the right size, reclaimed pocket doors for the space."
Simon Brown44/53Each area of the open-plan main room in this small west London flat has its own distinct atmosphere, thanks to the inventive details introduced by interior designer Beata Heuman, who relished the creative challenge of making every inch count. Though the room is small, it has high ceilings, which she has taken full advantage of with customised joinery. ‘With all that vertical volume, extending details like the artwork and bookshelves draws the eye upwards,’ says Beata.
Martin Morrell45/53For their latest house, a 19th-century barn with outbuildings in Oxfordshire, Mark and Georgie Rowse have drawn on their extensive renovation experience – and their address book of specialist artisans – to create a characterful and welcoming home for themselves, their family and a host of visiting friends. A velvet-covered antique sofa and a specially commissioned ottoman upholstered in an old rug make this sitting room an appealing spot to relax.
Owen Gale46/53Interior designer Sophie Ashby lives in a one-bedroom flat in the former BBC building in White City with her husband Charlie Casely-Hayford. The living room is small and open plan, leading into the kitchen, but it benefits from a wall of windows to keep it open and airy. The couple added joinery to one end of the sitting room, filling the shelves with books and trinkets. Charlie’s daughter Rainbow’s playbox doubles up as a coffee table, and a sofa bed has a side table that’s also a bookcase. A print of a photograph by Nigerian photographer Lakin Ogunbanwo hangs on a roller on the bookcase, cleverly disguising the television.
Paul Massey47/53The living room in this tiny barn conversion, decorated by antiques dealer Christopher Howe, is tucked under the mezzanine. A large Howe ottoman in the middle of the space gives the illusion that the room is larger than it actually is.
Taran Wilkhu48/53It took just three months for photographer and artist Zoë Zimmer to make her mark on this London flat, guided by her love of classic 20th-century design and atmospheric lighting. In the living room Zoë bought a pair of simple swivel stools from Amazon, had an upholsterer add backrests and re-covered them in cream velvet from Designers Guild. The low-backed ‘Hendricks’ sofa from Habitat is perfect for the space, as it allows an unobstructed view of the garden square beyond.
Davide Lovatti49/53Walls in ‘Nabis’ by Adam Bray for Papers and Paints set off a mix of Ensemblier furniture in Tara Craig's tiny flat. A ‘Hanmer’ sofa in a Jasper fabric by Michael S Smith and a George Spencer velvet is paired with ‘Montgomery’ chairs in Howe’s ‘Knurl’ linen, a ‘Trafalgar’ armchair in Howe leather and a ‘Lissadell’ ottoman in ‘Nathalie’ cotton by Claremont.
Michael Sinclair50/53Guy Tobin’s lifelong interest in collecting is palpable in his south London family house, where the rooms play host to interesting furniture, art and antiques from a range of styles and movements. The sofas were made for the space and have been covered in cotton velvets – the yellow one is in Lelièvre’s ‘Cosmos’. The coffee table is topped with Lumachella antica; this stone also features on the fireplace, combined with a mid-eighteenth-century carved pine surround. To the right of this is a Lucian Freud etching. For a sofa like the green velvet one in this room, try Soane’s ‘Bunny Sofa’ (75 x 174 x 84cm, from £6,900 excluding fabric). Subtly patterned pleated lampshades in the sitting room are one of many decorative touches and give a nod to traditional English interiors. Nushka sells a range of similar lampshades made from pretty vintage sari silks.
Jake Curtis51/53Briefed to steer clear of white and leather, Adam Bray and his team set about transforming this London flat - created from two one-bedroom flats joined together - with rich colour, luxurious fabrics and attention to detail. The red sofa and ottoman are upholstered in contrasting Le Manach 'Toile de Tours' fabric from Claremont. A silk wallcovering from de Gournay provides a dark background for a pair of Twenties French dining chairs in their original orange silk velvet in this elegant living room by Adam Bray.
Bill Batten52/53House & Garden’s former decoration editor Wendy Harrop has brought a simple elegance to her thatched cottage in Wiltshire, creating calm, restrained interiors with a pale palette and a stylish mix of furniture and art.The Ikea sofa has loose covers in white cotton. Wendy made the cushions out of calico from Whaleys, which she printed using stiff card dipped in ink. She re-covered the three Habitat tub chairs in Michael Devine’s ‘Dottie’ linen and a discontinued GP & J Baker fabric. A painting by Eileen Cooper from Rabley Gallery and prints by Ian Hands hang on the wall.
Simon Brown53/53In this small one bedroom Victorian flat use of every inch of the main room has been maximised, fitting in a large sitting area and a dining nook with banquette seating in Linwood's 'Moleskin Velvet' fabric in mustard. A trio of Michael Anastassiades pendants and a photograph by Nick Knight above the chimneypiece accentuates the high ceiling.
