Decorating a family room is a challenging task, as it's often a room that needs to provide several functions for your family. And it's even more tricky if you're working with a small space! Here are 5 decorating ideas for small family rooms to help them seem larger, and to help them function more effectively:

1. Go vertical (photo above). While you may not have a lot of floor space in your family room, if you're fortunte enough to have high ceilings, there's a lot of design potential! Try building a wall of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. If you don't have the budget to go custom, you can get the look by simply anchoring a row of inexpensive white bookshelves to the wall. (Add some crown molding at the top for a little extra polish.) And if you're fortunate enough to have soaring high ceilings, building a loft can create an entire extra room! A loft space is perfect for use as an office or playroom.

2. Create storage space with built-ins. Custom built-in millwork can create functional strorage spaces out of the most awkward or underused nooks. I love this custom sofa/bookshelf above (so clever!), and also the sweet window nook that's been transformed with the simple addition of two shelves.

3. Add a slim sofa table. Pulling your sofa out from the wall just a few inches will allow for a slender console table (think 6-8" deep) to slide in. A traditional console table will do the trick, but if you don't have enough depth, you can built your own with a piece of wood cut to size, mounted on several shelf brackets. Sofa tables are the perfect place for a pair of table lamps and a few family photos. (Don't forget to cut out a couple of notches for your lamp cords to slip through!) As a bonus, you've just created a gap behind the sofa for storage - it's the perfect place to stash folding chairs or small shallow boxes.

4. Sneak in a small desk. A family room often has to double as an office or homework zone. If you're able to float your sofa in the middle of the room (or at the very least, around 60" out from the wall) you can carve out a small workspace behind it with a slender desk and chair. Just try not to get too distracted while working since you'll likely be facing the TV!

5. Choose a monochromatic color scheme. Keeping your furniture flooring, and wall color in the same color family helps the eye to move continuously around the space without visual interruptions, creating the illusion of a larger room. The above examples demonstrate this well - but don't feel like beige or grey is the only way! As long as the major pieces in your room are similar in color and tone (shades of blue, for example) you'll create the illusion of a larger space. A few contrasting pieces like a colorful lamp or patterned pillow help bring a little personality and life to a neutral room.

Do you have any tips for decorating a small family room? I'd love to hear what's worked for you - please share in the comments.

Image credits: Via the Small Space Decorating Ideas board on Pinterest.