Katie’s Flea Market Fabulous Small Space
Welcome to Beth from San Francisco; a blogger trying out for a place on the Apartment Therapy editorial team as a House Tour Contributor. Enjoy her work!
Name: Katie Kuhn
Location: San Francisco, California
Size: 500 square feet
Years lived in: 2 years — rented
After graduating from University of Virginia in 2003, Katie moved from Charlottesville to San Francisco where she’s had several positions as a buyer for retailers like Banana Republic, Pottery Barn and GAP brand. Two years ago, Katie decided she’d had it with “generic” apartments and sought out this little turn-of-the-century flat in Hayes Valley, a San Francisco neighborhood known for its vintage boutiques and furniture shops.
Katie has a divine eye for detail, and she especially loves the apartment’s crafty front windows, which spin open on an axis, and the built-in wood hutch in the kitchen. Every corner of her place displays neatly organized trinkets that have been well-loved through the years, along with photographs of the people that have loved Katie well from generations past and present. Katie is equal parts sentimental, sophisticated and sassy — no doubt, her small space has big character to show for it.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: A subtle tension between high and low. Equal parts mid-century glamour, flea market finds, and San Francisco cheekiness.
Inspiration: The hotels of Palm Springs and LA, old photos of my grandparents
from the 50s & 60s…and I’m obsessed with the colors and prints of vintage glassware.
Favorite Element: I have a love affair with this ridiculous swan table that I found years ago. I admired it from afar for weeks, unsure if it would work in my space, until I finally broke down and bought it. It taught me that things don’t necessarily have to fit into your style…if something speaks to you, it will bring personality to your space.
Biggest Challenge: Lack of storage. There’s literally one (teeny) closet in the apartment, as a result I’ve had to find creative storage solutions that don’t aesthetically overwhelm the space.
Biggest Embarrassment: My friends joke that my living room is basically a closet — the shelves are filled with baskets that contain shoes, scarves, and jewelry. What can I say, I don’t have a lot of storage space to play with.
Proudest DIY: My makeshift closet.
Best advice: Embrace the shortcomings of your home — you can’t live in it like it’s a palatial estate, you have to be scrappy.
Dream sources: Etsy, the Alameda Flea Market, and the vintage home stores in my
neighborhood.
Resources of Note:
BEDROOM
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• Head board: Pottery Barn
• Dressers: IKEA
• Green Lamp: Pottery Barn
• Mirror: West Elm
LIVING ROOM
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• Sofa: IKEA
• Yellow Upholstered Chair & Leather Chair: Pottery Barn
• Wall shelving system: IKEA
• Rug: West Elm
• Lamps: Target
KITCHEN
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• Table & Chairs: IKEA
• Cabinet knobs: Anthropologie
• Pendant Lamp: CB2
Thanks, Katie!
Images: Beth Lundell Garver
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