40 Small Apartment Living Room Ideas to Maximize Space and Style

Go Bold With a Gallery Wall

To pack a punch of personality into your small space, go big and bold with a wall-to-wall gallery wall.

“You’ll want to pick one really large piece that paves the way for the surrounding pieces and build out around it,” says Yoselin Castro, senior interior designer at Mackenzie Collier Interiors. “One of my favorite things when it comes to building gallery walls is filling in the small gaps with textural decor—think a clock, macrame hanging, or metal links.”

Set Up a Remote Work Spot

Place a desk in your small living room to create a remote work spot. Choose a sleek design that blends into the walls for a seamless look, like this New York City apartment.

Hang Statement Lighting

Add interest to a small living room with statement lighting. Try a large-scale pendant or chandelier that will draw the eye upward and make a statement without taking up any floor space.

Layer a Rug Over Carpet

Make rental apartment carpeting less drab by layering a rug over the top. Vary textures to add contrast, like this fluffy rug over a flat pile carpet.

Add Versatile Seating

Maximize seating in a small living room if you have a big family or like to entertain. Mix small sofas or love seats with armchairs and additional stools and poufs.

Wallpaper the Ceiling

Wallpaper the ceiling of a small living room to draw the eye upwards. Forbes + Masters added color and pattern to this cozy space that complements the painted white wood trim walls.

Choose a Rounded Sofa

Follow the curves of a bow window in a small living room by choosing a rounded sofa. Desiree Burns Interiors placed a modern white sofa in the bow windows of this historic Boston brownstone for a custom fit.

Create a Feature Wall

Create a focal point with a feature wall. Interior designer Alvin Wayne painted the main wall in this New York City apartment in a warm earth-tone shade of Sienna Brown, with a faux fireplace for extra coziness.

Use Muted Tones

Clean lines, natural materials, and muted tones—that's the recipe for this living room. The results are enviable and inspiring.

Install a Modern Fireplace

Upgrade a small apartment living room with a modern linear fireplace. Brexton Cole Interiors anchored this open-plan space with a navy shiplap wall and an electric fireplace insert to create a cozy focal point.

Make It Cozy With Paint

Give a small high-rise apartment a cozy feel with a warm textured wall treatment. Studio KT bathed the walls and ceilings of this space in a soft salmon pink color that glows day and night.

Choose a Bold Sofa Color

Never thought you'd own a mustard couch? The confines of a small apartment living room may be the perfect space to stretch your design comfort zone.

The unexpected color warms up the modern touches, like the geometric pendant light and the stone coffee table.

Float the Couch

If your apartment has a living room-dining room combo, divide the space by floating the couch in the middle of the room. Desiree Burns Interiors positioned the sofa with its back to the dining room to create the feel of separate spaces in this high-rise apartment.

Try Ceiling-Height Curtains

Make your small apartment living room feel taller and grander with ceiling-height curtains. Studio Peake paired neutral pinch pleat curtains with bright yellow walls in this cozy London living room.

Paint it Dark

Lean into the coziness of a small living room by painting it in a dark color. Louis Duncan-He Designs paired matte black paint with a colorful sofa, but you could opt for a moody shade of brown, blue, green, or gray instead.

Integrate Vintage Furniture

Is there anything more satisfying than responding, "Oh, it's vintage" to a guest fawning over your you-name-it? Investing in vintage furniture and art takes some scouting, but brings a je ne sais quoi to any space—especially a small living room.

Set Up a Bar Cart

Create a mini budget home bar in a small apartment living room with a bar cart. Forbes + Masters styled an aged brass and glass bar cart with glasses, bottles, books, and plants and hung a pair of modern mirrors on the wall above.

Choose Wall-Mounted Storage

Keeping floors clear will enhance the feeling of spaciousness in a small living room. Desiree Burns Interiors floated a wall-mounted console on the wood slat feature wall in this Japandi-style space to add storage in this high-rise living room.

Hang Sheer Curtains

Create a light and airy feel in a small living room by hanging sheer curtains. They will filter light and provide privacy while blending into the background to allow other design elements to shine.

Hang a Space-Saving Sconce

Hang space-saving sconces to light a small living room. Flank the sofa with a pair of sconces for a symmetrical look, or mount a double sconce on one side like this New York City apartment living room from Tina Ramchandani Creative.

