Our Small House Tour

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

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Today I am so delighted to be able to to take you on a little house tour today… and when I say little house tour, I mean just that. My house is little. There will be no McMansions on this tour.

But just because our house is small, doesn’t mean that it can’t be beautiful! Sure, small spaces can be a challenge, but they also lend themselves to feeling naturally cozy and home-y, and that is perfectly fine by me!

We live in a three bedroom townhouse that is around 1300-ish square feet, and while it is a lot roomier than the one bedroom apartment that Donnie and I lived in when we first got married, it is definitely not large by any stretch of the imagination. But don’t take my word for it– come on in and see for yourself!

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

I actually did a post recently with all of my tips for getting organized when you live in a small house, so today’s tour will be more pretty pictures and pointing out features that have made our small spaces more efficient.

One common thread in many smaller homes is that one space ends up serving multiple purposes. Our entryway and kitchen, for example, are really one area that we’ve separated into two distinct zones with furniture placement and accessories.

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

(In this shot you can see our kitchen sideboard peeking out… it really is just right next to the entryway!)

A small kitchen is almost a given in a small house, and ours is no different. It was also an ugly and out of date kitchen until last summer/fall when we gutted nearly everything and put in brand new cabinets, countertops, sink, faucet, and backsplash.

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

{Utensil Holder, Hexagon Tray, Cake Stand, Pitcher, Stool, Rug}

I recently did an entire post about how we organize our small kitchen, and while it is a challenge, it is definitely not impossible!

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!
Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

{Utensil Holder, Hexagon Tray, Pitcher, Flower Pot}

Many times in a small house, you have to get creative. I struggled with our teeny tiny pantry for years. It barely held anything, and no matter how many times I organized it, it always seemed to end up a mess because there was simply not enough room to hold everything we needed. When we renovated the kitchen, then, we decided to do a swap. We moved the pantry to our front closet, which was bigger and just a few steps away…

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

{Kitchen Aid, Containers, Spice Jars}

…and we turned the old teeny tiny pantry into a mini mudroom to hold a few coats and bags.

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

The rest of our coats hang in a little nook in the basement, which is perfect since we almost always come in through the garage anyway. One of the biggest things I’ve learned from living in a small house is that you don’t have to follow the house’s “rules”– just because the house “says” that something is a coat closet, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work better as the pantry! 🙂

Our main living area is another example of an area where we’ve made multiple “rooms” out of one big space. It houses our dining area, living room space, and space for the Cs’ toys, and again, we’ve used furniture placement and accessory choices to divide the room into these three zones.

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

Our little dining room is up first. I recently switched around almost all of the art in our main living space (and when I say “I,” I mean that I decided where they would go and Donnie hung them because he is the best ever 😉 ), and my 2 DIY “In Christ Alone” canvases migrated over to the dining area from the living room.

I love decorating my grandmother’s hutch for all occasions… especially when blue and aqua are involved. 🙂

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!
Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

You can see the couch peeking out in the bottom left corner of this shot. It acts as our divider to split the living and dining areas.

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

I try to keep the furniture minimal in this space so it doesn’t feel over crowded. I actually have a chair that I’ve been meaning to reupholster for, oh, over a year now (Oops!) that will go where the yellow and gray chair is. Maybe I will get around to that eventually! 🙂

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

This is the third gallery wall I’ve put on the big living room wall in 3 months. Maybe this one will stay for a while… I know Donnie is rooting for it so he doesn’t have to move more frames around! 🙂 It is actually an outside wall, but the builders decided not to put a window on it, and I so wish they had!

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

Finally, the Cs’ toys also reside in this space, and because of that, I purge them often! We would easily be overrun by toys if we kept everything they brought in the house, and even with all of my purging, I still feel like they’re everywhere sometimes!

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

{Storage Unit, Bins (Similar), Bookplates, Chair, Tool Bench, Floating Shelves}

One of my biggest mistakes when we first moved into the house was to paint all of the walls dark colors. Small house + dark walls = cave-like feeling! Ick. We’ve gradually painted all of them lighter, and I think it feels much more serene… like in our master bedroom, for example:

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

{Floral Pillow, Aqua Pillows, Bedding, Lamp, Headboard, Board and Batten}

Our vanity and sink is actually in our bedroom rather than in the bathroom part of the master suite, but framing in the mirror and painting the builder grade vanity helped make it less of an eyesore.

