13 Ways To Make Your Small Living Room Look Bigger That Won't Cost A Dime

Having a small living room can be a challenge. While the limited square footage sometimes makes a room feel sheltered and cozy, it's also prone to feeling cramped and closed in. Unfortunately, you can't actually change the size of a room without renovating, but, luckily, with a little creativity you can make notable changes that don't require knocking down walls or even purchasing anything new.

There are plenty of visual hacks you can try to make your living room feel more open, airy, and inviting, which, in turn, makes the space feel larger. From clever furniture arrangements to playing with light and reflections, strategic choices with textiles to simple decluttering, you can easily create the illusion of a bigger room. Ahead, we've rounded up some ideas you can use to make your small living room feel more spacious, all without spending even a dime.

Lowering visual clutter can make a room feel more spacious. Less stuff means reduced distractions and larger empty areas, which translates to a feeling of more room. Cutting down on clutter doesn't necessarily mean you have to get rid of a ton of stuff — it's about being more intentional with your space. Keep the items you really love and donate or give away the ones you don't. The goal is to find the balance between personal style and paring down. If you simply have too much stuff, it might be time to get rid of items with strategies that work best for decluttering your home. But if you truly can't part with any of your decor, consider putting some bits in longer-term storage and rotating pieces out. This idea lets you keep what you love, while also making decorating feel fresh when you swap out decor.

Put necessary items like remotes and console controllers in closed storage, like existing drawers or baskets, so you can have them nearby without them contributing to visual mess. Wire clutter also has high visual weight (even worse when they're all tangled), so find a way to neaten up or hide cords. These tips to get rid of annoying wires can help, with some hacks utilizing everyday items, like the tubes from toilet paper rolls.

Excessive furniture is similar to lots of clutter (possibly even worse, since it's much larger). It takes up space and makes a room more crowded. Less furniture lets you have more visible floor area. Exposed floors give the illusion of spaciousness, making the room feel larger. Cutting down on furniture can also help you create walkways for improved movement around the room. Set up pathways and always keep them clear: Blocked routes make a room feel cramped.

The main factor to keep in mind when doing a furniture edit is to note what pieces you actually use often. For the pieces you don't, consider if they add to the space visually, or if leaving the area empty would actually create more openness. For example, you might get rid of an accent chair that no one really sits on that's crowding the seating area. Or, if you have a conversation set, maybe you'll get rid of one chair and turn the other into a reading nook. Also, prioritize keeping multi-purpose furniture pieces and see if that helps you cut down on furniture. For example, you have both a coffee table and an ottoman, is it the type of ottoman that can double as a coffee table? To make this idea work, you might just need to add a tray, which you may already have in the kitchen.

Having a lot of pillows or throw blankets on the couch cuts into usable space and makes seating look smaller than it is. In turn, this is another instance where too much can make a room feel cluttered and cramped. While cozy, a pile of soft furnishings is another contributor to visual clutter. It's bulky and intrudes into the open space necessary to make a room feel bigger.

Instead, consider sticking to only two to four pillows on a couch (two for a loveseat and four for a larger sectional). Hold onto your favorite pillows. If you don't have a favorite, choose your statement pillows — decorative designs can still make a big impact on a small canvas. You can either get rid of the rest, or if you have the storage space, set them aside to rotate seasonally. Also, keep throw blankets to just one or two, folded neatly. The rest can go in a linen closet or storage basket.

Heavy drapes and valances are a couple of the once-popular window treatments that are now dating your home that you should get rid of to make a small living room look larger. In a large space, they can feel grand and decorative, but in too small a room, they look stuffy or even suffocating. They have a lot of visual weight, making windows feel heavier. They also block natural light, which is key in making a space feel larger and airier. Remove them and see how much lighter the room feels. 

If you have double drapes, even if they aren't too heavy, do you really need both? One great option is to just keep the sheer ones, which still offers some privacy, while letting more light into the room. If you really love your curtains and don't want to get rid of them, ahead we have some tips on how to hang them for the illusion of more space.

