Name: Carrie Miller Kerwin
Occupation: Interior Designer with Massucco Warner Miller Interior Design
Location: San Anselmo, California
Size: 1,100 square feet
Years lived in: 5 — owned
Carrie's bungalow may be a mere 1,100 square feet, but it feels palatial. Her style is refined, yet playful —mirroring her own personality. An interior designer by trade, Carrie's home is edited to perfection which in turn makes each room feel spacious and grand. The objects in her home have been collected thoughtfully over time which gives her home a graceful confidence.
Globetrotting at an early age shaped Carrie's passion for collecting antiques and her appreciation for design. Much of her art has been found while flea marketing and antiquing but her carefully chosen framing gives them a grandiose air. She loves to mix French antiques with mid-century modern furniture giving her home a fresh yet classic vibe. She adds a little shimmer and fur for a glamorous twist.
Carrie resides in the bungalow with her husband and beloved pug, Ellie "Cutes" Kerwin. Ellie adores being the center of attention and during the photo shoot it became clear who was the real princess of this pretty petite palace.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: I like to mix vintage and new, high and low, and combine fabrics and furniture styles that create playful contrasts. I also love incorporating a lot of texture and layering in lots of softness so that rooms are comfortable yet elegant. I can't say that my style has a particular name, but "40's glamour meets natural modern" might be a good try!
Inspiration: 1940's Hollywood bungalow
Favorite Element: Huge Palm tree in front yard
Biggest Challenge: With such a small house, storage is limited and things have to be well thought out. The small size also forces me to focus on the house as a whole so that the rooms flow. While I've owned bigger homes in the past, I now prefer the coziness and even the challenges of smaller spaces — if something comes in, something has to go out. It keeps possessions to a well-edited minimum and makes life that much saner and simpler, in my opinion!
What Friends Say: They like the vintage pieces and the accessorizing and I often hear, "Your house feels good!"
Biggest Embarrassment: I don't have great window treatments on some of the windows — I'm saving up!
Proudest DIY: I like to paint furniture and I hang my own light fixtures.
Biggest Indulgence: A period Louis XVI gilt settee covered in Schumacher metallic silver linen.
Best Advice: Don't be afraid to let rooms grow over time! Good rooms evolve and change as you come across great flea market finds and artwork. Interesting accessories and collections of objects assembled over time really add personality and character to a room.
Dream Sources: Paris flea market
Resources of Note:
PAINT & COLORS
- • All rooms (except master bedroom) are Benjamin Moore, Ivory Tusk
• Master bedroom is Benjamin Moore, #1067
ENTRY
- • Vintage Console: Flea Market
• Vintage Venetian Mirror: Prize
LIVING ROOM
- • Sofa: Shabby Chic
• Chinese Painted Screen hung on wall: San Mateo Antique Store
• Silver Tray Table: West Elm
• Vintage Black & White Chairs: Antiques and Art Exchange
• Desk & Lacquer Mirror: Ironies
• Vintage Starburst Mirror: Homme
• Chevron Wool Carpet: Stark Carpets
• Antique French Settee in nook: Schumacher Shimmer Linen, #2644120
• Leather Poufs: Taxi Designs
• White Lacquer Side Tables: Sarlo
DINING ROOM/KITCHEN
- • Kitchen Table: West Elm
• Chairs: Pottery Barn
• Woven Blinds: Conrad #1716 Chosen
• 1940's Framed Artwork: Double Vision (in LA)
MASTER BEDROOM
- • White Duvet: Bloomingdale's
• Big Pillows: Lee Jofa teal linen fabric, "Grasses", reversed
• Floral Pillow: Trina Turk
• White Furry Pillow: West Elm
• 1930's Japanese Block Prints: Past Perfect
GUEST BEDROOM
- • Daybed: West Elm
• White Oak Dresser: Custom made/designed
• Vintage Postcard Assemblage Artwork: Alameda Flea Market
• Vintage Painting above dresser: Joel Mathieson Fine Art (in NYC)
GARDEN
- • Blue butterfly chairs: Sunrise Home, San Rafael
• Striped Pillows: West Elm
• Whale Pillow: Anthropologie
• Teak Outdoor Table: Custom Designed
• Bleached Horns: Sienna, Petaluma
• White Lanterns: Williams-Sonoma
• Ceramic Stools: Sunrise Home, San Rafael
• Woven Stacked Cushions: Yard Sale
Thanks, Carrie!
Images: Rebecca Dadson
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This is just wonderful!
(and oh, how i love that little pug. so much attitude! :)
Lovely! The elephant planter is cute :)
Carrie, while your house is meticulously decorated, I have to say the my most favorite accessory is Ellie. The picture of her sitting in front of the bed made me chuckle. I love seeing pets included in house tours.
