And now for a look inside our kitchen. In addition to the space and the storage we gave up when leaving SF we also gave up a few kitchen luxuries as well. Note that there is no dishwasher. There is also no garbage disposal and no microwave. When we moved in the kitchen hardware were all these cream colored knobs with pink roses and gold leaf detail on them. They were puke worthy. So for about a dollar each I purchased these simple black metal knobs that match much better with the era of the kitchen (more 1920′s than 1980′s) and also matched our curtain rods and surprisingly it made a really nice difference in the kitchen for about 10 bucks. (as always I recommend clicking on images to see them larger)

Fridge detail: Vintage soda pop caps turned magnets made by my mother, an old fruit crate to house some less cute kitchen storage, a striped bowl full of delicious fresh tortilla chips, some photo booth pictures we took at Johns little sisters wedding, a few birthday cards from friends and an old postcard of the sea.

Not sure if anyone remembers but when we toured the house before signing a lease, the kitchen looked a little different. There was a weird old stove top burner mounted in a cabinet on the wall that now houses a proper gas range. Our landlord also built the side counter unit next to the stove to give us some more storage. She asked if we had a preference for the counter top and I suggested butcher block so that the surface could be multi-functional since space is limited.  John and I installed some small wood shelves above the stove for additional storage for everyday things like spices, coffee and tea.

This area of the kitchen also looked a little different before we moved in. There was a half wall here next to the office door that housed a vintage oven, which looked awesome, but took up way too much valuable room, so the landlord removed this for us as well. Since the new gas range was both a stove and an oven the wall could now be removed.  We installed this open shelving (previously used in our office closet in SF) and chose a raw wood this time around for the shelves because we wanted to mimic the look of the butcher block counter top adjacent and make things feel a bit more rustic.

The awesome free standing yellow cabinet is something we brought with us as well. My mom bought this for me ages ago and it’s something we have moved with us from apartment to apartment over the years. I believe its European because most European kitchens come empty and you have to supply everything yourself, even the kitchen cabinets. She has a similar one herself but sadly hers never really sees the light of day and is used for storage in the garage. But we really love ours and its such a unique piece, even the cheery yellow paint job is original. It is perfect for an old house like this with so little storage!

Hiding behind the floor length curtains on this wall is a small wall mounted leaf table. But if we are being honest here…I think we have only used it once or twice and most times we just eat at the trunk/coffee table in the living room. But it’s another small space saver. As a side note about the curtains, having all the curtains be white is really helpful in such a small space because it allows in so much light and really just feels like the space just keeps going.

Now that we are settled I thought that it is about time I start sharing some pictures with you of the house! As you know our house is a very tiny “2 bedroom” of about 520 sq ft. You can imagine that if you squeeze two bedrooms into 520 sq ft, nothing is very big. When we moved here from SF we left behind a massive (probably roughly 1000 sq ft?) apartment with loads of storage. We downsized all of our belongings cutting everything in half (if not more) and moved into our new tiny but awesome house. The small space was a bit of a challenge when it came to decorating but I think we have done a great job with what we have and you would never really guess that its as small as it is. Earlier this week the city was doing some construction in our back alley so the power was out for most of the day, I decided to use that time to start photographing the house (at least some of it). Today I’m gonna share with you the living room and then maybe tomorrow I will share the kitchen.

The living room (as seen from the front door). its a fairly narrow space. click to see larger

For such a small space, Peeps has waay too many beds. That red striped pillow in the corner is one of them.

The living room as seen from the kitchen

A detail shot of the shelf we installed above the door to house our collection of cameras.