Every year, I eagerly look forward to the annual small spaces issue of House Beautiful. Sure, I can see lots of practical DIY small space style on Apartment Therapy, but House Beautiful is more in the category of home-decor hallucinogenic eye candy. Such as, I would have to be smoking something to think I could afford anything in there. Still, it’s nice to dream…
This year, I was very pleased to see a four-page spread on truly tiny homes, such as Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, with some particularly interesting historical tidbits about famous small abodes, inhabited by the likes of Thomas Jefferson and Thoreau. From ravishing banqueting houses from the 16th Century to adapted garden sheds, the article showed a great diversity available via the tiny house.
Some things that caught my eye include:
- A beautiful chest of drawers that doubles as a desk, from Four Hands. Check out their website for more beautiful things.
- A wonderfully whimsical chair in the most delicious shade of pear meets chartreuse green by Lando which would look great with an adorable mushroom stool, called Fungo, next to it by Paola Navone.
- Nautical map wallpapers and this rug based on 19th Century embroidery.
- Venetian glass tableware.
Then they got to the home reviews. Sigh… Of course they’re all beautiful. I especially liked the 1,400 square foot colonial-style cottage. Because it’s not an actual colonial home, it has a lovely open plan. They used the most fabulously distressed cabinetry in the kitchen and a high-backed love seat so that the kitchen just blends into the room. My absolutely favorite part of the house is the bathroom, which has a shower that opens to the backyard, almost al fresco.
Another great, and truly small, space was a studio apartment in Brooklyn. At almost 150 square feet per occupant, it actually beats our house for small house bang for buck, which is unusual. Usually it’s a small space, but only one person lives there so the space to person ratio is not exactly small. Also it features a lot of creative finds and almost-DIY, but certainly could be repeated, design ideas. And along with the other studio apartment featured, didn’t try to hide the bed, which is refreshing.
Finally, the kitchen of the month is definitely worth checking out.
Row House Living 