Combine Mismatched Pieces

Create an eclectic look in a small apartment living room by mixing and matching furniture and decor styles.

Interior designer Alvin Wayne created a dynamic feel in this New York City space with a blend of textiles, patterns, shapes, and styles.

Refine Your TV Wall

Build a sleek TV wall that won't dominate your small apartment living room. Tina Ramchandani Creative mounted a flat screen in a niche on a dark wood-paneled wall that includes floating shelves and closed storage in this New York City space.

Mix and Match Bold Patterns

Create a maximalist feel in a small apartment living room by mixing bold patterns. Pair zigzag accent wallpaper with a diamond-patterned Moroccan rug to create movement and interest in a cookie cutter space like this New York City apartment.

Focus on One Large Piece

Sectionals can be clunky, especially in a small apartment living room. That's not the case with this sleek and understated gray sofa—it provides the perfect anchor in the space without overcrowding it.

Hang Modern Curtains

Make a decor statement with living room curtains in a bold or colorful pattern. Mary Patton Design added visual interest to this small moody living room without taking up any floor space with a pair of graphic curtains.

Decorate With Plants

No matter how small your living room is, there's always room for a plant, or two, or 10.

Plants add much-needed life to spaces of all sizes. If you're short on square footage, look up. Hanging plants draw the eye up while saving you precious floor space.

Camouflage the TV

Decorate around the TV in a smaller living room so that it doesn't dominate the space.

Erin Williamson Design painted the ceiling black and styled the midcentury modern mantel with art and objects to give the eye something else to focus on when the TV is off.

Add A Cozy Area Rug

Anchor a small living room area in an open-plan apartment with an area rug. Desiree Burns Interiors kept it subtle with a pale solid flat weave that complements light oak flooring, but you could opt for color or pattern instead.

Work With Slanted Walls

If your apartment is tucked into the top floor of a house, you may be working within the confines of slanted walls. The key? Work with them, not against them. Low-profile furniture is your friend; it'll neatly tuck into the part with the shorter ceiling.

Take Things Outside

If you're lucky enough to have an outdoor space in your apartment, make the most of it by setting up an outside lounging area.

Use Art to Define the Walls

Add an unexpected twist to the walls of your living room with tapestry art. The results are refreshing and effortless while leaving enough space for the walls to breathe. Win/win.

Reconsider Black Trim

Forget everything you think you know about black trim. It doesn't have to look overbearing or dated, and it doesn't have to make a room feel smaller either.

Consider Scale

Playing with scale in a small apartment living room is a delicate balance. You don't want to overwhelm the room, but you don't want to solely feature dainty pieces either. A good place to start: an oversized light fixture, like the one in this living room.

Have Fun With Wall Decor

No one says you have to take interior design seriously. Have fun designing your small apartment living room.

Go ahead, hang colorful art. Show off a funky pattern. Encourage guests to sit on a knotted velvet pouf, like the one in this New York City living room designed by Alvin Wayne.

Maximize the Sofa

While you want to choose furniture that correctly suits the scale of your living room, that doesn't mean choosing the smallest sofa on the market.

A tiny sofa can have a dollhouse effect, while choosing the largest sofa that works within your space can actually make your room seem bigger, especially if it's a light and airy white.

Add Built-Ins

Storage is typically hard to come by in small spaces, but you can create an entire wall of storage without taking major square footage. Use bookshelves to create faux built-ins or install real built-ins. You'll only lose a few inches from the wall but you'll gain major storage space.

Choose an Armless Sofa

Not only do you need to select a sofa that's the right scale for your space, but also the right silhouette. An armless sofa can make your space feel more airy and avoid disrupting the flow in your room.

Repeat Textures Throughout

An intentionally small space will feel sophisticated and styled. One way to do that is to echo the same fabrics and textures throughout the space.

In this room, a cognac leather sofa coordinates with the cognac leather ottoman next to the accent chair. This helps the small living room feel cohesive rather than thrown together.

Balance Hard and Soft

Leggy wood and metal furniture feels light and airy, which is why it's used so often in small living rooms. But too much of it can create a cold look. Balance those harder materials with soft, cozy textures, including blankets, sheepskin throws, and drapery.

Incorporate Accent Chairs

Even in the smallest of spaces, a seating option beyond the sofa will make a room feel more welcoming and comfortable. Try petite accent chairs or ottomans that can double as storage or seating.