Hello friends, how's your August shaping up? Welcome to another design post all about Small Home Style. I started the design series about Small Home Style, to help inspire & solve those design dilemmas that can crop up when dwelling in a small home. As a small home dweller myself, I've learned some stylish design tricks along the way to help maximize the small rooms in my 1956 rancher. As with most small homes, your living room becomes your everything room: watching TV, hosting friends, family movie nights, home office. Even though your living room maybe on the small side and play double duty, doesn't mean the space can't be a fabulous room to entertain guests in. I've rounded up 6 Stylish Ideas ideas to take your living room from so-so to wow!

ONE: Choose Your Seating Wisely & Consider Placement

When designing my small living room, I opted for two sofas rather one. It seemed when we only had one sofa in our living room & two chairs everyone always gravitated to our sofa and nixed the chairs. Keep in mind when selecting a sofa not to go too big where the sofa takes over the entire room, but also don't go too small. A bunch of tiny furniture in a room can easily make your living room feel smaller. Break out the measuring tape to help visualize the placement of your sofa and chairs and the size. The sofa with a chaise looks so good in this apartment, I love that the chaise adds additional seating = its the perfect spot to stretch out on.

TWO: Go Big on Artwork

Large scale artwork looks fantastic in smaller spaces and creates a huge impact on the wall. Large artwork helps draw the eyes up and out, giving the illusions of larger space.

THREE: Choose the Right Coffee Table

When looking for a coffee table for your living room, consider how much room you have and how it will flow in your room. Need help, select the perfect coffee table style for your living room, click here for the 5 Best Coffee Styles for Small Living Room.

FOUR: Create a Office Area

When you don't have extra room in your home for a dedicated office space, consider adding a small home office right in your living room. Placing a small desk next to your sofa, is perfect to double as a side table for your living room. Or a small desk tucked into a corner also works perfectly.

FIVE: Bring in Bookcases

Adding bookcases to small living rooms are a must! Bookcases create much needed vertical storage. To create hidden storage, layer in woven baskets that also bring in texture.

SIX: Double Duty Furniture

By far the best double duty pieces of furniture for small spaces are dressers turned TV stands and benches used as coffee tables. Dressers are a stylish upgrade from basic TV stands and provide a huge amount of storage.

Ottomans are the perfect double duty pieces for small living room, once you add a tray they become coffee tables and can also be used as additional seating when needed.

I hope you found my six ideas for designing a small stylish living room. If you have any specific small home design delimas, please feel free to contact at Hello@ChicLittleHouse.com. In need of my design solutions for your small spaces? Look no further, hop over for posts sharing Small Home Style

What are your favorite small space design ideas, you've incorporated into your own small living room?

Earlier this Summer, I planned on planting a veggie garden outside, the usual suspects: bell peppers, jalapeno peppers + some herbs. Yeah, didn't happen. I did plant a few herbs, however its so been so hot in Sacramento, that most of the plants we did plant died [Whomp Whomp].

I recently decided a small indoor kitchen herb garden was a absolute must. Not only do I love adding fresh herbs to meals, I love how they smell!

Plus the herb garden addition provides instant greenery in my very white kitchen. For the one-pot spaghetti I made last night for dinner, a couple of snips from Italian Parsley I planted and dinner was good to go. Also, trust me when I say you need these herb scissors in your life, they make herb & green onion snipping so much faster! Best under $8 bucks I've spent in a long time #treatyourself

It's seriously so cool to snip herbs from your indoor herb garden

I'm a sucker for pretty planters (needing planter inspiration this post is for you!) and decided a simple modern rectangle ceramic planter that would fit my style and windowsill perfectly. I found the perfect modern planter on Amazon, 10 inches long which is perfect for my windowsill. I love that the planter can with a tray to catch water. I used Miracle Grow potting soil to fill the planter.

I selected the four basic herbs I use the most everyday: Cilantro, Italian Parsley, Mint & Basil. This time of year most 'nurseries' at the big box stores are cleaned out of herbs. However, it's definitely not to late to start an indoor herb garden, pop into your local nursery for a larger selection. Also check your local grocery store for Living Herbs, that you can plant in your indoor garden. Most grocery stores carry them year round. I bought my herbs from Green Acres in Sacramento, my go-to local nursery, and topped the soil with natrual river stones to help keep the soil moist.

It's only been a few days, but I'm already loving the convenience of snipping a few herbs and adding them to meals, plus meals always look a little fancier with fresh herbs. My cilantro is looking a little sad, so I snipped it down a bit. Hopefully it will bounce back in a few days. All my other herbs are growing like crazy!

I just love the fresh greenery in my kitchen. Having a little herb garden in my kitchen just adds the perfect extra touch. I love how simplistic and pretty the herb garden looks in my windowsill.

Do you grow your own herbs inside or out? Which herbs are your favorite?