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

{Mirror, Jewelry Stand}

And though our closet is fairly small to be used by two people, putting in a closet system rather than using the single bar and shelf it came with made a huge difference for our clothes organization.

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

The Cs share a room, and they actually love it… most days. 🙂

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

To maximize space in their room, we tried to go vertical as much as possible… with the bunk beds, the toy storage…

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

…and even their little art station.

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

Finally, my favorite room in our house and the last one in our small house tour…

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

My home office + craft space! When the Cs moved into the same room, I got the 3rd bedroom as my girly workspace, and I absolutely love it. I have my simple desk area where I work on projects and stage photos.

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

And lots of storage! Again, we tried to go vertical and use the wall space as efficiently as possible since this room is not large.

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

{Silhouette, Laminator, Baskets (similar), Bins, Bookshelves, Cube Unit}

We recently gave the closet a little refresh, too, so that it is neat and tidy and easy to find what I’m looking for. We have now used the IKEA ALGOT closet system (now called BOAXEL) in three of our closets, and it has made such a difference for storage!

Love this beautiful small house tour! So many creative ideas for small spaces! Click over to the post to take the full tour!

So that’s the small-but-mighty tour! 🙂 Thank you so much for visiting!

34 Comments

  1. Celebrating Sunshine says:

    I just love your house, Abby! It looks clean, bright and happy. I especially like the colors in your office. So much inspiration here! 🙂

  2. This was such a sweet tour. Our home isn’t that big either, thanks for sharing! You gave me so many new ideas!

  3. Jenni@DitchingOurDebt says:

    Oh my goodness, you are not kidding when you say that your pantry was small! I think it’s great how you made the best of your entryway being so close to your kitchen and swapped the storage spaces to make it more efficient. I have 3 boys, and I’m nowhere near as organized as you – you’ve really done a lot with your space!

  4. Naomie Moore, Castaic, CA says:

    Absolutely stunning! Be very proud of yourself! I live in a 1187 sq. ft. Home with no mudroom, basement or pantry. Love your style. Keep creating! Love love love!

  5. carriedbyhope says:

    Beautiful! I love, love, love your hexagon tiles and the tiny mudroom from the old pantry is brilliant!

  6. I LOVE your house! We are moving soon into a smaller home (better school district, more land and lakefront!) and was nervous about it looking cluttered and dark, but you are inspiring me that it can be totally amazing! I need to work on not bringing all my clutter with me and making all the spaces multi-functional like you’ve done. You rock!

  7. stacyrisenmay says:

    I have always loved you house, especially your kitchen. That hexagon tile makes me swoon! Thatnk you so much for being on my tour!

  8. Celebrating Sunshine says:

    Your house looks so clean, bright and happy, Abby! I especially like your office. Some great ideas here. 🙂

  9. Sarah Steckler says:

    What a beautiful home!! Love the mint colors and I’m especially geeking out over the organized pantry! Something I’m always working on 🙂 Thanks for the great photos!

  10. Christina @ Ladybug Home says:

    Thank you for sharing your beautiful home with us. I love the teal tones and whites. Your home feels so light and relaxing. I think the issues with toys is our biggest challenge. Are your boys good at putting their toys away after play? I think it very clever to adapt your closet and pantry to suit your family needs.

  11. Rachel Gault (@rachelgault) says:

    Your house is the cutest! I love how perfect and organized everything looks, and that craft wall is incredible!

  12. natashainanutshell says:

    I love how bright and beautiful everything is and how you’ve utilized your space! That pantry is so cute and your workspace, so happy!

  13. Kim Foster says:

    I like your house a lot. 🙂 I can relate to small home living…I bought a condo when it was just me and my toddler daughter, and we wound up becoming a family of four and living there for ten years! Yep, lots of purging and organizing went on all the time, and I remember the biggest thorn in my side was nowhere to put the coats! (I didn’t have a basement like you.) Thanks for sharing.