A poorly-sized living room rug might be doing more harm than good. Take account of yours and experiment with taking it out to see if it creates spaciousness. This is an easy hack for anyone to try, since you can always put it back if you prefer to keep it.

Instances where a rug can make a room feel smaller is if the rug is too small, too fluffy, or too busy. A rug that is too small and "floats" (rather than being anchored by the furniture in the room — either in whole or just by the front legs) breaks up the visual flow and can make it feel disjointed. Rugs that are too plush or have too busy of a pattern have a similar effect as other excess textiles: It's more visual clutter and looks stuffy. A plain and low-pile rug appears sleeker and is less likely to take over the room. If your rug has some of these problematic traits, move it elsewhere in your home or part with it entirely. And if you are in the market for a new rug or can't stand to go without one, shop with the knowledge of how to choose the right size rug for your space.

Sometimes, less is really more. In the case of artwork and decor, fewer pieces means more space (a win for making a room feel bigger). Again, the goal is to keep the art and decor you really love and give them some breathing room. This can look like a focus on large statement pieces, like a beautiful vase, rather than a lot of small knick knacks. If you're rather attached to your trinkets, grouping them on a tray can provide a visual anchor that gives items a purpose, rather than the feeling like they're contributing to clutter.

Gallery walls are so fun and customizable, but they can look overcrowded. Part of their charm is that they make a wall look interesting and busy, but that can be too much in a small living room. Instead, for an airy look, choose a large-scale statement art piece, and make sure to hang it a bit above eye-level to draw the attention upwards. The blank space around it will make a wall look more expansive.

Artwork and decor placement matters. Vertical layouts encourage the eye upward and make the room feel taller, a visual trick that's useful in a small living space. You don't need to buy anything new to take advantage of this hack. Instead, consider if you can reposition what you have to emphasize the height of the walls.

In practice, this can look like moving artwork into a stacked layout. For example, if you're choosing to pare down a gallery wall to three pieces, instead of placing them side by side, consider putting them in a vertical line (if it makes sense for your space, of course). You can do the same with shelving, switching up the layout to a more stacked configuration. Or, you can even just move all the shelves a few inches closer to the ceiling to draw focus upward. Another option is to place a tall plant or mirror in the living room as decoration near a wall, where it will help draw sight lines upward.

Using mirrors is a well-known design idea to make a room feel more spacious. But it also matters how you use them! If you feel like your living room mirror isn't pulling its weight, take a look at what it's reflecting. A mirror that reflects clutter can double the appearance of mess, whereas one that reflects light can make a room feel brighter. Make sure your mirror is in a spot where it reflects nice things, such as natural light, a plant, a pretty view, or a decorative focal point you're trying to spotlight.

You can also think of reflective furniture and trays the same way. For example, if you stuff a mirrored tray with a ton of trinkets, it will look even more busy and overcrowded. Placing a reflective side table where it shows off a cluttered shelf won't do a room any favors. If you have reflective decor elsewhere in the home, think about if it can do more for your living room. For example, maybe you have a mirrored serving tray in storage that could be a great addition to your living room? You can even mount it to a wall to really maximize its potential to expand the space.

Floating furniture away from the wall, even by just a few inches, can make your living room feel bigger. Poor sofa placement is one of the couch mistakes that make a small living room feel even more cluttered. A floating layout creates breathing room: some space around the furniture, so it doesn't look like the room is so tiny that the furniture has to be up against the wall.

Even if the area behind a couch or accent chair isn't large enough to walk through, it gives the illusion of more space to move around. This type of layout also creates dimension. For example, accent chairs placed on a diagonal naturally float from the wall and this placement is popular because it makes a room feel less boxy and more dimensional. When all the furniture is pressed up against a wall, the room feels rather flat and uninspiring. If there is enough space, use empty areas around a floating couch or coffee table to create walkways. Now, this doesn't mean furniture should float aimlessly — you still want the layout to make sense and have visual anchors. This can look like centering seating around an area rug or defining the layout with a conversation or reading nook.

