Every home has its own design challenges, whether it’s too much wall space that’s impossible to fill or an odd-shaped living room that leaves you questioning where to place the sofa. If you’ve tried every possible arrangement to make your space feel more like home but it still doesn’t feel complete, you’re not alone.
Tricky spaces require clever design solutions. Whether you’re living in a home in Charlotte, NC that has a living room with tall, blank walls, or a condo in downtown Toronto, CA with a long and narrow living room, these 17 solutions for decorating a living room will have you embracing that empty corner, the awkward-placed pillar, or the empty walls.
Ideas to decorate an odd-shaped living room:
Be sure the piece makes sense before buying
Rather than trying to design your space all at once, let it evolve over time – moving things around, living with them for a while, and making adjustments is the best way to decorate an odd-shaped living room. Start with a few basics and build from there. Before shopping for a new item, create a lifesize mockup of it from cardboard, or mark out the measurements on your wall or floor with blue painter’s tape. By pre-visualizing how the new item will fit in your room, you’ll know the right size to look for and where you’ll put it. Then go out and find something you love. I should mention that I’m an artist, not an interior designer, and this is similar to the approach I take when I create a painting. I think you’ll find that it works really well for creating a living space too. – David Palmer Studio
Bring plants in to fill decorate a corner in your living room
Plants and crystals bring nature’s beauty and energy indoors, providing positive energies of relaxation, rejuvenation, and inspiration. Plants also bring negative ions into our homes, which are tiny subatomic particles made by nature that when inhaled, cause our bodies to produce more of the feel-good hormone serotonin. Plants not only make our spaces look better and are a great way to decorate a corner in a living room, but they make us feel happier in our home, too. For darker corners you can use plants like: Dragon Tree (Dracaena), Snake Plant (Sansevieria), or a ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia). For brighter corners try Fiddle Leaf Fig (Ficus lyrata), Rubber Tree (Ficus elastica), or a Monstera (Monstera deliciosa). – Rachael Cohen, Nature Connector, Author, Plant Stylist, Crystal Energy Worker and Intuitive Life Coach, InfiniteSucculent.com (@infinitesucculent)
Tips on how to hide a pillar in a living room:
Add seating and hang decorative pieces to hide a pillar in your living room
This can be anything from a single side chair that is unique and has some character, such as a chair like this, this, or this. Or, you could add a funky stool, like this stool from Dan John Anderson, this stool from Laura Catherine Soto, or this stool from Konekt Studio. If your space allows for it, you may also want to consider adding a cool floor lamp and a small side table to create an impromptu reading nook. Another cool option would be to have some custom shelves made and installed directly on the pillar for decorating with books and tchotchkes. Lastly, adding hanging decorative pieces such as a vintage piece on ornamental hooks could be an interesting way to decorate the pillar as well. – Melissa Tingley, By MELROSECO
Add a second column or incorporate a cabinet to the pillar
We love a good design challenge when doing a renovation. And when faced with structural support that cannot move, often a creative resolution is needed. Depending on how the room is laid out we have created a sense of space by adding a second faux column to balance it out and unite it by paneling both columns and the walls. We have also built structural supports into cabinetry. The cabinet may extend beyond that point with storage, and where the support is hidden, there is an inoperable door creating a seamless storage solution while also disguising the unsightly post. Custom millwork, if the budget allows, can be a very useful tool and aesthetically can’t be beat. – Anne Rae Design
Draw attention to the pillar rather than hiding it
When faced with an architectural hurdle such as a pillar in a room, I like the idea of “hidden in plain sight.” Use contrasting paint to draw attention to the column. Hiding it is impossible. If the room is a family or playroom add blackboard paint or cork to make it a gallery of art and projects. Clad the column in a luxury material. Mica wallpaper, walnut laminate, or brick veneer can transform a drywall column into an architectural element that ties the space together and adds interest. – Kevin Corn Design
Hang a sconce, art, or mirror to hide a pillar in your living room
Adding a wall hanging draws your eye to the wall hanging and is a great way to hide a pillar in a living room. This solution creates a flow to the space while allowing the column to blend into the room design instead of standing out as an obstruction. – Kelley Price Interiors
Decorate a corner in your living room with a reading nook
When it comes to decorating a corner in your living room, you can’t go wrong with a styled reading nook that draws the eye. By simply incorporating an Eames chair, accent table, and lighting, you can turn a once empty open corner into your new favorite space to lounge. – Philip Thomas Vanderford and Jason James Jones, Studio Thomas James
How to decorate a small living room:
Look at your room with a fresh set of eyes
Take everything in as if you are seeing it for the first time, pay attention to everything in the space as you contemplate how to decorate your small living room. Take time to truly see the items sitting in the corners, on the coffee table or end tables, the things that have been collecting or needing to be put away. By removing these items, you can make a small living room look bigger, more user-friendly, and aesthetically pleasing just by moving or removing those items you no longer use or love. – Linda Deppa, Uncluttered
