8 tips to help with a narrow living room

By mid-January this year I’d received two pleas for help dealing with long, narrow living rooms.  Had it been a tricky Christmas I mused, picturing older relatives perched in a row trying to enjoy a long-awaited post lockdown catch-up, while children race up and down the length of the room with nerf guns blazing? 

It’s true – this type of space can be difficult to lay out and decorate – but with some careful thought and a little visual trickery, these rooms can be turned from feeling like a bowling alley cum train carriage into a comfortable, welcoming space you will enjoy for years to come.

Here are my top tips:

Think zones. Rather than attempting to spread furniture down the length of the room, section off the space into different zones. These could be sofas and armchairs grouped around the fire or television, a reading nook, a music corner, a work area, a dining area or even a bar.

Whichever zones suit your life-style, group each area with a rug. The rugs can be matching to create cohesion, or a mix of pattern & plain, one taking its colour cue from the other, or you could contrast one with a black & white geometric – always a winner.

Photo credit: House beautiful

Give furniture room to breathe. Although it is tempting to push furniture up against the walls in an attempt to open up the space; it often has the opposite effect and just highlights the shape of the room, making it feel longer & narrower.

Pull furniture away from the walls, even if only by a few inches - it will immediately give the effect of more space around things. If purchasing new items of furniture, choose smaller pieces with legs rather than outsized items that sit directly on the floor - being able to see light under furniture adds to the feeling of airiness & space.  It’s a small detail but it can make a big difference.

Photo credit: Colin Poole

Create an L- shape seating area. Place the largest sofa along a long wall and put a smaller sofa or perhaps two armchairs perpendicular to the large sofa. This will help to break up the length of the room. Consider sofas and chairs here with low arms and lower backs so the pieces don’t dominate the room.

Photo credit: Salt Design

If space allows place a console table behind the smaller sofa and use lamps to add vertical interest. This is a lovely way to add interest to zones. Storage baskets or pouffs can be kept under the console table and pulled out when required as seen above.

Box clever.  Think carefully about your furniture choices and opt for items that have more than one use.  An ottoman can be used as a footrest or coffee table as well as extra seating. A nest of circular glass topped coffee tables looks great grouped together, but also come into their own when pulled apart and used as additional perches for drinks as required.

Photo credit: Etsy

Re-focus from TV to entertaining. If the principal seating focusses on the television try placing a chair on the same wall as the TV - this will immediately make the room feel that it is used for entertaining as well as simply watching TV.

Photo credit: David Tsay

If your television sits on a cabinet think about mounting it on to the wall (but not too high, it should be eye-level when you are sitting) or consider a Samsung Frame TV and create a 'picture wall' with the addition of more artwork. This is a clever way of re-focusing the room from tv watching to entertaining and adds fun and interest to the room.

Photo credit: Samsung

Use circular pieces. To break up long horizontal lines use furniture that has soft round edges. If purchasing new sofas & armchairs, choose styles with softer curves. Use a circular coffee table or ottoman in the centre of the seating area. Opt for round side-tables (these below from Rockett St George) and lampshades or consider round mirrors. Give the eye something else to see other than straight lines. You can also consider upholstery or curtain fabric with circular or organic shaped patterns such as this beautiful Whirlwind fabric by Zoe Glencross.

Maximise the vertical space. Again, to distract from the horizontal lines of the room draw the eye high by making the most of the vertical space. Use bookshelves (or floating shelves if floor space is particularly tight) or a tall armoire. Hang floor to ceiling curtains. Consider pendant lighting – but be sure to place these usefully over the zones rather than equally down the length of the room, where all you might be illuminating is carpet!

Photo credit: Annie Schlecther

Colour and décor. Lighter colours are often chosen for longer, narrower rooms with brighter, pops of colour used on cushions and accessories to draw the eye. If you do want to use stronger colour keep the ceiling pale and use large mirrors to bounce the light around the room. Alternatively, you can paint the short ends of the room a dark colour to foreshorten the space.

And finally, rather than masses of wall art, which could make the space feeling cluttered and busy consider some larger statement pieces.  This will help to make the space feel wider and more spacious.

Photo credit: Jonathan Gooch

I hope this has been helpful, but if you are looking for more help & advice with your narrow living rooms please do contact me using the link below.