If you have a narrow living room and are wondering how best to decorate it so that it looks stylish and inviting, then today is your lucky day. It can be hard knowing how to decorate a narrow room in general, but when it comes to a narrow living room where people spend a lot of their time as well as entertaining there, it does become tricky.
You have probably spent a lot of your design time looking at how to arrange furniture in a variety of ways so that it looks just right. However, no matter what you do to make it look a bit bigger, you still have a long living room wall on either side and a narrow floor space.
Whilst this may make you want to knock your walls down and reconstruct your narrow living room, it might not be the best choice at the moment, so instead your vertical space will need to be worked with not against. This is manageable it just takes some time and help. Before you know it, your long narrow living room will look exactly how you want it.
Declutter Your Narrow Living Room
Decluttering your living and dining rooms is a crucial step in maintaining a clean and organized living space. Start by assessing the items in these areas and identifying things you no longer need or use. Donate or sell items that are still in good condition, and discard those that are beyond repair. To effectively dispose of the discarded items, consider enlisting the services of experts proficient in Rubbish collection Melbourne (or wherever you stay).
Think About Your Chairs
The narrow living room can feel a lot wider if the furniture that is not needed is taken away. If you have four chairs, think instead of cutting it down to two chairs placed in strategic places in the room, i.e. don’t put both near the door where it could be blocking it as they turn into an obstacle for people.
You want two separate seating zones which you may want to arrange in a curved pathway if that’s your chosen arrangement. Your narrow room will thank you.
Storing Your Items
When you are arranging furniture you want to place it on a rug or carpet that is free from the clutter of your home, however, if you have small children who play in the living room, then you will have toys and bits and bobs covering the area. Now would be a good time to find a storage container that suits your living room style without removing everything from the room.
Match Your Storage
Long narrow living rooms can be a nightmare to clean with clutter everywhere, so a storage ottoman that works with your decor and color scheme would be a good option. You won’t mess up the flow of your living room and you can keep the floor space neat and tidy when guests are over.
Pick Out The Right Furniture
If you call your living room the ‘family room’ then you want the furniture to complement the style and feel of your home, you want to make it friendly and welcoming to all with a dash of personal style. This comes across in the furniture you have. A narrow living room does not need a big bulky furniture arrangement to be comfy.
Forget The Fabric
Sofa’s and chairs that have open arms and legs that are not covered by fabric can open up the room, plus you may want to choose a console table/coffee table or small round side tables that are glass based rather than wood, it creates freedom within the small space, You may also want to opt for round area rugs that become a focal point of the room, leading people to look at the floor.
Don’t pile your furniture groupings into one zone as it will look all bunched up and not very inviting, you have one space to deal with. Doing alternating furniture groupings will make the room flow.
Natural Light
It is important to let in natural light to create a flowing feeling in the long living room. Don’t have heavy curtains blocking the light or add bulbous light fixtures, instead, put up light curtains and Window Coverings that stay flush with the ceiling.
Match The Lighting
If you do have an open plan that links to the dining room, it is good to have lighting that isn’t so harsh to create a soft effect in there too. You want your dining area, like your living room, to feel inviting. This isn’t a bowling alley, harsh lighting is not for this room, in fact, it shouldn’t be for any room.
Furniture Arrangements
There are different types of ways you can arrange furniture in your living room, so you may want to look into each one to see which one suits your layout best.
- The Straight Pathway
- The Curved Pathway
- Separate The Space
Choosing one of these arrangements will help you tie everything else together as you start to design your living room, so initially deciding on what you are going for will help you with the rest of your plans.
Fit The Furniture Pieces to The Living Room
There is no point in having a massive sofa, a big area rug, or a clunky coffee table in a long narrow living room, it doesn’t make any sense. Instead, you could get a custom round expanding table made for the area based on its size, and add to the ambiance with some foldable chairs to make the area look roomier. You need to scale down the pieces you have so they fit in with your living room. Remember to pull furniture away from the walls so that they don’t look like a border around your room.
Keep some pieces to the walls, but not too many. Your seating area would look best in the middle so that people have more space to walk around and the traffic flow is not bunched up.
Separate Zones
With a long narrow living room, you may want to break up the zones so that there is more of a variety for where people want to sit or where your family wants to be. You could make one zone a small office or a television corner, and the other could be where you have a bookcase and arm chairs for a reading corner. You can break up this long space effectively.
What to do With a Long Wall
Long walls can be wide and tall, so there is a lot of space to cover when it comes to figuring out what design would be best. Adding a tall armoire will draw the eye upward as well as be a great provider for storage, however, you can’t have tall armoires all over your living room.
Mirrors
Putting round mirrors on your wall can open up the space and make it look bigger than it actually is, you may want to put them opposite your bay window (if you have one), or your door so it gives the illusion of more space. Mixing it up with art prints that are not too bulky can create a wall area that looks stylish and open without cluttering the walls too much.
Fireplace
A fireplace adds a contemporary look to any indoor space. By installing Wood Burning Stoves From Opulence Stoves or any other fireplace design in your living room, you would not only create a regal aesthetic but also have a place to warm up on chilly evenings. You can also add further design elements to complete the look. If you already have a fireplace, whether it works or not, don’t push a sofa up near it, let it remain open as a nice design point in your living room. You may want to hang a piece of artwork over your fireplace, but keep it simple. You want people to take notice but not feel like they are closed in or have it looming over your space.
Painting Your Narrow Living Room
Paint, just like your furniture and accessories is an important part of making a narrow living room look a lot more open. Despite what people think, you can use dark colors for your living room walls, just not entirely from one end to the next, it is good to break it up.
Painting one wall dark and then the opposite wall dark will create the illusion of a wider living room which will also make it look more square than rectangular. The colors you pick depend on the style of your home and color scheme, so there is no right or wrong with the colors you choose, just how you use them.
Conclusion
Having a long living room/narrow living room, whatever you want to call it, can be tough to maneuver, but with the right tools and design choices, you will be able to make your living room look amazing for anyone who walks into your home.
Hopefully, these room ideas will help you counteract long horizontal lines and open up your narrow spaces. If you are still struggling to do it yourself, you may want to bring in an interior designer to help you achieve what you need.