Floors / 
5 Simple Design Ideas For Small Living Rooms
Dramatic living room with dark walls, colorful art and COREtec flooring

COREtec

May 2, 2024

Do you have small-living-room-itis? That condition where you have a small living room space but want to decorate it as if it were larger? Or do you have small-living-room anxiety, where you feel totally frozen when it comes to any small living-room ideas at all? While it’s true that not everyone can have a Kardashian-sized living room (or the budget to put it together), with a little creativity and some design know-how, you can put together an adorable small living room that you’re proud to invite friends over to see. Check out these 5 living room ideas for small spaces:

1. Play With Color and Light

So many people will tell you to use only neutrals or black and white or bright colors or on and on and on. Not every color scheme works for everyone, and since you have a small space, you want to make it feel warm, comfortable and inviting, not chaotic and cluttered. Get out your color wheel and play with some of these ideas to design a welcoming space that speaks most to your style:

  • Monochrome palette: Pick a color and use various shades of it throughout your room to create a unified theme. Then add pops of a complementary color to add interest.
  • Light colors make a small space seem bigger, so keep the theme light but add bolder, stronger elements that stand out.
  • Use black strategically. Black accents can add depth to a small, bright space.
  • Paint one of the walls a bright accent color.
  • Add mirrors to the walls to reflect more light into the space. These also give the impression that your small space is larger.
  • Try a lighter shade of flooring and add an exciting accent rug to expand the space.
  • As for the ceiling, add an eye-catching light fixture that provides warm, configurable (dimmable) ambient lighting. Accent lighting can also highlight design elements or light up a reading corner at night while saving electricity.
Woman spraying Encore flooring cleaner on COREtec vinyl flooring

Featured Color: Cremello Travertine

2. Try Nesting Furniture

Picking the right furniture for your small living room is essential to making the most of it. There are wonderful nesting side tables that you can tuck away when you don’t need them. Look for a smart coffee table equipped with drawers to stash remotes, books, games, etc. Modular shelving and organizers that can nest into each other when not being used are also fantastic small living room ideas that can help you get the most convenience and use out of the space you have.

3. Stick to the Essentials

Making a small living room inviting and calming can sometimes mean decluttering. While decluttering can be hard, especially for folks with a heightened sentimental side, it is a good best practice. If you’ve filled your nesting furniture and coffee table drawers with all they can handle, we suggest you Marie Kondo the heck out of your space. Try any decluttering method that works for you. Does it give you joy? No? Toss. Have you used it in the last 6 months? No? Toss.

4. Add Interesting Textures

Texture can add a lot of fun to a small space; you don’t have to add a lot to make it work for you. For example, nubby throw pillows and fluffy blankets in complementary colors are wonderful ways to change up a living room seasonally while adding texture. Houseplants are also a great addition to a small living room. Adding a few strategically placed green plants will improve indoor air quality and add texture and nature to your space.

So, if you have a small space, don’t let small-living-room-itis or small-space anxiety get you down. Try some of these small living room ideas to make your space look bigger and more inviting. And with low-maintenance luxury vinyl plank flooring, you can also make your small space easier to care for!

modern chair with black cat and indoor plant on luxury vinyl flooring

5. Small Living Room Flooring Ideas

The best flooring for a small living room should be low-maintenance, easy to clean and certified for healthy indoor air quality. Luxury vinyl plank flooring that emits no or low VOCs (volatile organic compounds) is a good choice because it looks like real wood but without the high-maintenance (and high ticket price) of real wood. COREtec white oak LVP flooring, for example, is a warm, bright, wood-look flooring option that adds texture while being waterproof, easy to clean and safe for your kids and pets. Pro tip: smaller planks tend to work better in smaller spaces, and it’s cost-effective to get luxury vinyl plank flooring in smaller plank sizes.

A living room with COREtec luxury vinyl flooring.