"Decorating a tiny house with limited resources can be very difficult but I am ALWAYS up for a good challenge."
My small little house is perhaps one of the biggest challenges I’ve experienced thus far. Decorating a tiny house with limited resources can be very difficult but I am ALWAYS up for a good challenge. I had so many questions when I first started decorating. “What do I do when I have one room that needs to serve two purposes?” "How do I go about decorating a combined room?!” When your dining room and living room are essentially the same room, decorating can be confusing and frustrating, so I’ve decided to share how I made it work with all of you.
1. Use furniture as dividers
My living/dining room is one big rectangular space. Since there isn’t a wall to separate the dining room from the living room, you want to create separation while preserving the open flow of the space. I personally don’t like feeling boxed into a room while I am eating, so keeping my dining connected to my living room is a MUST. Plus, with this gorgeous dining set, why would I want it hidden away? This white APT2B arm chair makes a subtle, but real, division when it faces away from the dining area.
"Creating a space between the main couch and the yellow accent chair not only makes the whole room more inviting, it’s also simply practical."
2. Arrange your furniture away from the walls
Like most small places, floor size is limited and we want to maximize the space you have but even with this in mind, your still want to keep most of your furniture away from the wall. The biggest decor mistake is putting your couch against the wall. Especially one as beautiful as this rich blue one from Interior Define that I custom made myself. You want to give it all the attention it deserves. Pulling the couch away from the wall makes it much more accessible to the coffee table. Creating a space between the main couch and the yellow accent chair from Jonathan Louis Furniture not only makes the whole room more inviting, it’s also simply practical. I also kept it away from the wall by using the space behind it as a bookshelf. What I love about this JL furniture piece is that is compact enough to not take away the view of my windows or obstruct the light.
3. Repeat a favorite element in each open floor plan section
Because I already have two classic bright colors with this one as the core of the room, I knew I had to use a neutral color for the rest of the room. Which means, I am using white as the repeated element around the house starting with the dining room.
4. Go with a cohesive color theme throughout
This space is a great example of choosing a palette and sticking with it to create a seamless feeling between the living, dining. I choose gold accents all around the house. The light fixtures do not have to be an exact match but we would recommend that they have the same finish and style, meaning if the one you like is traditional, find another complimentary fixture that is traditional in feel. I purchased this floor lamp from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams here in Glendale in gold and I'm obsessed! I even went a step further and kept gold the reoccurring color in all the accents in the living and dining room, which are all from MB + BW.
"When combining two rooms and you want to differentiate the space. It is important to use furniture with different heights to move your eye through the room."
5. Use furniture with different heights
When combining two rooms and you want to differentiate the space. It is important to use furniture with different heights to move your eye through the room. The console against the wall from Home Goods is a classic piece. I made sure it was just a tad but taller than the dining set. This furniture also serves as double duty, which means I can store all the miscellaneous of my living room inside.
Overall, my place feels luxurious despite it’s size. Decorating a living room dining room combo can be tricky but very much do-able. Thank you so much for reading and have a great weekend!
