One of the easiest things to change in a home are the walls, and there are essentially two things you can do with these. First of all, the colour of the walls. Soft, neutral colours around the room will give an appearance of the walls being pushed back, as well as bringing more light into the room. Moreover, they’ll bring a sophisticated aura to the room, in turn creating a calming environment. Beiges, off-whites and light primary colours will really make the room feel homely and comfortable. The second tip with walls is to use mirrors as ornaments. Besides being useful to admire your latest hair-do, they’ll make the room look much more spacious. A common and effective practise is to place a large mirror in a central location. If possible, place it across from your window – this will make it seem like you have an extra window, and will bring much more light into the room.

Another major consideration is the furniture you choose for your living room. Think about its colour and ‘visual weight’ – that is, how heavy an object appears to be before you even try to lift it, which will be influenced by its size, colour, shape and design. A good tip is to pick objects that are on legs, as opposed to a trunk or a solid table, and choosing ones that have a glass top, as this will again avoid the feeling of a shrinking space. Of course, it is also wise to pick furniture that is itself small to avoid overpowering the entire room. If your living room is a bit tight on space, you may opt to mount your television set on a wall (or not have one), as this will free up an entire piece of furniture. Depending on your available space, it can also be wise to completely do away with a sofa and choose to have individual chairs around a coffee table, a set of armchairs or a loveseat.

There are several other options that can be explored, each depending on the layout of your living room. Counterintuitively, completely filling a part of the room (with an L-shaped sofa, for example) can make it seem more spacious, as can hanging plants to fool the eye into thinking there is more to the room than there is in reality. Make sure to try different things in the room and see what works best to create the environment you want; in the style you want.