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  1. Living
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  3. Speciality: Formal

Small Formal Living Room Ideas and Designs

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Living Room
Living Room
Moda InteriorsModa Interiors
Custom Cabinetry & Murphy Bed: PL Furniture. Occasional Chairs: Furniture Gallery. Sofa: Roxby Lane. Rug; Rug Junction. Homewares & Accessories: Makstar Wholesale. Photography: DMax Photography
Classic Main Line Home
Classic Main Line Home
down2earth Interior Design, LLC.down2earth Interior Design, LLC.
The original wood paneling and coffered ceiling in the living room was gorgeous, but the hero of the room was the brass and glass light fixture that the previous owner installed. We created a seating area around it with comfy chairs perfectly placed for conversation. Being eco-minded in our approach, we love to re-use items whenever possible. The nesting tables and pale blue storage cabinet are from our client’s previous home, which we also had the privilege to decorate. We supplemented these existing pieces with a new rug, pillow and throw blanket to infuse the space with personality and link the colors of the room together.
Modern Farmhouse Cottage
Modern Farmhouse Cottage
KELLY + CO DESIGNKELLY + CO DESIGN
Jane Beiles
Small rural formal living room in New York with feature lighting.
Bellevue Towers
Bellevue Towers
Hyde Evans DesignHyde Evans Design
Contemporary studio in Bellevue, Washington. Interior design by award winning interior design firm, Hyde Evans Design Photo by Benni adams
Small traditional formal living room in Seattle with white walls and medium hardwood flooring.
58th Street
58th Street
K&L InteriorsK&L Interiors
Living room with original craftsman elements and updated furniture
Inspiration for a small classic formal open plan living room in Seattle with beige walls, medium hardwood flooring, a standard fireplace, a brick fireplace surround, no tv and brown floors.
AVONDALE BUNGALOW
AVONDALE BUNGALOW
Gordon and Johnson DesignGordon and Johnson Design
JESSIE PREZA PHOTOGRAPHY
Inspiration for a small shabby-chic style formal living room in Jacksonville with white walls, medium hardwood flooring, a standard fireplace and a tiled fireplace surround.
Purple Accent Design
Purple Accent Design
Freestyle InteriorsFreestyle Interiors
Small contemporary formal living room in Miami with black walls, dark hardwood flooring, a standard fireplace, a tiled fireplace surround, no tv and brown floors.
London Mews
London Mews
Shanade McAllister-Fisher DesignShanade McAllister-Fisher Design
Natalie Priem
Small contemporary formal open plan living room in London with grey walls, light hardwood flooring, beige floors and feature lighting.
Parallel Travel unit 401
Parallel Travel unit 401
RemixLivingRemixLiving
Enjoy yourself in this beautifully renovated and fully furnished property located in the middle of Rittenhouse Square. This modern city apartment has been uniquely decorated by the Remix Design team bringing in a local artist to add an urban twist to the city.
Upper East Side Parisian Apartment
Upper East Side Parisian Apartment
