Living Large in a Tiny House, Downsizing Edition - Remodelista
My friend Wendy Furman, an artist and graphic designer, high-tailed it out of LA six years ago, trading her Laurel Canyon home for a funky 1940s cottage overlooking vineyards in the Napa Valley. Overnight she went from nearly a thousand square feet of living space to 643 square feet. Photography by Mimi Giboin for Remodelista, The Arizona native, who confesses to having known more about architecture than boys by sixth grade (she went to school with Frank Lloyd Wright's granddaughter and was already familiar with his Arizona winter home,Taliesin West), was an early adopter of Neutra and California Arts and Crafts when she first moved to LA. She opened up the connection between the living room and the kitchen by removing the divider in the opening. Wendy removed the doors from the cupboards to create open shelving. Wendy painted the frames white and the back wall a custom flat graphite gray to tie into the gray couch in the living room. A collection of green bowls sit atop an Ikea cabinet with a collage by Bill Radawec propped against the wall. Wendy, who describes the interior of her cottage as "looking like a flop-house" when she first moved in, replaced the base cupboards with Varde Kitchen Drawers topped with Varde birch counter tops from Ikea; she inserted a wine refrigerator in the space intended for a dishwasher. A tray with pieces from Wendy's collection of Russell Wright ceramics sits on a Parsons Dining Table from West Elm. The Thonet chairs are custom covered in 1950's Knoll green fabric. Wendy uses a second bedroom as a showroom for her newly launched business, Whim & Caprice. A Bertoia chair sits in front of a set of maple bookshelves that she commissioned from an LA furniture maker years ago. Wendy designed the wardrobe and had it custom made in solid maple. Wooden shelving between the two bedrooms is used to display art. One of a pair of Cherner side chairs atop a Nesta Rug from Design Within Reach. An Ikea floor lamp sits beside a Case Study V-Leg Bed from Modernica. A screen door with view onto the vineyards.