Because Your Tiny Living Room Deserves Better Than "Cozy" as a Polite Excuse The Room That Made Me Want to Move I almost didn't sign the lease on my last apartment because of the living room. It was narrow. The kind of narrow where you have to turn sideways to squeeze between the sofa and the TV. The previous tenant had crammed a full-size sectional into it, plus a coffee table the size of a small car, and the whole thing felt like a furniture traffic jam. I stood in the doorway and thought, there is no way I can live here. But the rent was good, the light was decent, and I was tired of looking. So I signed. And then I spent the next six months figuring out how to make that room feel less like a hallway with a couch in it. What I learned is that small living rooms don't need to be "fixed" with major renovations. They need to be fooled . The right rug, the right mirror, the right paint color, and a few strategic decisions about furniture can make a 120-squa...