What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home? My favorite element in my home is my desk. When I first moved in, I couldn't find one that was just the right size and shape for my dual monitor setup. Thanks to my Grandfather's help, I ended up building a desk that would fit into the bookshelf that was built into the wall. Without this desk, I would have had to give up my second computer screen.
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What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your small home? The biggest challenge with living in a small home is figuring out how to have the stuff I need, without making my place cluttered. This is where having bins and boxes has helped tremendously. I also made a bulletin board for all those scraps of paper that I want to see on a regular basis, but don't want junking up my desk. Though there are times I miss having a bedroom, I really love having a sofa sleeper. I don't have to worry about making it, and I'm not tempted to take cat naps during the day when I'm working at home. I don't have a particular resource that I use. A few of my favorite items are from a shop in New Jersey called Bucks County Dry Goods.
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I'm so impressed with the effective use of space - and her ability to fight clutter!
Beautiful apartment, and thumbs up!
I have that reversible Ikea cushion cover (behind my back as I type), and I think it's funny how the grey side is showing in every photo here. I, too, prefer the grey side to the green.
That might be the smallest kitchen I've ever seen.
You've done a fantastic job of integrating all your needs and still have breathing room! The desk is especially cool.
the floorplan pic isn't loading for me... :(
i love how your place is tiny, yet you're so clutter free that you still have room to spare on the big expedit shelf!
does the chair pull out into you bed?
Great, effective use of space.
Really cute and creative. Works the room nicely.
@graefix - I always try to keep mine green-side-out! :)
I find I'm only drawn to voting for the homes that are under 400 sq. ft. This one is amazing. Thumbs up!
Awesome. Thumbs up.
I absolutely love this place! It's bright and colorful. I wish there is a picture to show where the bed is positioned.
wow, you are going to hate your kitchen, so little counter space, maybe you can scooch that white table in front of that bookcase closer to the kitchen.
and where is your bed? or do you sleep on the floor?
This is fantastic and beautiful. I'm curious about your sleeping arrangements though. Do you sleep on the couch or does it pull out into a bed?
Haha, I love how some people apparently didn't read her write-up about how she has a sleeper sofa.
What a fabulous job making such a small apartment seem spacious! I like the idea of a sleeper sofa since I have a studio of similar dimensions and my queen sized bed dominates the whole thing. A necessary evil, unfortunately, because it's a special mattress.
A definite thumbs up for you!
You are so organize! Such a cute studio and nicely put together.
Wow--excellent use of the space. (That's got to be the tiniest kitchen I've ever seen.) You've managed to make everything look airy and comfortable without being cluttered or crowded.
Really impressive, given the extreme lack of space. I love all the bins. My only question/suggestion is - why not a somewhat taller rolling island for the kitchen - one with a butcher block you could actually use as counter space? I'm guessing that since you chose this place in you don't exactly live to cook, but gosh...it's got to be tough to put down more than one Chinese take out container at once!
Exceptional.
Also Lila is pretty hot. I'm just saying.
So cool!!!
Oops sorry - I did read the write up but missed the part about the sofa bed.
Looks like that's the perfect solution for this space. Well done!
Teeny Tiny is my favorite division by far!!!
Wonderful job with your space! I could certainly take a lesson from you... uh I have a big house and just can't quite tame my clutter. Congratulations!
Impressive restraint-- this 24o square foot room seems positively airy.
Everything looks so airy, which is important in a small space. Great work!
Your apartment is soooo cool!
Beautiful balance and use of color!
Needs an area rug!
otherwise I wouldn't change a thing.
Beautiful use of space. I would feel right at home.
Wow, I really love your use of color! And soooo organized! Wonderful.
So beautiful, simple and clean. Looks like an enjoyable place to live and work. Applause for the organization, you adorable neat freak, you!
good luck!
This is the epitome of small/cute. Well done!
Thank you so much for the feedback everyone! It's very helpful (and thrilling) to hear from complete strangers what they really think!
