57 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 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 that is always a joy to spend time in.
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 smart storage solutions – these small living room ideas prove space and style certainly aren’t mutually exclusive, whether you are living in a city flat, a country cottage or anything in between.
Small living room ideas from the House & Garden archive
Christopher Horwood1/56It's a classic interior designer tip that in a small space, it's best to go bold with the decoration, making it feel enveloping and considered. Interior designer Tamsin Saunders of Home & Found has certainly done that in the snug in her charming home in Richmond, which has been given a a rich, cocooning feel with a mix of warm chocolate tones, layered textiles and rich patterns.
Sarah Griggs2/56You do not need to invest in lots of new pieces in order to create a lovely living room that is a joy to spend time in. In fact, it can be the key to ensuring a lived-in, authentic feel. Natasha Quick has reused a few of her clients’ existing pieces in this Notting Hill flat.
In the sitting area, an existing sofa from Robert Kime was upholstered in Lee Jofa’s ‘Entoto Stripe’. The palette for this room was partly inspired by the painting by Sahara Longe and the ‘Scrolling Fern’ Soane curtains, which the clients also already owned. It just goes to show how old pieces can be given a new lease of life within a new scheme.
Dean Hearne3/56Undaunted by a tight budget and a two-week timescale, the artist turned interior designer Joshua Hale has worked wonders on his rented Oxfordshire cottage. In the living room, walls in Little Greene’s ‘Light Bronze Green’ create a richly inviting atmosphere, as do the two comfortable armchairs either side of the fireplace – a blue ‘Lancaster’ wing chair and armchair in ‘Lilies and Geraniums’, both by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler.
One of his few extravagances was the steel chimneypiece from English Fireplaces in the sitting room, which has been framed by spongeware tiles, with silhouettes by Roger Banks-Pye displayed above. It really anchors the space and adds so much visual interest.
Peter Dixon4/56This cottage in Chelsea transformed by Sarah Morris from McWhirter Morris has the elegant feel of a country house, and there is no finer example than this drawing room. An early 19th-century Italian Breccia marble fireplace from Nicholas Gifford-Mead, with a George II giltwood mirror from Adam Calvert Bentley above, provides a fine focal point and lends a sense of grandeur.
The soft blue palette is incredibly restful, and works very well as the backdrop for a layered mix of antiques, art and textiles that give the room – and indeed the whole house – a very established feel.
Christopher Horwood5/56Yellow living rooms are all the rage at the moment, and Carlos Garcia has demonstrated just how lovely they can be in this small London flat. Walls in Edward Bulmer’s ‘Persian’ showcase paintings from Tat London, a George III mirror from Lorfords and a Jacobean chest from Ron Green, with a lamp from Holt Antiques paired with a Nushka shade. The curtains are in Carlos’ ‘Kandili’.
Lindsay Brown6/56The living room of Avery Cox’s 100-year-old, house in Atlanta is a masterclass in characterful small space design. The green-tiled fireplace was a natural focal point, which she has enhanced by hanging a striking artwork above it. The owner found the painting, by Tanzanian artist H B Mruta, at Kudzu antique shop in Atlanta, along with another piece by the same artist that is now in the bathroom. ‘They stopped me in my tracks. I knew I wanted a large scale work over the fireplace and the tub and the sizes, colours (and price!) of these pieces were so perfect for the spaces.’
Meanwhile, Avery found two pairs of bamboo chairs on vintage marketplace Chairish, and painted them in Benjamin Moore’s ‘Newport Green 2050-30’. The coffee table is West Elm's ‘Hazel’ design, and the rug is a hand-knotted 1970s Turkish rug also found on Chairish. Together, they form the most inviting of seating areas, perfect for relaxed evenings at home or conversation with friends.
Rachael Smith7/56Another yellow living room can be seen in Louise Jones’ charming Victorian cottage in south-west London. In the original part of the house, the room benefits from large sash windows that fill the room with light. Louise has capitalised on this by create a wonderfully warm scheme in sunny shades of yellow.
The walls are painted in a pale ochre by DKT Artworks, with complementary checked curtains from Handicraft Haveli in Jaipur. The upholstery on the chairs and sofa adds to the relaxed and inviting feel, and the choice of a small ottoman rather than a large coffee table ensures the room isn’t dominated by it.
Mark Anthony Fox8/56In 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.
When 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 II’, with woodwork in the brand's ‘Slate IV’ and black doors in ‘Pitch Black’ from Farrow & Ball.
Mark Anthony Fox9/56A 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.
Boz Gagovski10/56The small living room in Daniel Slowik and Benedict Foley’s Hackney flat is a restrained space, with no cabinets, fewer pictures than the bedroom, and an off-white fabric walling that feels quite modern.
Mark Roper11/56The 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 Gagovski12/56Daniel 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 Horwood13/56In 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 Ltd14/56This 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 Garlick15/56When adding character to this newbuild 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 Massey16/56This 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 Fox17/56In 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 Fox18/56In 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 Allen19/56Behind 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.
Christopher Horwood20/56In 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 Hearne21/56A 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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22/56The 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 Horwood23/56Tonal patterns have been used to introduce texture in the small living room section of this larger room in a Mayfair apartment 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 Perers24/56In the living room of interior designer Catherine Olley’s flat, the walls are painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Setting Plaster’. 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.
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Simon Brown25/56The 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 Gale26/56A 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 Laprade27/56Fabrizio 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.
Christopher Horwood28/56It 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 Massey29/56The 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 Griffiths30/56The 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 Friday31/56The 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 JULLIARD32/56In 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 Griggs33/56The 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 Photography34/56In 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 Brown35/56In 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 Morrell36/56In 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 Curtis37/56In 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 Anthony Fox38/56This 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 Bergström39/56Sebastian 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 Upton40/56This small sitting nook in a handsome Regency Grade-II house in Norfolk by Veere Grenney is ideally composed for a small but functional, liveable space.
Dean Hearne41/56In this Deal cottage by Nicola Mardas, the living room serves as a colourful refuge. The woodwork is painted in Designers Guild's ‘Damask Rose’.
Michael Sinclair42/56In 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 Goodfello’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 Brown43/56In 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 Gagovski44/56The 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.
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James McDonald45/56In 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.
Christopher Horwood46/56Lucy 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 Brown47/56Each 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 Morrell48/56For 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 Gale49/56Interior 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 Massey50/56The 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 Wilkhu51/56It 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 Lovatti52/56Walls 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 Sinclair53/56Guy 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 Curtis54/56Briefed 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 Batten55/56House & 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 Brown56/56In 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.
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