A 600-Square-Foot Austin Rental Apartment Shows How to Keep it Casual and Cozy

Name: Kathleen Anderson
Location: Clarksville Neighborhood — Austin, Texas
Type of home: Apartment
Size: 600 square feet
Years lived in: 2 years, renting

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Casual, cozy, vintage, feminine, and sentimental.

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: I’ve spent my adult life exploring the world by moving cities every couple of years (Chattanooga, Tennessee to Barcelona, Spain, back to Chattanooga, to Denver, Colorado, to Austin Texas). Even though I’m a professional interior designer, I’m a serial renter, so I could never bring myself to invest in my own space. With this last move to Austin, however, I actually made my place home. The pieces are a mixture of investment, thrifted, retail, and inherited, and it’s ridiculous how it makes me feel like a legitimate adult to have a pulled together home. I actually love spending time in my own space—I can’t even imaging surviving this COVID-19 situation anywhere else. Each area is filled with stories and memories, and I love being here. Some of the stories tied to items in my place:

Living: The trunk I use as a coffee table is the only thing I have that was my late grandfather’s. It’s paired with a new tufted Gus Modern sofa and art by my friend and fabulous photographer Randal Ford. His piece “Gertrude” hangs over my sofa as a reminder of my rural roots and minor obsession with cows. The dresser holding my record player and a rotating collection of vinyl was thrifted, and I refinished the wood myself over the course of several months of weekends.

Dining: The dining chairs were thrifted. I chose them because they are they exact chairs my grandmother had in her formal dining room when I was a growing up. I refinished the chairs myself and had the seats recovered in a hot pink velvet that feels a little disrespectful and causal. The dining table was a craigslist find. I LOVE the tulip shape, and plan to invest in a real marble version of this piece. Of course the George Dawnay oil piece hangs here and reminds me of Chattanooga.

Bedroom: Bella Notte linens on the bed were an investment, but well worth it. I love the handmade nature and casual vibe. The frame lace piece hanging over my bed was made by my late great-grandmother who immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1929. The piece reminds me that I come from a long line of strong women and makers. A pair of rugs I picked up in a recent trip to Morocco add a cozy texture to each side of the bed.

What is your favorite room and why? It’s basically one big room, but the sofa wall is my favorite. It’s incredibly cozy, and I love nothing more than spinning records, sipping a hot tea, reading a great book. It makes me feel like an actual adult.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? An impressionistic George Dawnay oil painting of the landmark John Ross bridge in Chattanooga that I hung over my dining room table. I love how it blends in with my rose color scheme and reminds me of the beautiful Tennessee city on the Tennessee River that will always have a piece of my heart.

Any advice for creating a home you love? Don’t worry about what’s trending, or cool. Think about what makes you feel like your best self.