Name: Tara
Location: San Francisco
Size: ~400 sq. ft.
Years lived in: 1.5
Just looking at the photos of Tara's apartment, you'd swear she has several rooms to spread out in. You'd be wrong. She lives in less than 400 square feet, but it's a casually elegant, uncluttered, and well-thought-out use of space. (She even fit a bedroom in a high-ceilinged walk-in closet.)
sf (at) apartmenttherapy (dot) com
My style: Currently it's a hodge-podge of stuff found cheaply, either from craigslist, or Ikea. It’s a work in progress, for sure.
The inspiration for my home: I really admire David Netto and Tom Scheerer. They mix elegance and ease and create relaxed atmospheres that aren't sloppy. (Does that make sense?) When I peek at their portfolios there are always rooms that make me want to enter the photo and curl up with a good book and enjoy my surroundings. I am constantly perusing design books (my favorite is “The New Apartment”) and reading various magazines and browsing the internet looking at photos (Thanks AT!) and wondering how I can incorporate some of the great ideas/looks into my own home. Truthfully, I’m over-inspired sometimes -- I really like a lot of different looks and haven't quite decided on my own. Yet.
Favorite element: My books. Currently they are stacked three deep on one cheap bookshelf. My dream is to one day have shelves and shelves of them and a big comfortable sofa on which to read them. Preferably a sofa next to a big window. Let other women collect purses and shoes…books for me, please. A close second is my kitchen. It's ugly, but I like the fact that it is disproportionately large and is well suited for cooking.
Biggest challenge in designing my home: Fitting all of the areas that I want in my home—living room, dining room, bedroom, closet, etc.—into essentially big (er, tiny) room. I sacrificed a walk-in closet in order to make my place into a one-bedroom-esque apartment. It works for me.
What friends say about my home: “Wow. It's really clean.” Or “You sleep in a closet? Doesn't that make you feel claustrophobic?”
Biggest embarrassment in my home: I'm not a fan of the kitchen cabinets (ugly 70’s rental), the kitchen counter (underneath the contact paper it’s a horrid yellow) or the aging linoleum floors. So, I guess my biggest embarrassment is the kitchen. Also, I don't have any art hung in the living room. Soon…
Proudest DIY: I thumbed my nose at the property management company and went ahead and painted my apartment. It was both harder and easier than I thought it would be. My advice: take your time with the prep work. It makes a difference. The place went from bland, masking-tape white to a pinky-purple gray that is more suited to my taste.
Biggest indulgence with respect to my home: I suppose the flat-screen television.
Best advice given or received: I really like William Morris: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
Dream source for stuff: The Conran Store. Ochre. Any independent furniture maker. Any furniture that has “character” regardless of source.
Resources:
Appliances:
Hardware:
Furniture:
Accessories:
Lighting:
Paint:
Flooring:
Rugs and Carpets:
Window Treatments:
Artwork:
Thanks, Tara!
When leaving comments, play nice or you'll be asked to leave the sandbox.)
A Contemporary Space in the Queen City 
Ten Tips for The Sexiest Bedroom... Like Ever (And also for finding love) 
Like us on Facebook
RSS Feed (Atom)
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Geneva Sound System...
How To Cook a Steak: 15 Recipes for a Weeknight Valentine's Meal
How To Make Cake Pops
Comments (54)
I like how you "discovered" the pocket door! Now if only someone would put a Barcelona ottoman on craigs list...
I'd love to see a floor plan. Pretty please?
where is the coat rack from?
It looks great! Where do you put your clothing though? Is there a hall closet or something?
I love the coat rack too! When I was little I built a room in my mom's walk in closet (she made me move back to my bedroom eventually). I wanted it to feel like I was living on a houseboat or other really small space. I love the idea of sleeping somewhere cozy like that!
Very nice place. Good use of space and very good use of budget. And did I read right? You like to read and cook? Would you like to relocate to NY??
Awesome! It was kind of surreal looking through your photos. You and I share the same sense of style. I have the same colors in my home....but in a different way. I had to laugh b/c we have the same shelf over the stove with the same pepper mill.
I loved the use of color in the cabinets. Creative way to udate something that you can't change.
I looked over the photos before I read your description. I was leasantly surprised that most of your stuff is affordable.
Great job! A very crisp and clean look with great color choices.
Very stylish and great use of space and color.
nice place!
coat rack is from Urban Outfitters! You can only get the turquoise color in the store...
One day soon I hope my house will be as neat and well organized!! Was wondering where the great orange bookcase/cabinet with doors came from . . . .
Thanks!!
There is something just so appealing aobut your place! Great job on a budget - something for me to aspire to.
Beautiful. Very warm feel. Bedroom doesn't look claustrophobic at all- looks cozy and comfortable. Love the color choices, furniture- great job.
This is so much more impressive than some condo glamour apartment. You've squeezed so much more starting with a far more modest starting point and using so much less in resources.