  14. Lindsay Eidahl says:

    Abby- your home is always fun to peek inside! Your kitchen makeover was inspiration for me to keep plugging away with ours! 🙂 Love all the spaces in your home! Happy to be touring with you this week!

  15. Your home is absolutely stunning Abby! I love that all the colors are so cohesive. My last house was 1800 square feet and I think small spaces teach you how to organize and be creative! I loved pouring over your pretty pictures!

  16. How beautiful, Abby! I love your house and it is so fun to see how amazing all of the hard work you’ve done is paying off. That kitchen is beyond (still!!)!!! Also can we just talk about how on point your photography is? Every shot is so clear! Well done friend!

  17. Sam @ Living The Dutch Dream says:

    Abby, I simply adore your home! You have done such a great job using the space you have and creating an inviting beautiful home. I live in the Netherlands where many of the homes here are on the small side – my home is no exception. We are also working with what we have got and trying to make the most of it.

    Thanks for sharing, your post really inspires me to carry on making steps to create our perfect home.

    1. justagirlabby says:

      You are TOO sweet, Sam! Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the tour! Have a wonderful week! ~Abby =)

  18. Your small house tours are so encouraging to me because I always thought your home was HUGE from your pictures! When you posted about your little kitchen, I saw the headline and thought “Ya, right” but it really is and it’s BEAUTIFUL!

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Aw, thank you Amanda. You are the sweetest! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! ~Abby =)

  19. Celina james says:

    Love your pics!

  20. Nice usage of space, for a small house it looks really big

  21. Hi Abby, I enjoyed your tour. It gave me some ideas for my small home. Also, I am interested in your “In Christ Alone” canvases. Did you do a blog post on them? I didn’t see a link. Thanks!

  22. Ludavia @ NiftyBetty says:

    I love everything about your home! The colors are so welcoming. We have a small space too. So, seeing that there is a way to make it look spacious, gives me hope for mine.

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Aw, thanks so much Ludavia! You’re too sweet! Have a great rest of your week! ~Abby =)

      1. Ludavia @ NiftyBetty says:

        You bet! The weather has been warm here on the west coast. It has been making me want to do some projects (like making faux window shutters for the outside windows, making window flower baskets, painting a room, etc.). But, small baby steps. Our home was built in the 70’s. It needs a facelift! You’ve inspired me! Have a great weekend!

  23. Meredith @ unOriginalMom says:

    You have done such an amazing job transforming every nook and cranny of that house! It’s all so beautiful, functional, and welcoming.

    Side note – I think you should do a DIY window project!! When we were first married, we lived in an end unit townhouse a lot like yours and the long exterior wall didn’t have any windows so it really made the whole space feel like a cave. I convinced my hubby to cut a hole in the wall and add a double window, and OH MY GOSH it made such a huge difference!! I think it really helped set apart our unit among the many townhouses that are always on the market when we went to sell it. And the best part is it really didn’t cost us much more than the price of the window itself – my husband and his dad did all the work. (Unfortunately it was literally two months before I started blogging, otherwise it would have made a killer blog post with amazing before and after shots!) Anyway, it’s no small task but it is doable. Just in case your life isn’t crazy enough and you’re looking for a big project to tackle 😉

    1. justagirlabby says:

      NO WAY! I always just assumed that our HOA wouldn’t allow it, but now I want to check! Did you have to go through a lot of steps to get it approved or anything? I’m so curious now because I would love to do that! Hope you’re having a wonderful week, Meredith!

      ~Abby =)

  24. What a pretty house you have! So pretty, and organized! Love the colors too! I think I might have to look into that closet system to organize my girly home office/craft space!

  25. A Fantastic Mess says:

    I just want to say, I LOVE your use of IKEA furniture and décor everywhere. My boyfriend and I are moving in about a week into our very own 1200 sq ft townhouse (from about a 400 sq ft space) and this post just rang so true to me, including, you guessed it, the IKEA furniture. Love the feeling of your home!

    1. justagirlabby says:

      Aw, thank you so much! I do LOVE Ikea! Good luck with your move!

      ~Abby =)

  26. Big fan of using affordable IKEA funiture. I recently moved to a new house, and really like the use of white interiors mentioned in your blog.

    1. justagirlabby says:

      I am too!

      ~Abby =)

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