Essential Guide to Small Scale Living: Designing a Living Room

When it comes to city living, bigger isn’t always better. While some people may be daunted by the prospect of a serious downsizing, here at Casamona International we see it as an exciting opportunity! Perhaps it is a chance to live more centrally, or in a community building, or even just to de-clutter.

Consequently, we are bringing you the first instalment in our new Essential Guide to Small Scale Living blog series. This will be a space where we share some tips and tricks on how to make the most of smaller spaces. This week we start with the heart of any apartment: the living room.

Maximise natural light

The most important thing to consider when planning how to make the most of a small space is natural light. A dark, poorly lit room will only make a room feel smaller and doesn’t create a nice, homely environment to live in. This is particularly important in the living room, a space you’ll spend the majority of your time and entertain any guests.

We recommend installing large, wide windows to maximise the natural light. This will both brighten up your room and give a nice view to the outside to create a feeling of space extended outside the walls of the apartment. A tall plant in the corner or near the windows can also help this effect of bringing in the outside.

It is also worth bearing shutters in mind as a replacement for curtains. This saves some of your precious internal space and leaves a cleaner transition between wall and window.

Work with light colours and fabrics

A bright, well lit room is best coupled with predominantly light coloured wallpaper and furniture colours to maintain the sense of light throughout. Big pieces of furniture work well in white, cream, or lighter colours. However, don’t forget about medium and darker colours too! They work well as pops of colour and bring accents that compliments the overarching light tones. A rug can be a great way to break the uniformity of floor colour, as paintings or artwork can be for your walls.

Of course, in a rental property it may not be possible to repaint walls or make big changes. So, if you are in this position, it is best just to balance out darker elements with light furniture or decorations as best you can.  

Use mirrors to your advantage

The use of light aside, mirrors are a fantastic accessory to create an illusion of space as well as a nice decoration. Large mirrors are best placed near or across from windows to reflect light and images from the outside. Alternatively, they can be angled towards the focal point of the room to extend the image.

Declutter to the bare essentials

Nothing makes a room feel smaller than too much clutter. This could be anything from too much artwork to too many pieces of furniture. When dealing with a small living room, it is best to focus on your essentials and to use fewer items to greater effect. A sofa, for example, with storage space underneath will open up the room much better than a smaller sofa with a nearby storage cabinet.

Of course, a small living room doesn’t have to mean small furniture. In fact, a large sofa or table can act as a focal point and give a sense of largeness even in a smaller room.

Delineating the space with colour

It is nice to have pops of colour around the apartment, and grouping similar colours together can help bring uniformity to the room. It also helps to create visible lines that delineate the space and create an effect of greater depth and movement in the room. Of course, grouping items together can help from an organisational point of view too.

Of course, these are just a few initial pointers. Making the most of a small space can be an exciting project to work on, and we would love to hear any more of your ideas if you think we missed some big points off our list!

Credit: Loyola Moya on Pinterest

If you are looking for furniture or accessories for an apartment, our Facebook group is a good place to start. Or if you are looking for a new place to live, check out or website or visit us in our store in El Born!

Stay tuned for our second instalment of the series, coming soon!