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Small Cool 2009: Rita's Sunny Studio
Tiny Division #14

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Who Lives Here: Rita
Location: San Francisco, California
Size: 514 square feet

What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home? I get to enjoy a large amount of natural light and wonderful views of San Francisco due to many large windows that line the perimeter of my apartment.

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What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your small home? I live in a Studio apartment in San Francisco and often times I have visitors. Therefore, I needed a separate sleep-over space. My solution was to hang curtains to be used in the doorway between the living and the dining space that provide privacy when the French-doors are closed. I added a twin bed and used pillows to create a sofa-like seating area and moved a dining table into the corner beside it. This offers the possibility for dining, lounging and sleeping if needed; all within a limited space.


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Comments (18)

Too much stuff. Edit, edit, and edit some more, please. :)

posted by Rick Roberts on April 8th 2009 at 10:59am
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Charming little place.

One suggestion: lose at least one-third of the furniture.
The apartment would feel a lot bigger and a lot less crowded with some judicious editing.

posted by jac7890 on April 8th 2009 at 11:05am
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I actually disagree with the suggestions to edit - I think your place looks inviting & cozy. It's the sort of apartment that would be a nice place to hang out with friends. Congrats!

posted by serialdrooler on April 8th 2009 at 11:33am
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You have some really great small space solutions in here. I especially like the curtains.

posted by jesscon0202 on April 8th 2009 at 11:42am
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I bet this place has way more feel to it than is conveyed in the photographs. In person, I suspect it's a cozy treasure trove; in the pictures I find my eyes being drawn towards the kind of shlumpy pillows on the couch or the clashing kitchen rug and curtain. But still, it has personality and charm.

posted by Juliet on April 8th 2009 at 11:46am
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What a lovely apartment. I think the layout of the space is great along with the idea of a multipurpose dining room/ sitting room/ guest room. Though I, too, would do a bit of editing, I think it is a wonderfully cozy, lived-in space. Good luck in the contest.

posted by Hydra on April 8th 2009 at 12:28pm
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You have a lot of storage space. Put some of the "stuff" in those areas and it will give a more open look. The light is terrific and can look even better with fewer items.

posted by dkzody on April 8th 2009 at 2:26pm
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I love the colors and funkiness of the space. It's great, but some better pictures would improve the general impression here, I think.

posted by amandaPlease on April 8th 2009 at 7:46pm
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Such personality - I Love it!

posted by krhodes on April 8th 2009 at 9:32pm
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I'm with serialdrooler, I think it's a very inviting and relaxed place, and I think you've handled the space very well. I suspect that if I lived on my own, I'd have a place a lot like this (would drive my husband crazy, though). It's clear that you do stuff here (work and bake, for starters).

We're not all minimalists.

I would like to see more plants in your bedroom/office. The one on the table seems a bit large, as well, but I guess you move it if you have guests for dinner.

posted by renata on April 8th 2009 at 10:53pm
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Rita-
Looks like a wonderful home in SF!
Hope all is well~
Joy

posted by joyous on April 9th 2009 at 2:12am
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great apartment, i love it :-)

posted by zabrina on April 9th 2009 at 2:29am
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Thumbs up! Great apartment and perfect for entertaining.

posted by jmikkel on April 9th 2009 at 10:59am
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I live in a small space and I'm very envious of your windows with their wonderful light and the view. I LOVE color but have found that in a small space, while one dramatic color adds incredibly to the overall effect, too many colors, especially strong or incompatible ones are dissonant. I find that blues are the most difficult to meld with one another, greens are a strong second. Adding conflicting patterns on top of that creates -- to my eye -- a sense of chaos. Of course this is a personal preference but I do think the space would take much more advantage of the windows and light if it were edited, like the first commenter, suggests, quite a bit. Not necessarily in the things in it but in the colors. One thing that might help is to cover the mismatched side chairs, which can work wonderfully in a large space, in a fabric that matches as closely as possible the color and texture of the drapes. Another relatively inexpensive resolution to this issue would be to replace the rugs with solid color ones, or ones with the simple pattern, which will unify the space rather than break it up. But as others have noted, it probably feels a lot different with your guests hanging out, enjoying your hospitality.

posted by Tammy Blue on April 10th 2009 at 2:22am
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there's a whole lot of stuff going on in here! But I like it! I also thought that probably the photos don't do it justice, and it looks like it would be a great place to hang out in.

posted by littlecat on April 10th 2009 at 6:15am
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I just tried giving it a thumbs up but it's saying thumbs up entry is closed ?? so, here's my thumbs up!

posted by derikm on April 10th 2009 at 9:00am
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I don't mean to beat the dead horse but there's too much stuff - too much going on. The natural light is great but my attention is drawn to all the 'stuff'. While it looks somewhat cozy, the furniture and accessories are off scale for the size of the space. The colors/patterns used could have been more vibrant; they are a too muted, too many, and uninteresting. I think the space has a lot of potential for spring cleaning. =)

posted by spunkysam on April 10th 2009 at 2:38pm
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All that stuff you fit neatly into that tiny space...thumbs up!

posted by DonnaBellamonte on April 25th 2009 at 3:47am
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