When it comes to designing a small space, your best bet is to keep all colour tones as part of the same palette. This helps create a flow throughout the space. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use colour, but making sure it’s all the same tonal palette will go a long way to creating a spacious, roomy feel.

The way you plan your lighting is key to the way a small living space feels. By layering the height of the lighting choices, you will create the illusion that it’s larger than it is. For example, a mix of dimmable overhead pendant lights along with judiciously placed wall lights and usefully orientated lamps can give even the smallest room some dimension.

If possible, opening up walls will add a contemporary and clean feel to your small space. Allowing natural light to enter the room in this way really opens up the space and makes it feel fresh and bright. Consider floor to ceiling windows or side panels to maximise the natural light in your small room. If opening up walls isn’t an option, then paint them in light colours. Add a white trim to make the room seem larger.

Keep patterns to a minimum in a small living space. Instead, choose one wall to accent in a complementary but differentiated colour. This will give a focal framing point to the room without making it feel cluttered.

While reducing clutter is always a good plan for a small living room, particularly if you want to maximise the space for family use, that’s not to say it has to be stripped bare of any personality.

By choosing concept open shelving over traditional boxed in shelving, you can ornament the space without closing off too much space.

Adding artwork to your space boosts the visual interest and feel of the room, while removing the focus from the small size of the space. Try focusing artwork in a specific location to increase this distraction from the size of the space – hanging art directly over your sofa works extremely well.

Decorating a small space should focus on maximising space. And a great way to do this is to carefully choose furniture that can double up for other uses. For example, while the sofa will hold the room together, other furniture can be used for more than one purpose. Remember that your room has to be functional as well as stylish. Bookshelves that double as window seats are a good example of this, or tables that can double as extra seating.

The ultimate goal for a small living space is to ensure its functionality while making it seem larger than it is. Minimalist choices can do just that. The fewer pieces of furniture in the room, the more spacious it will feel.

By restricting the number of pieces you choose, more focus will go on those you do select. Being creative around mixing and matching pieces will put your own stamp on your living space, while increasing its airy feel.

This is where subtle design touches comes in. Choose a sofa with legs, as this helps to create more visual space in the room. When we enter a room that has furniture with legs – and therefore visible space below it – our mind will be tricked into seeing more space than there actually is. A table and sofa that blocks as little visual space as possible can do wonders with the feel of the room.

Knowing when to let a space breathe is the difference between a small space feeling larger and it feeling overwhelmed and claustrophobic. Space is the most important tool in your design arsenal and while it can be tempting to try and utilise every square inch, the key to making your space open and inviting is to create a personalised but highly functional design that combines both visual appeal and comfort.

Low furniture – and particularly a low sofa as the central point of the room – helps to make the ceilings seem higher than they are. Experimenting with proportion in the room should help you find the balance of functionality and space.