Include only a few shades and patterns in your color palette to make a small living room look bigger
We do a lot of urban townhouse design and even though these homes always look big from the outside, we are often confronted with smaller scale rooms on the interior. One of our favorite design power moves to make a small living room look bigger is to limit the palette to just a few colors and/or patterns. This includes making sure all your lampshades are one color tone. Painting an outside wall with a window in a dark color is a great way to bring the outside in and also make a small room feel bigger. I know, it sounds counterintuitive, but trust me, it works. A favorite choice for a darker accent wall is a delicious warm grey, Benjamin Moore’s Plymouth Rock. A fresh coat of paint is also a bulletproof way to make a room feel bigger. Pair Plymouth Rock with Benjamin Moore’s White Heron for a crisp and bright white to contrast with the warm grey tone on your accent wall. Lastly: organize. Remove clutter and reduce, reduce, reduce. – Kristine Irving, Creative Director and Design Principal (@koodekir)
Bring in color, just keep it light
Use light and airy colors to make a small living room look bigger, both for paint and furniture as dark colors eat up light. But, this doesn’t mean just white. Bring in color, just keep it light. Be mindful not to crowd the space with a lot of small pieces, as it tends to make a smaller space look cluttered. When limited for space, it can help to draw attention to the height of the room (even if it is a standard ceiling height). This can be accomplished with lighting, bookshelves, wall features, and art. – Julia Adele Design
Or, consider using dark and moody colors for added depth
Painting the room white would be the standard, but you can also go the route of using a sophisticated, dark, and moody color to give the room depth and make a small living room look bigger. Pair with floor-to-ceiling curtains, which will help to give your space the feeling of higher ceilings. For furniture, don’t fall into the trap of lining the walls with pieces in effort to make it feel like there is more space in the middle. By placing the pieces more towards the center of the room, you actually create more flow and ease of movement and draw people in. If you have large pieces of furniture, remember, less is more. It’s not about filling the room, it’s about functionality. – Haus of Meeshie
Enhance your space with greenery
The best way to decorate small spaces in the home is to incorporate something green into your decor. Houseplants are the perfect addition for decorating a corner in a living room. Whether they are placed on the ground, in plant stands, on shelves, or in hanging baskets – there are many ways to decorate your home with plants and add a touch of the tropics. Choose something like the Golden Pothos for long, trailing vines, or the Black Coral Snake Plant for low light environments. – Perfect Plants
Incorporate large floor mirrors for added depth and length
Large floor mirrors create the illusion of more depth and floor-length to a room, making the living room appear bigger. Placing one in your living room as the focal point on a wall or an accent corner can make your home feel more open, airy, and inviting. Not to mention, with the right teak wood or gold-leaf iron frame, it can add a whole lot of drama – in a good way. Your guests will leave thinking, “Mirror mirror on the floor, how is it that you give me so much space and more. – Brittany Diaz, Collov Home Design‘s Editorial Writer
Opt for a glass-top coffee table in a small living room
Use a glass-top coffee table and/or side table with a leggy or open base in a small living room. Finding a second-hand option will take away the fear of scratching a brand new piece of glass and is easier on the wallet. The reflective and see-through surface will make your room seem bigger and brighter. – Up to Date Interiors
How to decorate a living room wall with shelves:
Bring in a basket and hang floating shelves
The easiest and most affordable way to clear clutter and add style to your living room is to use baskets. It’s an excellent way to decorate your living room and a great storage solution for renters if you have limited space. You can store items, such as throw blankets when not in use. Or, if you need extra storage for your home while making it look chic and clean, then hanging shelves can be the perfect solution. It’s an excellent storage solution to keep your stuff accessible and organized without taking up floor space. – Omysa
Zig-zag, mix materials, divide, and conquer
If you have a large bookshelf, always remember to zig-zag shapes and colors from top to bottom and mix your materials such as glass, pottery, and natural textures on each shelf. To decorate your living room bookshelf, I always like to divide it into 3 items per shelf and try to keep the items in a triangle of small, larger, small. Remember to zig zag that group, meaning on the next shelf or even the one below add another group on the opposite side of the shelf you did previously. And, evenly disperse the color throughout the shelf. The ideal shelf would have a colorful glass piece on the left, a taller wood sculpture in the middle, and a nice piece of coral on the right. The next shelf down would do the opposite, a white pottery piece on the right, a stack of books in the middle, and another colorful glass piece on the left. – Ross Vincent Design
Decorate shelves in your living room by putting memories on display
Displaying a collection of travel memorabilia on your bookshelves is a great idea to decorate walls in your living room. It allows you to put your memories on display. Whether it be a piece of artwork you picked up or even a book you read on a vacation, it is a special way to give your bookshelves meaning and you’ll be able to add to your collection over the years. – Natalie Riesselman Interior Designer Owner of Bell Interiors
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