Welcome to another edition of Small Home Style - a blog series dedicated to sharing creative design solutions for small home dwellers. Living with my family of 4 + a new puppy in 1100 SQ, I know firsthand that it can be challenging to design small spaces which are both lovely and practical. I love sharing and passing along the design tricks and ideas I've learned along the way. Every Monday, I'm sharing a solutions for small home dwellers. Designing a small living room for real life is definitely a challenge.

Finding THE perfect coffee table for a small living room can be a huge design challenge. However, I've rounded up my 5 favorite chic coffee table styles for small spaces, plus sharing some shopping tips!

ONE: Round Coffee Table, and TWO: Oval Coffee Table. My top pick for a small living room is going with a round or oval coffee table. Choosing a round or oval coffee table can help break up all the harsh lines in a living room. The living room below is a fantastic example of how the round coffee table creates a nice 'walk flow' in the living room. I adore the Marlton coffee table and Soft Modern round coffee table - both from Target, and under $150, these are great for small spaces.

In my living room (image below), I was on the hunt for an oval coffee table to place between my two sofas. After searching for months in stores, I lucked out and found a heavy glass topped coffee table on Craigslist. I gave the coffee table a quick makeover with black spray paint ( more deets about my coffee table find here). By adding an oval coffee table to sit between my sofas, I was able to soften the harsh lines in my small living room.

THREE: Clear Coffee Table. A clear coffee table is not only a stylish choice for a living room, it also helps open up the living room view and doesn't feel heavy in small spaces. Going clear also gives your living room a stylish modern look. You can easily store books and magazines underneath, or benches to use as extra seating when needed. The acrylic Peekaboo coffee table from cb2 is a good choice; Wayfair also carries a fantastic acrylic coffee table Modway Journal Coffee table.

FOUR: Long Lean Coffee Table. A long and narrow coffee table is an excellent idea when floor space is at a premium. Search Craigslist and local thrift stores for a long lean vintage coffee table that would look fantastic with a makeover. The Slab Marble coffee table from cb2 is also a great coffee table for a small living room; the marble gives a living room an instant sophisticated look.

FIVE: Benches & Garden Stools turned into Coffee Tables. If seating is very limited in your living room, go with benches instead, or 2-3 garden stools instead of a traditional coffee table. And, benches & garden stools can quickly convert from a coffee table to extra seating. You can either use two small benches as a coffee table, or one large bench/ottoman as a coffee table -depending on the size of your living room. Using 2-3 garden stools also make a fun addition to a living room and can easily be used as a coffee table. The fun thing about going with a bench is opting for a fun patterned or colorful bench, or colorful garden stools. Have fun and mix up garden stool styles.

Keep in mind when selecting a coffee table for your space to look at the scale of the coffee table, and measure your space to determine the best style. Break out the blue tape and place on the floor to help visualize the area your coffee table will reside in. Have fun shopping for a coffee table, and hold out until you find the perfect coffee table for your living room; it's much better to wait until you find THE coffee table instead of wasting money on placeholders. If you have any specific Small Home Design dilemmas or questions, please feel free to reach out to me at Hello@chiclittlehouse.com. Visit Overstock for a slew of 'X' bench styles and garden stools.

What's your favorite coffee table?

Hello friends! I'm getting back on track with sharing my Small Home Style series, sharing ideas to help make those tricky small spaces not only stylish but also practical. I love when design is both pleasing to the eye and makes sense in real life, not just pretty for pictures. As a small home dweller, I know the challenges people face when dealing with limited space, but challenges also create opportunists for fabulous ideas. Trust me it can be done! No matter how small or large your kitchen is, it can almost never feel big enough. However with a few design tricks that are pretty + practical, you can have an amazing looking and feeling kitchen.

I truly believe design should feel good, meaning every time walk into a room in your home it should feel good and feel you.

ONE. Add a Shelf Above your Kitchen Sink. No pretty window to look out of above your kitchen sink, no problem! Add a shelf or shelves and transform the dead space into use space to store cookbooks, small dishes or herbs

TWO. Go Vertical! If your existing cabinets stop stop of the ceiling, turn that dead space into usable useful space. Adding a shelf above your cabinets can create extra storage for your beloved serviceware your don't use everyday.

THREE. Peg Board System. Hang a pegboard in your kitchen to transform blank wall into a organized wall that can hold a variety of kitchen items: pots, pans, cutting boards and more.

FOUR. Go Bold with Color. I love love white kitchens, but a small kitchen is also a place where you can take big risks for huge impact!

FIVE: Use Your Counter top Wisely. Declutter your counters and stylish store items on your countertops and use trays to help corral items.

SIX. Open Up Your View. A full wall of cabinet doors in a small kitchen make a kitchen feel even smaller, nix your solid cabinet doors for glass inserts.

SEVEN. Bring the Outdoors Inside. Grow an indoor herb garden in your kitchen, place small planters in your windowsill, on the counter or hang on the wall. Adding greenery in your kitchen can give your small kitchen a boost of style + it's so practical.

EIGHT. Paint a Chalkboard Wall. If you have a small galley kitchen, chances are you can a blank useless wall, transform the blank with Chalkboard paint.

NINE. Floating Shelves. Go wide open and remove all your upper cabinets with open shelves, or remove 1-2 cabinets and install floating shelves. A few open shelves in a small kitchen can really open the style factor.

In my kitchen below, I placed three floating shelves between my cabinet and fridge. The shelves help create a focal area and perfect for storing my cookbooks, pretty bowls and misc service ware.

With a some stylish design tricks even the tiniest kitchen can be a perfect combination of pretty + practical.

Looking for more kitchen design ideas? Click here to read about my kitchen and how I transformed my dated 1950's merged with bad design from the 1980's into a kitchen that wows me and makes my heart happy every time I enter.

How have your maximized your small kitchen and given it style?