After being in our new house for a little over two months it’s really starting to feel like home. Every day I feel a little more settled and unpacked. So today I’m sharing a look at our small living room. We looked at so many houses in L.A. that when we finally moved into this one, we had forgotten how small and narrow the living room was! Thankfully we really downsized for the move and sold most of the furniture from our Florida home. But that left us with a pretty empty living room (you can see what it looked like when we first moved in).

We sold both sofas before the move and planned on purchasing a new one once we got to L.A. Looking for a sofa is pretty much one of my least favorite things because it’s often so hard to find one that meets all my criteria: looks good, is comfortable, and a great price. I knew I wanted a charcoal grey sofa with mid-century styling so that’s where I started my search.

I ended up finding the perfect sofa for our space at Apt2B. If you’re not familiar with them, they are an online furniture shop based in L.A. that offers high quality made-to-order sofas that are super affordable. They have tons of style options and even more fabric choices so if you’re in the market for a new sofa, I highly recommend checking them out. We ultimately decided on the 77″ wide Logan sofa in charcoal because it has tapered wood legs (swoon!) and removable cushions.

The space is so narrow that our favorite area rug, which was in the den of our last home, is wider than the room! Since we loved that rug so much, we made it work by rolling up the extra slack and placing it being the sofa. It’s not ideal but it’s not terribly noticeable when you’re in the room and it was a great way to reuse the rug. We positioned it so the stripes run horizontally to given the allusion that the room is a little wider.

We also reused the glass coffee table that was previously in the den because although it’s a bit wider than we’d like the glass top makes it appear way smaller than it is.

Since we’re renting, we decided to skip hanging curtains. Though they would be lovely, we felt it was an unnecessary expense since the blinds do a great job at filtering light and providing privacy.

We did some seriously downsizing to our book collection before the move and consolidated everything into one bookcase. Since you see the bookcase right when you walk in, I arranged the books by color to create some interest in the space. It’s a easy, subtle way to make your book collection look tidy and styled.

To make the space a little more welcoming we adding some greenery. This ficus (I can’t remember the exact variety) came potted in a brown pot that I wrapped in faux marble contact paper.

The details

Apt2B Logan Sofa
West Elm pixel rug
Target mixed material side tables
West Elm book nook armchair
West Elm nickel floor lamp
CB2 copper succulent planter
CB2 white vase
Throw pillows by Sarah (find the tutorial here)
Abstract painting by Sarah (watch the video tutorial)
Yellow tray from the Target dollar spot
West Elm coffee table + bookcase discontinued

What are your tips for making a small living room feel larger and inviting?