@graefix and @EC the only reason I have it on the grey side is because I'm think I have too many green boxes!
@arttarte You would be surprised what a difference a sofa sleeper makes. After weeks of looking, I found this twin sleeper (the only thing that fit) at Crate & Barrel.
@cedargr0 That is the one thing I'm still hunting for! I'm currently using a crafter's bin from Ikea. Many of them are too wide for that spot, or are just slabs of wood! Anyone know of any cool ones with tons of compartments?
I love it! You're such a cool person; it's fun to see how you live. I'm impressed!
I agree with EC about only voting for the tiny spaces. With this contest, seeing what people do with their space is key, and when you have enough space, you are less likely to come up with such interesting ideas. Fall Colors, different story. I really like the color palette here, and how you've used it. Very calm, but still cozy and personal.
Absolutely gorgeous! I wish my office looked half as cool as this.
W.O.W. It's like a vacation getaway I would totally love to stay in. About the rug - not having one makes it feel roomy and spacious. I think adding one would begin to give it a cluttered feeling - which you have really succeeded in avoiding. Your grandfather has great taste.
Very cool and efficient, but roomy.
AWESOME! Splendiferous! Yep, this should win for sure!
I love it!
This is perfect just the way you have it!!
Wonderful job, you are very talented.
Where is that little stand/cabinet from that is by the kitchen?
That computer desk that your grandfather helped you to build is fantastic. Way to maximize the potential of your small space!
So where does the owner sleep - does the loveseat pull out?
Read the post guys - she has a sleeper sofa.
Wow Lila, so beautiful! I love it.
Ru
thumbs up #234! I hope this one makes it into the finals because Lila definitely deserves it!! :)
That girls apartment is really well done and I love the colors. This girl is one of my good friends and looks just like her. Vote please because her space is amazing! Love you lila!
LOVE LOVE LOVE. Wish it were mine.
Her space and Emily's space are the best teeny-tiny spaces. This space seems SO BIG AND OPEN compared to the other TEENY-TINY spaces and they're relatively the same size. I wouldn't want to live in any of the other teeny-tiny spaces but I could live in this space.
This space is remarkable! Clean lines, great color, so open and just 240 square feet - WOW! Congrats on designing an amazing space.
Uncluttered, modern, and warm. Well done.
So tiny but so completely livable! Wonderful space!
Very cute and well organized. The lack of clutter really makes it feel spacious. Excellent!
Am I the only one who couldn't see the floor plan?
It's a beautiful space! Lila, do you keep all your clothes and shoes in that dresser? I find in a small space I have the hardest time with the containment of my clothes.
I've got 660 sq ft of house,well bungalow as my town calls it . Thanks for the inspiration.
What a beautiful place. I love how you manage to fit so much storage in a subtle way that doesn't scream "Lot of stuff!"
extremely inspiring. I think you should win.
Lila you have done a Gr8 job with the place!
So small area yet so well decorated. less clutter giving it a big area effect.
Jeanne
Lila's space is so inviting, so zen-like, yet warm. I am SOOOO jealous of the fireplace. Even if it isn't working it adds incredibly to making it feel much more spacious. Living in California I know people whose closets are larger than this apartment yet I wouldn't dream of living in them. I'm inspired to rethink my 453 sq ft studio as I see how much more I could do. Thanks to Lila for the fabulous example of living elegantly in a teeny tiny sace.
love the desk, well done to you and your grandad!
[Weird---there are 330 thumbs up, and yet this post says "Comments (0)"]
First of all, love the architecture. Second, I love something I don't think I've ever been so consciously aware if in a space before---the balance of light (walls, fireplace surround, bookshelves, table behind sofa) and dark (sofa, fireplace, bookcase on wall between windows), with a warm, neutral, mediating range (floor, wicker trunk, file boxes, curtains). The space also feels like good serious thought takes place within it. (File boxes/lack of fripperies and/or extraneous patterns, added to its being in Princeton?)
