Enliven your LIVING ROOM

If you thought smaller spaces don’t allow for much creativity, here are a few cues that will change your view – and that of your little living room.

Keep it Simple: For smaller/ narrower rooms, it’s always better to pick light-weight furniture with simple design. This creates an illusion of space. In addition to this, pick your side table, bookshelves and other furniture in lighter shades and in materials like metal or glass, which allows the eye to move through the pieces consuming little visual space. Nesting furniture are a great choice for small homes.

Think Vertical: A wall-to-wall cabinet not only ensures that the room looks less cluttered but also doubles as storage space, and ultilises the otherwise untapped areas of the room like the upper walls. While accessorising, vertical lines take away attention from the space and helps focus your eyes above. Think floor lamps, large vases with tall twigs, full length draperies, vertical paintings, and tables with multilayered arrangements.

Colour Card: Neutral colours mixed with pastel shades of blue and green work beautifully in a small living area. Cooler colours offer the impression of a space, being larger than it is. Use accessories as contrast with the pastel-coloured walls. Small spaces work best with a three-colour (or less) palette. Think blue, purple and white with shades of metallic grey.

Mirror Image: Increase the appearance of the size of the room by adding wall mirrors. They reflect natural and artificial light to make a room brighter during the day and night. They bounce light deep into the room, making it appear larger. Placing a mirror near a window to reflect the outdoors is especially effective. You can also use mirrored cabinet doors.