I love everything but that orange pillow on the settee, it just clashes.
i absolutely love this house tour. it looks so glam, serene and liveable. of course, it'd never be that NEAT in my world, but i'd aspire to it.
Very nice, and I appreciate the gratuitous placement of the pooch!
Very pretty! My partner would never let me go this girly with the decor. Your pug is absolutely adorable. She looks like she's waiting for the beanbag to turn into a fancy dog coach!
very nice. i might add a little color to the fireplace.
Pug, you're a camera hog. I love you.
Really enjoying the neutral pallette. Odd since I'm usually into bright colors. I also really like the neutral home here http://bit.ly/eIWNjM
Love the orange pillow. Love the pug even more!
Gosh I would love to tell you how much I love this but I have to get ready to repaint my house ivory tusk......I think I am done with grey.....for a while!
Perfection. I love the mirror and console table in the entrance and the orange bedside table with Babar next to it. It's clear that Ellie loves the camera!
niiiiice! i really like this space.
only thing that made me pause were the living room tables -- feels too vacant- but still beautiful. thanks for sharing!
1100 sq ft is NOT small.
BUT this place is gorgeous and very spacious... and not just because of the way it was decorated.
and i can see how a man would live in that space. it's a great space. period.
I love this place. She has a real talent for styling and for using unusual, unexpected pieces.
Unlike the poster above, I don't find the place too contrived. I like to keep my place pretty as well.
so nice!!! love everything
i think you mean tazi designs. instead of taxi, for the leather poufs.
Elegant, light, crisp, serene - very nice.
Methinks that pug is stuffed ;c)
This is really, really nice. Clean and comfortable, and "fancy"without being overdone. And it looks finished even as it evolves, which I think is underappreciated in a lot of the other posts I've seen.
@Blandwagon- It's funny you would question whether a heterosexual man lives here, because I admit I see spaces on AT all the time that make it hard to believe a man lives there AT ALL! I try to check my gender perspective at the door on this site, though, because clearly they don't apply. But to your point, I think a man would love to live in a space that is so warm and sensual. Especially if there is a woman fitting that description also living in that house!
How could anyone look at the orange pillow, see it relate to the pouf in the picture, then say it clashes?
I like it! The spareness and thoughtful touches really work.
Just how many pugs does she have? Oh wait...it's just one camera hog. Very cute.
I liked this tour. She has a fresh, unpretentious style. And it doesn't look like every other California bungalow I have seen on this site.
It's perfect. I wish there were more views of the outside of the home -in the 1st photo, it looks just gorgeous. Carrie has editing down to a science -I only wish to be that good!
Really beautiful and fresh - I love it! She has such an eye for putting things together in a pretty and unique way.
A lovely home, the deisgner showing great skill with mixing styles and finding balance.
What were those simple shelf supports in the alcove? They almost disappeared. Where can I find them?
1940' meets light modern is a good description and it's a lovely place. Is there a pug in the world that is not a camera hog? Ellie is fabulous.
Its a beautiful house, I just don't feel much personality.
It's much more neutral than my taste, but it's quite lovely and is very well done. I'd love to see a few splashes of color (aside from the red/orange cabinets) but that's just my taste.
I had to smile when the cute bungalow was referred to as "small." We too live in a "small" house... at just over 1200 square feet our humble abode is home to 3 teenagers, 2 adults, and 1 LARGE dog (she tips the scales at 85 lbs but then what would you expect for a Newfoundland/Malamute mix!)
This house is truly elegant and yet so relaxing. And I love the yard!! All that wonderful outdoor space!
Hi! Observation, how your dog sits just like your chairs ... Cute! Suzanne
Pug at a wide angle... so fun!
so Beautiful, and my pug Lala wants to be Ellie's girlfriend.
So lovely and calming. I would just suggest a nice piece of original art above the fire place. Your patio area is my favorite.
my furnishings usually run from white to taupe, so i do love a neutral palette, but as beautiful as this is, this house really needs more color... without contrast, there's nothing anchoring the room - when you take the room in as a whole, there is nowhere for the eye to rest... if adding bright or dark elements goes against your game plan, simply bring in plants, trees, flowers - they're just as soothing, but will add what this space lacks
The thing I'm most impressed with is Carrie's restraint. Its difficult to strike a balance between over-excessive accessorizing and minimalism. The space is simple, but finished.
i love the elegance of the white furniture. & the POUFS! ah, to die for. definitely, one of my fave house tours. the pug is a nice touch too ;)
Carrie, Thanks for referencing my mom's store (Double Vision in L.A.). http://www.doublevision.1stdibs.com
Beautiful home, thanks for sharing!
i admire the elegance and airiness. I wish to have that clean classy ambiance...I tend to covet/own darker/richer furniture though so I am conflicted.