Let me just add that cat naps can happen on sofas as well as on beds. . . .
@Tammy Blue. I loathe having to clean up ashes so I choose not to use the fireplace. Having that many candles lit also warms that spot creating a fireplace effect.
Love the shelves and desk! Where did you get your sleeper sofa? It's hard to find a fold-out couch that's comfortable enough to sleep in for one night, much less every night. (It's very Mary Tyler Moore though.)
really nicely done...
Beautiful! I am amazed with what you have done in this little spot. Great job!
I have to say this one is a bit bland to me. All the boxes obviously indicate great organization, but I'd want it to have a little more color and personality. It all looks maybe a little too perfect or like a West Elm catalog or something...
You are to be commended for using your space efficiently and also that it looks so roomy and spacious. it does not seem small at all.
I would assume you that you need to extremely mindful of "stuff" that could wreck the look and make it look cluttered.
But you HAVE to use the fireplace, Lila! A crackling fire seems (to me, at least) the perfect completion of the space you've created. In the last place I lived, I had three fireplaces, and, granted, that was a lot of ash-sweeping, but in the one I used most, I applied the simple truc of keeping a large, professional baker's cookie tray under the area of the fire. (The tray was black, so it didn't look ugly or weird, or even show much at all.) I did this because it allowed me to carry the ashes out to the garden where I used them to amend to soil, but it almost completely eliminated sweeping ashes. . . .
Hey Lila! Love your apartment! So cute!
This is amazing, and inspiring! I'm so sorry I saw it too late to give a thumbs up. If Lila is still reading the comments.. any chance you could share where you got that fabulous chest in front of your sleeper couch? It's beautiful! Simple and classy.. I would love to have something similar in my home.
I got the sofa at Crate & Barrel and @nevergirl, I got the chest at Pier1.
This apartment is cute but looks sterile. It looks more like an office than a home.
@bluebird I hear you about the clothes thing. Because of the limited closet space, I don't have as many clothes, shoes or purses like I once did. These days, I see it as an excuse to buy less, and buy higher quality items instead. I also have the rule, "if you don't wear it, sell it or give it away".
The cabinets are where I keep my jeans, undies, sweaters, socks, toiletries and blow dryer. I have bins in the closets for hats, gloves, and purses and a shoe organizer in one of the closets. Because of the height of the shoe organizer, that closet is for shirts and the other is for longer items.
I have to admit, my apartment comes with a TEENY storage shed in the basement (and according to my building manager, is part of the 240 Square Feet). In fear of it becoming a shed full of crap, I refuse to store anything in it but seasonal items (ie, window ac unit, my winter coats) and my computer box.
Lila,
We'll have to talk next time I see you. This apartment is fantastic.
Keep Calm and Rock On. Words to live by.
Cozy studio.
i love your place! especially the green. :)
Really great use of available space.
That desk idea is very useful, a long ledge-like surface like that adds a lot to the usable surface area of a small space.
Neat. Good use of space. Nice decoration.
a multi-tasker at heart, really like your space.
I love Lila's space - it looks so clean and organized but the colors are also cozy and inviting without looking too modern and edgy.
Beautiful work, Lila!
Lila, when you have guests, where do they sit? Can you seat two people on your sleeper sofa?
Nice use of space!
@inhuma26 2 people can sit on the sofa. People always want to sit on my little polka-dot stool, and If I have more people, I just grab my foldable chairs from behind my couch.
How do you feel about sleeping on the sleeper sofa every night? I've been considering that same thing, but I keep having people tell me I'll regret it.
This is a great studio! I like that you have chosen a sleeper sofa, but I would choose a bed (sorry). Can't imagine not having a bed. This is a very old post, but I would of liked to see the bathroom.
I also would have liked to see the bathroom. That is a part of this contest..even though its over.. I also would like to know what type of sofa bed you have.... Everyone of them I have ever slept on was horrible. I guess today they make a better type of sofa sleeper.