Bra-vo.
I think this might be my favorite AT apartment ever.
But where do you keep your clothes? is there a rack at the end of your closet bedroom
I think you did an amazing job tarting up those kitchen cabinets. Way to go!
Love the apartment! I like how you managed not to create clutter :-) I especially love the bed in the closet. What a great idea!
i love the black tub and that the kitchen cabs are open and clean looking. the bedroom is really interesting - how do you make your bed?? haha! i think i would love sleeping in a little closety cave. i also like the books in there :)
very sweet place!
this has got to be one of my favorite house tours ever! So much more inspiring and beautiful than the 3 bedroom loft condos sometimes featured (echoing Dave's sentiments). Well done. I'm saving a bunch of these photos as inspiration. I especially love your window treatments, I would have neever guessed they came form Ikea and Target!
I'm impressed by what you have managed to accomplish in a little bitty apartment on a tight budget. It is a credit to your sense of style and creativity how you have allocated space and used your resources to the maximum benefit.
This one deserves a standing ovation!
I love it! The Michael Sowa prints are great; even better - the photo of Julia Child hanging over the stove. Inspiration galore. I love the black tub, and the coat rack is great - did you paint it yourself? If not, where'd you get it?
Really well done! A very organized and pleasing space. I too like the bedroom in the closet. But I'm curious about your books. Are the books within view all part of a series? They are all the same size, and look somehow related.
For those of you asking about clothing storage - there is a photo of the hallway with a mirrored PAX wardrobe at the end of it. You can only see a bit of the mirrored front. It's noted in the caption, but I had to look hard to see it.
I am in absolute awe on how great your home looks. I also am a book fanatic and love that you have diplayed them over the bed. The livingroom looks fantastic especially the sofa and windows. Great Job!!!!
Love this! Makes me nostalgic for my tiny NYC studio apt. days.
I think you should keep the kitchen cabinets half wood and half turquoise - I love the contrast!
Johnny, Barcelonas pop up on Toronto's craigslist from time to time. There was a black one last wk and a white one this wk for $600 CDN.
I love your bed in the closet (and the beautiful color linens). My guy & I have talked about building a bed into a wall cabinet, like you see in old Dutch houses. It looks like a great place to curl up with a book!
I love it!
I was once lucky enough to live somewhere where my bed was enclosed, and I loved it, so warm and cozy. I have always dreamed of recreating that.
You have a great sense of style, and I was also pleasantly surprised at the sources... I have questions about the curtains, as I have been looking to do similar with my windows. What does the top look like? And do they reach all the way down to the floor?
Thank you for the very kind comments--made my day. As for the questions: The blue curtains are Ikea Lenda in 118" length and the paper/roman shades are Target (~15/2pack). The top is just a pole (from Ikea) and the Target shades are screwed into the sill and covered with a length of fabric which came with the shades. The coat rack is Urban Outfitters and I found it at the store in November. The large red bookshelf is the Lennarp (w/doors) from Ikea. The books you see in the closet/bedroom are romance novels (hence the uniformity)--I use to work in a library in high school and they were going to get rid of all of the books, so I took them. (Okay, so I've bought a few, too.) As to floor plan, it is on my flickr (runtararun) set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarahillier/?saved=1
Again, thanks for the nice comments. This website really inspires me (thanks AT!)
Your place is wonderful!
I have the same spoon rest from Anthropologie but in pink! :)
Was it hard to contact paper the countertops? I just moved and have a horrid yellow-ish counter in my bathroom. Any tips would be much appreciated!
Really cute -- I love the creative ways people maximize studios. Inspirational!
If you are having trouble finding Contact paper, I have found a good selection at Standard 5&10 on California Street, in Laurel Village.
Good luck!
Lovely!
I have almost the same set up in my apartment (380 sq ft, walk-in closet converted into bedroom). We even have the same moonbeam clock!
I wish AT would do a whole series of "Apartments Under 400sq ft Where People Sleep in the Closet." The amount of style & creative use of space is always so inspiring.
Yeah, this isn't what I think of when hit with the word hodge-podge. Design Lab sounds good. Hodge-podge ("for me", as the Russians say) sounds like something that's kind of thrown together without regard to whether it really works or not.
This works very nicely thank you, and I really love that whole couch-and-window-treatment situation. I also love the black bathtub and the way you've worked it.
The main thing I love is the generally fantastic way you've made the space look amazingly open and livable. Congratulations on a job very well done.
Thanks for sharing your flickr pages. I love the end result, but what was really useful for me was to see your progression from:
1. Before the AT Cure
2. After the AT Cure - better
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarahillier/sets/72157601952806593/
3. 3 months AFTER the AT Cure - awesome
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarahillier/sets/72157603681465982/
Huge changes every time. Proof that Rome wasn't built in a day, but it can, indeed be built!