Get DecoratedGet Decorated
This is an example of a small classic formal open plan living room in New York with white walls, dark hardwood flooring, a standard fireplace, a plastered fireplace surround, no tv and brown floors.
Ridgewood Great Room
Ridgewood Great Room
Ethan Allen of River Edge, NJEthan Allen of River Edge, NJ
Photo of a small traditional formal enclosed living room in Orange County with grey walls, medium hardwood flooring, no tv and brown floors.
Shutters
Shutters
Wallace Home Design CenterWallace Home Design Center
White wood shutters, with drapery panels on iron hardware.
Inspiration for a small contemporary formal enclosed living room in New York with blue walls, dark hardwood flooring and no tv.
Piso de soltero
Piso de soltero
MANUEL DEL POZO interiorismo & diseñoMANUEL DEL POZO interiorismo & diseño
Victor Sajara
Inspiration for a small classic formal open plan living room in Madrid with white walls, medium hardwood flooring, no fireplace and no tv.
The Cape Pointe
The Cape Pointe
Ideo ArchitectsIdeo Architects
Photo of a small beach style formal mezzanine living room in Houston with porcelain flooring and no fireplace.
Vacant Staging - Shenandoah Valley Drive
Vacant Staging - Shenandoah Valley Drive
The House Staging Company LLCThe House Staging Company LLC
Inspiration for a small traditional formal enclosed living room in Little Rock with yellow walls, dark hardwood flooring, no fireplace, no tv and brown floors.
L O F T
L O F T
ALL & NXTHINGALL & NXTHING
We tried to recycle as much as we could. The floorboards were from an old mill in Yorkshire, rough sawn and then waxed white. Most of the furniture is from a range of Vintage shops around Hackney and flea markets.
Sunny Nob Hill Apartment
Sunny Nob Hill Apartment
Studio NauleauStudio Nauleau
Claire Callagy
Photo of a small midcentury formal enclosed living room in Los Angeles with beige walls and light hardwood flooring.
Downtown Modern Cottage
Downtown Modern Cottage
Hausmith Building Co.Hausmith Building Co.
The goal on the interior was to keep a neutral, light color palate to contradict the dark, bold exterior. The brick on the interior was added to match the exterior creating a connection to the outdoor elements. Sliding glass doors were added on each side allowing for a great view to the downtown central park and allowing an abundance of natural light through out the day. Photo by:Zephyr McIntyre
Tarrytown Phase II
Tarrytown Phase II
Webber + Studio, ArchitectsWebber + Studio, Architects
Paul Bardagjy Photography
Inspiration for a small modern formal open plan living room in Austin with beige walls, medium hardwood flooring, no fireplace, no tv and brown floors.
New York linear fireplace mantel
New York linear fireplace mantel
Omega Stone MantelsOmega Stone Mantels
"custom fireplace mantel" "custom fireplace overmantel" "omega cast stone mantel" "omega cast stone fireplace mantle" "fireplace design idea" Mantel. Fireplace. Omega. Mantel Design. "custom cast stone mantel" "linear fireplace mantle" "linear cast stone fireplace mantel" "linear fireplace design" "linear fireplace overmantle" "fireplace surround" "carved fireplace mantle"

