Turn Your Small Living Room Into a Light Space

A small living room doesn't need to be closed off from the rest of the house. Decoration methods exist to help gain light inside.
Turn Your Small Living Room Into a Light Space

Last update: 12 June, 2020

Smaller rooms don’t need to be forgotten. Even though they aren’t as light as others, they can have similar functionality. This is why we’re going to give you some ideas to turn your small living room into a light space.

To achieve this, it’s essential to know what the key elements are to light up interiors. Very often it’s hard to know what needs to be done to provide the necessary comfort and make you feel good.

Never forget a room aside or undervalue its potential. Each room in your house can be useful, you simply need to bring out the best of its features.

Urban flat living room

living room decoration

Natural and continuous light isn’t something you get in cities. Unlike countryside houses, buildings tend to be right next to each other, hiding the sun and causing shade most of the day.

During the hot season, this can be beneficial but during cold times of the year, light becomes a necessity. We need to do something about this to make the most out of small living rooms.

Don’t filter any light coming in through windows. This is why we recommend hanging thin and see-through curtains. At the same time, try to use white in most of the decorative elements and especially use light tones on walls.

It’s fundamental to avoid darker colors to prevent creating too much darkness inside, as town apartments don’t tend to have many hours of light.

It’s important to highlight indoor spaces and boost natural light projection.

4 key elements for better lighting in living rooms

living room light

To improve light in a small living room, you should know what the key elements are to sit them perfectly with the current decoration. Get rid of the items which don’t add any value. This will help you make the space more livable.

  1. You must assess the furniture size. If it’s too big, you will be creating a clash of shapes and items taking up too much space, therefore generating more darkness.
  2. The layout of light sources in living rooms is fundamental. No corners should be left without light, but you shouldn’t oversaturate either. Use the main light combined with a few table lights placed in different sections of the room.
  3. It’s important to open your blinds. Enjoy the time of the day when most light comes in to achieve more lighting. If the blinds are down or the curtains are too thick, you will be closing off your living room from the rest of the house.

Large windows improve lighting

big windows

Natural light plays an important role in interiors. That’s why small living rooms require large-sized windows giving access to light for more hours of the day.

If your walls aren’t big enough for big windows try and find the right balance between large windows and smaller walls.

Colors in a small and bright living room

yellow tones living room

To improve light in your house, you must work on colors. Take into account which way the room faces and the color of your furniture.

Black – avoid this color as it creates darkness.

Neutral tones – grey or earth colors can be effective when they aren’t too dark. You need to look for a balance or at least tones tending towards a brighter color.

Colors that can positively help to turn your small living room into a light space are white, sky blue, salmon, yellow, and other warm colors that complement the light.


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


  • Sudjic, Deyan: La luz y el color en la decoración, Folio, 1992.