This looks fantastic! Great transformation, and I think you've done a good job with use of mirrors as well. I really like how you've arranged your curtains behind the sofa - I think something similar might work in my place! Thanks for the inspiration.
OH I AM SO GREEN WITH ENVY I AM IN 489 SQ OF MESS ... I WISH I COULD PUT EVERYTHING OUT SIDE AND GO THROUGHT IT AND BRING JUST WHAT I WANT... LOVE IT THANKS FOR GIVING MEHOPE ( how about a floor plan)
Majeral
Tara
Your Apartment looks amazing. All your hard work really paid off. Question: What blanket do you have on your bed? I have the same Lauren floral sheets and need something to balance the floral so my husband won't mutiny. Is it also Ralph Lauren? Do you know the name of the pattern?
Thanks!
Fanatastic- the kitchen cabinets looked great and make me seriously consider doing the same thing to mine, except I'm not sure if I'm ready for the world to see my impressive collection of gladware and empty yougurt containers!
What a find on discovering the pocket door- was it difficult to uncover from the wall?
well-done! what a wonderful apartment... and I hereby second Holly's proposal that AT do "a whole series of 'Apartments Under 400sq ft Where People Sleep in the Closet.'"
That would be really inspiring, much more so than seeing gigantic lofts and houses.
Where did you find that adorable little curved white printer stand? Finally, a printer stand that looks like civilized furniture!
WOW. SUCH an inspiring place-- your eye is phenomenal.
Very nice. I like how you linked (in the comment) to the Flickr photos that show the progression. While I think there's still room for improvement (isn't there always?), this is so vastly better than the first set of photos, and shows your personal design sense.
Things I liked best: bedroom (great linens, love having the books so handy, also the cave effect), bathroom (shower curtain, the black stripe on the wall, black tub sides, although I find clawfoot tubs more attractive than convenient), view into the kitchen, the paper on the door. And I'm a Sowa fan too.
Things I liked least: living room couch and ottoman (my personal taste doesn't care much for tan, or for boxy couches, but a person does need a good ottoman). I'm not as fond of that shade of turquoise, but that's me, not anything wrong with your taste.
Anyway, it's great seeing someone do a good job with a small rental apartment! Now that I'm going to be in mine for a second year (thought it would only be for one), I feel inspired to go at making more improvements. It's not a bad place, but it has some awful quirks (mainly the closets which are a nightmare).
This looks so much bigger than 400 square feet! Great job.
Ok, I know this post is from SEVERAL months ago, but I'm hoping to get a question answered -
The shelf-slash-pot rack to the right of the stove...where is that from? Looks like Ikea, or at least something that could be an Ikea hack, but I'd love it if you could let me know. I'm moving soon and was thinking of doing something similar. Thanks!
The pot rack was bought from Craigslist a few years ago and is not Ikea, although it does have that birch-veneer look. I think it would actually be a simple hack - just a shelf with brackets, and then two boards fitted in front that held the hooks. The hooks can be purchased at Bed Bath & Beyond (I think) or easily on Amazon.
nice use of the space but - yeah where DO you put your clothes?????
my only critique is the amelie framed posters. i know every girl thinks she is amelie. but you're not amelie. no one is. she's a caricature - the writer's dream woman. i know the movie was adorable, but we need to move forward people.
I'm impressed by how seemingly well laid out everything is - I really like the colour scheme, and the pretty contact paper lining in the kitchen cupboards. Inspires me to try doing the same in my kitchen! Well done!
Great apartment. I'm apartment dweller myself and I'm always looking for new ideas. You said it's not done, but it looks awesome to me but I do understand. Anyone who loves decorating is never truly done. I hope you are able to update new photos when you're "finished." Good luck.
Geez, saraesc, I don't think she's Julia Childs, either. Personally I love those posters -- I didn't even know those existed until now.
Awesome. And I can tell that's the kind of space that resists any and all attempts at improvement unless you, the opponent, have unshakeable vision, imagination and nerves of steel. You've turned a sow's ear into a silk purse. It's beautiful.
Hi! Love your apartment.. Could you contact me, I am interested writing a feature to a glossy about it!
Bset regards Annika anvai@hotmail.com
I love the UO "coming and going" coatrack. I've been wanting to buy it for a while but I'm waiting until we get done finishing the drywall in our entry and paint...
Do you remember the collection name of the RL sheets? I love the colors and pattern. Great apartment! You are inspiring me for my new SF apartment with a very similar layout.
love the inspiration of julia childs in the kitchen! blue coat-rack is functional and beautiful. very well done.
I am so impressed with the use of space and design. That closet bedroom is so amazing. I love to see how creative people are with such a small space. Nicely done.
I agree! I would love to see the floor plan! That would help me understand how you did this!! property management would be proud. This space is very cute--and very you. I am jealous that you have been able to personalize your place so well!