Small Home Big Style: Anna Lane

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all have had an awesome week guys! Today we are headed back home from a very relaxing Spring Break visiting family and friends in Southern California.  As hard as it was, Im pretty proud of myself for unplugging and really relishing my time with Naomi and the kids.  Tomorrow we jump back into the swing of things with a visit to an open house.  The listing looks promising, and Im curious to see it up close!

When Anna contacted me with her small space story, I couldn’t wait to share it. While Anna typically blogs about modern day motherhood, and daily antics over on her blog, Misadventures In Motherhood, she also dabbles in interior decorating on occasion.

 She’s a riot, incredibly witty, and she’s hanging with us today to share how she lives and loves in her small spaces. Take it away Anna:

Los Angeles

Who do you share your home with? 
My Husband, my 15 month-old son, Noah, two cats and another munchkin on the way

Do you own or rent? 
Rent

How many sq ft is your home? 
1700 square foot, side-by-side duplex

What do you love most about small space living?
 I love that living in a small space really forces you to use all of the available space for living.  There are no wasted rooms in our house – everything is lived in!

What challenges have you faced?  
It’s often really challenging only having one rather small bathroom for our family (we do have a powder room downstairs but we never use it except in emergency situations, i.e. pregnancy bladder).  I feel like the bath toys multiply while we sleep and that I’m constantly falling over rubber duckies and weird-colored sea creatures when I’m just trying to put on some deodorant.  Plus one bathroom is not exactly conducive to the already limited amount of privacy I have, but c’est la vie.  I was also worried about giving up my home office to turn it into baby #2’s nursery, but it turns out that having the computer downstairs is SO MUCH BETTER.  It’s been great to be able to respond to emails while Noah eats breakfast.  

Any unique storage solutions? 
 I don’t think this is all that unique, but boxes and baskets and furnitures that look pretty but that also has lots of storage is the only way to cram lots of stuff into a small space.  And keeping things organized is a must!  When there’s not a lot of room it’s super important to banish the clutter.  

What’s your favorite room in your home? 
Noah’s nursery!  I love that it’s appropriate for a baby but yet still appealing for adults to hang out in.  I have this intense hatred for anything overly juvenile which was kind of a challenge when pulling together his nursery.  I’m so happy with how it turned out and I think it’s really calm and peaceful in his room but also has room for him to spread out and play.  

Do you every wish you had more space?  
Yes!  I would love to have a giant, eat-in chef’s kitchen with two ovens and two refrigerators and a separate playroom so all the toys were no longer asexually reproducing in my living room and my own bathroom with a giant spa tub and an en suite wet bar!

Best piece of small space living advice? 
Go up!  The best thing I ever learned from living in a teeny-tiny New York apartment is that you can always find space above.  There’s a reason you can buy “air rights” in Manhattan – when you can’t spread out, spread up!

 Ok, so two words: that office.  I mean seriously!  So clever squeezing so much function into a tiny alcove.  I couldn’t agree more with her advice to design up. You’d be surprised how much space you gain  when you put your walls to work.

Thanks so much for sharing your home with us today Anna.  To get to know Anna better make sure you pop by her blog.  Happy weekend loves.

Until next time…

Xo-Shavonda

*all images courtesy of Anna Lane

Posted By: Shavonda Gardner · In: features