Interior designer tips for furnishing and decorating your small space

When it comes to decorating a room, the excitement could lead to you buying way more than you need.

When decorating a small space, such as a small living room, you need to limit the things you need and maximize every square inch of space you have.

A smaller space does not mean thinking small. There are many ways to add personal touches and accessories.

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Below are some decorating tips that you can apply in your own home to spruce up your small space.

1. Use practical and aesthetic space savers
2. Don’t sacrifice your furniture
3. Use mirrors to open up the space
4. Display art on the walls
5. Complement it with tall houseplants, tall curtains and a large rug
6. Experiment with different light sources

1. Use practical and aesthetic space savers

One of the things you want to avoid in a small space is clutter.

A necessity is a place to store important items.

There are various options for decorative pieces that can enrich your space both from an aesthetic perspective and serve as a practical storage place for your belongings.

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“I would make a coffee table … that can lift things and store things,” said Jenna Chused, founder and principal of Chused & Co., an interior design firm based in Brooklyn, New York, in a phone call with Fox News Digital.

A custom sofa with built-in, padded drawers is another option for storage, Chused said.

For small spaces, it is important to avoid clutter as much as possible. A sofa with storage can be a place to store items like blankets that would otherwise be thrown around. (iStock)

“I love something like a display case…maybe not entirely glass, but it has glass, definitely glass fronts and maybe side walls,” Alexandra Peck, owner and principal of Los Angeles-based Alexandra Peck Design, told Fox News Digital in a telephone interview.

“This is a great place to store things.”

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Peck also highlighted a storage ottoman as an affordable option for a small space.

“I would add a lacquered tray or a wooden tray on top, something to put your drinks on.” [on] and things like that,” Peck said.

2. Don’t sacrifice your furniture

Choosing furniture can be a difficult task for any room, small or large.

It can be particularly problematic in small spaces. This is especially true if you frequently welcome guests and want to ensure that everyone can comfortably enjoy their time together.

A U-shaped couch is a way to furnish a small space with lots of seating.

Small spaces can have a lot of character. Everything from small details like a flower pot to a comfortable couch and decorative lighting can make a house feel like home. (William Jess Laird)

“We built a U-shaped sofa, and suddenly that small space became the favorite room because we could fit ten people around the fireplace,” Chused said of a recent project she worked on.

Choosing a sofa that is built around the room is a technique Chused uses to ensure there is enough seating even in a small space.

You could also opt for a flatter sofa and chair in a small living space, Peck said.

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“It is extremely important to make sure there are ample walkways around the furniture,” Peck explained.

“My suggestion is a flatter sofa and then something more like a small armchair.”

When buying furniture, comfort is of course the top priority, but so is practicality. You want to make sure it doesn’t look out of place in your space, but also provides enough seating for you and your guests. (iStock)

A nice addition to your furniture could be a small, round side table. On top you could place a candle, a vase of fresh flowers, or even a small coffee table book.

“I really like putting round side tables in my living room. They just take up less space on the floor, and visually you see more space around it,” Peck said.

3. Use mirrors to open up the space

Reflection, reflection, reflection.

Adding reflective elements to a small room can help let the light in and give the impression that it is larger than it is.

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A large mirror can help achieve this effect.

“They reflect light around the room and often act as another window to the room,” Peck said.

Large mirrors are not just for presentation. They’re convenient because you can see what your outfit looks like for the day before you even leave the door.

4. Display art on the walls

A small room doesn’t necessarily have to mean plain walls. Artwork is a nice touch to any room.

Choosing larger pieces of art to display in a small space can be beneficial.

“Many people think that smaller pieces of art are meant for a smaller space, but actually larger pieces of art expand the visual plane and therefore appear larger,” Peck said.

Don’t be afraid to put artwork in small spaces, even if they are larger. (Evan Joseph)

A more artistic wallpaper can also be a way to decorate your small space.

“A wallpaper that maybe depicts a scene that starts at the bottom… if it’s a forest or some kind of scene where it starts at the bottom, but then there’s a lot of relief at the top with solids or even just a little pattern.” would be great,” Chused told Fox News Digital.

5. Complete the room with tall houseplants, tall curtains and a large rug

Accessorizing your living room will really make you feel at home, but overdoing it can lead to clutter and chaos.

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If you want to add some greenery to your space, tall houseplants are a good choice.

“I like to add tall houseplants. While you don’t want to mess around with houseplants everywhere, it’s just another easy way to draw your eye upward. This way, your gaze isn’t just sitting on a horizontal plane “walking around the room,” Peck said.

Tall curtains or a tall houseplant can add dimension to a room. (Christian Harder & Matthew Williams)

Tall curtains are another addition you can add to your room to give it a vertical appeal.

“If you mount it really high so that it draws the eye upwards, the room appears higher. For me personally, adding that extra layer of texture and fabric just warms up the room,” said Peck.

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Carpets are another commonly added element in rooms. It may be tempting to reach for a smaller rug to fit your small space, something Peck sees often, but she believes there’s a better option.

A design professional told Fox News Digital that she likes to place a large rug, like the one pictured above, in small spaces. (Catherine Wilborne)

“I like to do an oversized rug in every room,” she said.

6. Experiment with different light sources

In addition to the natural light that enters your living room, you also need other light sources.

Reading chandeliers are a great light source that can be conveniently placed around the sofa and between windows, says Chused. Having the light source on the walls can be a huge space saver in a smaller room.

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Overhead lighting could come from a chandelier or semi-flush mount, Peck said.

Tall floor lamps as well as table lamps are other light sources Peck suggested.