To make the most of a small room, create zones by using the placement of furniture and decor. Zones improve the flow of a room and provide visual organization, both of which are features that can make a space feel roomier. They also go hand-in-hand with making good pathways and can help you decide the layout of a space.

In practice, this might look like having a TV-watching zone or conversation area, a corner workspace, and a reading nook in another corner. In the case of a small apartment living room, it's sometimes combined with a kitchen or dining space, so it's important to delineate the dining area and living room. Obvious solutions like walls and screens can cut into a small space and make it feel more cramped. So, instead, make zones with how you group your furniture, visual anchors (like rugs or coffee tables), and even with how you use lighting, decor, and distinctive color palettes to delineate different sections.

Don't accidentally lose usable square footage by neglecting a living room's corners. Decorating into corners is another way to take advantage of the available floor space so that central areas feel more open. A living room corner is a particularly lovely place for a reading nook. Give the area function with a nearby bookshelf and lamp. This TikTok from @madedotcom shows a lovely example. They move a reading chair into a corner, in front of a built-in shelf, to make full use of that space. 

Other examples can include moving a work desk into a corner, rather than having it in the middle of a wall. Moving a tall lamp into the corner can do triple-duty of lighting this often dark area, utilizing the space, and drawing the eye upward. Tall plants are also an attractive feature to move to the corner, and if you have a small light available, you can make a pretty plant display following this idea from @samantha.home.aesthetic. If you have a side table you don't really use, maybe put it in a corner to place plants, a table lamp, or other decor on top of.

A well-lit room feels more spacious. During the day, let as much light as you can in from living room windows. You can do so by adjusting (or even outright getting rid of) curtains. Keep window sills clear of clutter to take advantage of daylight. Also, make sure trees and shrubs outside aren't blocking a lot of natural light.

Consider nighttime lighting too. If your living room is too dim in the evening, think about if you can move some lights from elsewhere in the house. Look at your light layout, and also see if you can spread brightness around the room. For example, lamps crowded towards the center near the couch might be useful for task lighting and reading, but it could leave some other areas of the room dark. In comparison, putting lights more spread out, including in corners, takes full visual advantage of the space. If possible, layer your lighting for a more dimensional appearance. Place some at both medium and high heights, such as moving a table lamp from a side table to a tall shelf. As mentioned above, for both daytime and nighttime brightness, position living room mirrors to bounce light around the room.

Curtains hung high and wide make a room feel larger. The general advice is to hang the rod about halfway between the top edge of the window and the wall. That's just a guideline though, and you can take it all the way to the ceiling for an even more dramatic look that helps elongates the walls. Also, make sure the curtains sit a few inches wider than the window on each side. This adds the illusion of width to the windows (and the room). Essentially, the curtain should still cover the edge of the windows, but also some of the wall, so it looks like there's more window hiding behind the curtain

Your existing curtain setup will influence what you can do. If you have an adjustable curtain rod with more available room, you can extend them out a few inches and adjust the curtains accordingly. If the rod can't be adjusted, consider adding tie-backs for that extra couple of inches of open area. This lets more light in and can create the illusion of a little extra width. You can use items you have around the house for this task, like pieces of ribbon, sashes or ties from old clothing, old door or cabinet knobs, or even mason jar rings.

If you installed your curtains, you have the tools and know-how to move the rod a few inches higher. With mindful adjustment, the curtains can cover the old holes until you're ready to patch them up. However, this adjustment will also depend on the curtain length, since too-short curtains don't look very nice. You might be able to get away with short curtains if furniture covers the bottom section. If that area is hidden by a console or couch, no one will really notice that the curtains aren't long enough. If they're exposed though, you can try to let down the curtain hem to gain a bit of length. Or, if you're crafty, you can sew on extra fabric — use spare fabric or an old tablecloth as a no-buy solution.