Small Formal Living Room Ideas and Designs

Looking for Small living room ideas? Whether your living room is lacklustre, your lounge is limited in space, your sitting room is suffering from outdated decor or your front room is full of clutter, there are Small living room ideas and designs that will inspire you to breathe life into your living space. Discover small living room ideas to help maximise tiny spaces or layout ideas that will work with awkward shaped living rooms. Perhaps you’re struggling to decide on living room colours? Read on for help with colours, layout and design ideas, or find inspiration from the millions of living room photos on Houzz.

Living room wallpaper ideas

A good place to start when it comes to redesigning your living room is with the walls. While paint may seem the simplest choice, and easy to change, don’t discredit the design opportunities of wallpaper in living rooms. There are tons of great living room wallpaper ideas, from modern geometric patterns to traditional florals, and loads of ways to use them – you don’t have to cover the whole room or go for the ubiquitous feature wall. You could wallpaper only above the dado rail (if you have one), either side of a chimney breast, or behind a shelving unit to give your displayed items a stylish backdrop. Discover more living room wallpaper ideas or if paint is more your style, there’s plenty of living room designs to discover when it comes to paint ideas; just browse through the huge selection of living photos and search for the specific paint you’re after if you really want to narrow it down.

Small living room ideas

When it comes to our living room design, we want it to feel as welcoming and personality-filled as possible, but that can be a struggle when we’re working with a small space. But not to fear, there are small living room ideas to help you make most out of what you’re working with. A couple of small living room ideas can include: working with the height you have – installing floor-to-ceiling bookshelves or drawing the eye to the top of the walls with wallpaper; choosing space-saving or storage-incorporating (or both!) furniture, such as corner sofas with storage space under the chaise longue section; and keeping things symmetrical – a central fireplace with seating opposite, or seats facing each other, can give the illusion of a larger, more grand room. When it comes to the best decor for small living rooms, you can either choose to keep things light and airy to open up the space, or embrace the cosiness of the smaller area you have by going for warm colours and filling the room with your favourite accessories.

Living room layouts and choosing the right living room furniture

When it comes to the layout of your living room, it will depend on what pieces of furniture you have – but how do you choose what living room furniture to add, whether you’re refreshing your living room design or starting from scratch? The best place to start is with the seating – one corner sofa will usually seat three to four people, and if that’s all you think you’ll need, then you can leave it at that. Placing your sofa along the longest wall helps to make the most of the space, but think about where you want the focus of the room to be, too. If you need more seating, look at armchairs that offer comfort but don’t take up too much space – cramming a room with too many large armchairs is something to avoid. But armchairs and sofas don’t have to be your only options – go for bean bags and floor cushions for an eclectic feel, pouffes and ottomans if you’re more traditional, and smart design chairs for contemporary living room ideas. Coffee tables are always handy, but you can always add a couple of side tables if you don’t want to clutter the central space in front of seating with anything. If you centre your living room design around a fireplace or TV, then you might want storage and shelving to feature around the focus of your room. There are plenty of style options when it comes to TV units, and you can even go for bespoke living room storage units to make the most of the space if you want a sleek, built-in look. Keep reading below for more living room storage ideas. Discover a huge range of living room furniture, as well as living room accessories, to help you finish your room design.

Living room design ideas

Struggling with what living room colours to choose, or what style to go with? While a grey living room design is popular at the moment, you might not want to go with the ubiquitous colour. Although, if neutral and contemporary are the living room ideas you’re after, a grey sofa or grey walls will give you a good base to work on. If you want to stay neutral, beige is not your only other option, either. Light yellows, taupes and soft greys will work. Why not try adding simple but plush cushions to your sofa and a rug in these colours to achieve a modern-traditional look? For contemporary living room ideas, dark blues and greens are on trend, but if you don’t want to dive straight into the dark wall trend, you could opt for a couple of pieces of furniture, or go for dark-hued living room accessories instead. Whites, woods and pastels could work well for Scandinavian living room designs. If an eclectic living room is what you’re after, you could go for large print wallpaper, a statement lighting piece, vibrant rug and lots of colourful book or ornament displays. For a country feel, rustic carpet, stone hearths, comfy armchairs and traditional patterns in creams, greens and browns will give you that cosy cottage feel.

Living room storage ideas

It’s natural that our living rooms tend to attract lots of items and belongings seeing as they act as multipurpose living spaces. Whether you love to read a book; watch a film; let your children play with their toys; practise a craft like knitting or drawing; play a musical instrument or play video games in your sitting room, there will always be a need for a few extra living room ideas that can help you with storage. Apart from the standard bookcases, side tables and TV units, there are a few other handy living room storage ideas you can invest in. As mentioned before, if you have the room and budget for it, a built-in storage unit could be the way forward. With a well-built unit you could hide your TV, DVDs, players, books, video consoles and all sorts away in one place. If you don’t quite have a large enough area for one, you could look at shelving – either side of the chimney breast is a great place to install shelving if you have one in your living room. And don’t forget living room furniture such as sofas, benches and ottomans that lift up to reveal hidden storage; providing seating and storing space at the same time. With the right storage solutions your living room design could open up and feel so much more spacious and stylish. Discover more living room storage ideas by browsing these photos. Once you have your living room storage, colours, design, layout and furniture sorted, all that’s left is to browse the millions of living room ideas on Houzz and save your favourites to an ideabook. If you’re still searching for specific living room ideas, check out the popular pages below:
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