A Small, Cozy San Francisco Apartment Has the Cutest Mid-Century Holiday Style

Name: Beth Sayler and husband
Location: Pac Heights — San Francisco, California
Type of home: Apartment
Size: 700 square feet
Years lived in: 2 years, rented

I loved designer Beth Sayler’s “Relaxed Californian” style in the 950-square-foot California rental apartment she shares with her husband; it’s perfect for not only small spaces but also those who want to decorate on a budget. But her current home isn’t the only space with style worth sharing. Her last home in the Pac Heights neighborhood of San Francisco that she and her husband rented for two years was only 700 square feet, but she was able to fill it with her signature style. In honor of the holidays (and because I neglected to share it when she first submitted), here’s her last home decked out for the holidays. It’s an example of how to elegantly fold in cheery decorations with your already existing decor.

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: The apartment is in an old Victorian building, which comes with a lot of charm. When my husband and I saw the beautiful Spanish tiles on the fireplace and molding details on the wall, we knew this was the home for us!

When decorating the space, we had the challenge of mixing our already mid-century furniture with the space’s Victorian style. What helped bring it all together were a few special antiques my husband got from his grandparents. The burl wood dresser and side table against the wall looked right at home with the existing details in the living room and actually mixes nicely with the mid-century sofa, chair, and rug.

When decorating for the holidays, we were challenged again with finding decorations that would look right in this eclectic space, where we knew the typical red and green plaid wouldn’t work. Instead, we embraced a mid-century holiday style and chose a color palette of teal, pink, and gold. I love the challenge that this created because it forced us to really hunt for unique holiday decorations, versus the more traditional ones, and I feel like the end result feels happy and fun.

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Eclectic Mid-Century/Victorian

What is your favorite room and why? The living room. Its enormous windows give the room a cozy, warm glow all day long. It’s the perfect space for entertaining a small group of friends or curling up with a good book.

If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? I would love to have a dishwasher! Unfortunately it’s pretty common for these old San Francisco apartments to not have one, but it makes up for it in charm.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? I bought a whole bunch of fairy light strands from Urban Outfitters for the Christmas decor. They create that perfect magical glow anywhere you put them. I’m also obsessed with these ornaments from Anthropologie. Their style and color fit in perfectly with our colorful Christmas style.

Any advice for creating a home you love? When decorating your place for the holidays, I think it’s important to embrace the style of your space and enhance it with decorations that match that same style vs. fighting it. Sometimes that might mean avoiding the traditional red and green, which can be challenging, but it will push you to find special pieces that are unique.

Thanks Beth! See more of Beth’s work on her Instagram and her website.

This submission’s responses have been edited for the length and clarity.

 Correction: An earlier version of this post mistakenly uploaded the wrong set of photos. We’ve updated the post to have the correct photos—hopefully, we can blame it on Mercury retrograde.