Finally decorate your own home – with confidence!
You’re so much closer to a beautifully-decorated home than you think. You just need a little help to get there!
Have I ever told you that we live in a small house?
We’ve only ever lived in small houses.
“…love grows best in little houses,
With fewer walls to separate,
Where you eat and sleep so close together.
You can’t help but communicate,
Oh, and if we had more room between us, think of all we’d miss.
Love grows best, in houses just like this.”– Doug Stone
After all the apartments and condos and basement suites that Dean and I lived in during our early years of marriage, the first home we bought was a townhouse with about 1050 square feet. It had an unfinished basement and a tiny one car garage.
The second house we bought was a tiny war era bungalow that was only about 1000 square feet with no basement and no garage. We moved into it because we needed to be back in the city, closer to Dean’s work.
And this house is actually our largest house, with a total of 1350 square feet. Which is still not a large house by North American standards.
But it’s what we can afford that is close enough to Dean’s work to avoid a major commute for him.
Our Small House Tour
Over the years, I’ve definitely learned how to make the most of our small spaces.
Our entryway
While our entryway at this house is definitely larger than our last house’s entry, it’s still not huge.
But I’m super thankful for it’s 5′ x 8′ size and the full closet for our family’s shoes, boots, hats, mitts, jackets and other paraphernalia. The plank wall with hooks is definitely well-used when we have family and friends over.
Entryway Sources: Door Exterior Color – Behr Antique Tin, Door Interior Color – Van Gogh Sea Breeze, Pillow & Throw – Ikea, Basket – Target, Light Fixture – Home Depot (in store only, but also available here), Danforth Sign – Elte Market, Arrow – Homesense, Pom Pom Garland – Home Made Lovely
Small Entryway Tip: Only keep what is necessary for the current season within reach. And if possible behind closed doors.
Our Dining Room
Our dining room is once again and work in progress.
Just before Christmas we swapped our living and dining rooms to make better use of the space. The “new” dining room is larger and much better suited to hosting family gatherings around the table.
I’m waiting on a new “hutch” with more storage to replace the thrifted hutch that we made over and we’ve sold the rug. I LOVED how it looked, but it drove Dean and the kids crazy when they tried to sit at the table and slide their chairs in. It would be well-suited to a dining space that wasn’t used three times a day every day though.
The cream-colored buffet doubles as craft supplies storage for now. The “in-progress” part of the dining room is actually that we’re building a closet in the corner nearest the barn door. It will hold all my craft supplies and office supplies, like my printer, Silhouette machine, etc. Since it will be quite awhile before we can actually get to building me an office in the basement and I really need to be on the main floor with the kids most of the day it makes a lot of sense.
Dining Room Sources: Shelving – Home Made Lovely, Rattan Chair, Curtains – Ikea, Settee, Greenhouses, Quilt, Metal Chair – Wayfair, Table – Leon’s, Mugs – Anthropologie, White Dinnerware – Birch Lane, Mantel Shelf – Home Made Lovely, Deer Head – Home Hardware, 23 Pillow, White Cakestands – Homesense, Rug – Rugs USA, Mug Tree – World Market, You’ve Got This, Dream Big free printables – Home Made Lovely, Chalkboard Art – William Rae Designs, Flooring – Lumber Liquidators
Our Living Room
Our living room is now a cozy little space where our dining room used to be.
Our oversize love seats are acting as place holders for a corner sectional that will hopefully come sooner than later. Other wise the fireplace, rug, coffee table and chandelier all work in the space as is.
I love how cozy it is in here now and we’re hoping to put double barn doors up in this entryway soon.
Living Room Sources: Couches – Second Hand, Rug – Rugs USA, Clock – Wayfair, Coffee Table – Home Made Lovely, Chandelier – Home Depot, Curtains – Ikea, Electric Fireplace – Canadian Tire, Turned Candle Sticks – Birch Lane, Arrow – William Rae Designs, Let Me Be Singing Framed Canvas – Home Made Lovely
Small Living Room Tip: Keep the accessories simple and minimal. Use a basket or two to corral throw blankets, remotes and dog toys.
Our Kitchen
When we moved into this house our kitchen was very outdated. We painted the kitchen cabinets (after a huge fail – or what I like to call how NOT to paint your kitchen cabinets) and installed new stainless counters which I adore.
Storage space was minimal. Like next to none. So we added a breakfast bar peninsula, rolling pantry shelves and open wall shelving to maximize the space.
Kitchen Sources: Floating Shelves – Home Made Lovely (brackets coming soon!), Rolling Pantry Shelves – Home Made Lovely, Stools – Ikea
Small Kitchen Tip: Go vertical with storage and use baskets as much as possible.
We’ve made use of all of the same ideas in the family room, bathroom and bedrooms as well – you can see all of our home tours here.
Do you live in a small house? How do you make it work?
xo,
Shannon
(More source lists coming soon.)
Living Room Source List:
- Wall Color – Sherwin Williams Analytical Grey
- Curtains – Ikea
- Flooring – Sandy Hills Hickory “Handscraped” Laminate from Lumber Liquidators
- Area Rug – Moroccan Trellis in Tan from Rugs USA
- Couch – Ektorp Sectional from Ikea
- Pillow Covers – Porter Lane Home on etsy
- Pillow Inserts – FJÄDRAR inner pillow from Ikea
- Grey Plaid Throw – similar here
- Oversized Clock – Fulton St. Wall Clock from Wayfair
- Grey Knit Poufs – Addison Pouf Ottoman in Grey from Wayfair
- Chandelier – Hampton Bay Heritage 6-Light Iron Chandelier from The Home Depot
- Large Square Coffee Table – DIY Brickmaker’s Coffee Table found here
- Large Square Tray – Homesense
- Large Vase – Walmart
- Faux Pink Stems/Flowers – Michael’s
- Electric Fireplace – Canadian Tire
- Corner Floor Lamp – Logan Floor Lamp from Wayfair
- Leaning ladder – DIY Ladder Made with 2”x4”s found here
(Our source list contains affiliate links. That just means that we make a few pennies at no extra cost to you, should you purchase anything via one of the links. Thank you for helping to make this site possible! )
