I've been following Carmella forever. My old house was tiny, and I her account has always been an inspiration for minimal, small-space living. Her account and the now-defunct magazine "Cottage Living" (RIP).
This is a sweet home with a sweet story. I smiled at the description of the boys' hobbies -- drawing, playing guitar, and plane replicas -- they sound like they're from a different era. I wonder where they hid the laptops, gaming consoles, and phone chargers? Or maybe that's just my experience with teenage boys...
I know that she has a space above the boys’ closet for electronic consoles, including a shared computer, PS3, and DVR, + router and modem, but I also think that this family was pretty low on screen time. Hoping my kid is playing guitar and drawing when he hits his teenage years ❤️
Hi Erin, thanks for bringing this up! I like having the opportunity for the conversation to develop further in the comments. While the drawing, guitar, and aviation interests were definitely the strongest of our boys' individual interests (which have been interesting to see revealed in their adult lives - our youngest recently sent us a video clip of his latest on guitar, our middle one flew an actual airplane over our house for the first time a couple summers ago, and our oldest's early drawing abilities have crossed over into film editing, which now employs him full time), they did have electronics, too. There was a desk in the loft with a TV above it that served for watching movies, sports, etc., and as a monitor for a desktop computer and their PS3, which were tucked into the top of the closet, as Laura mentioned. Our goal and guideline for them (and us) was less screen time, more real-life time. More outdoors, less indoors. It was muddled and imperfect and we went through many iterations along the way, much like all of parenting and life requires! For charging/storing, I hung wall files (the same color as our walls) in a couple places in the great room for housing/charging smaller electronics/phones.
I can ask Carmella, but I think the economy of space is in the all-in-one kitchen-dining-living space. I live in 690, so the way I extrapolated from my own home was that if I eliminated 25 square feet and (half my foyer) and gave the excess plus my galley kitchen’s square footage to kid room, you’d end up with rooms not unlike Carmella’s.
I've been following Carmella forever. My old house was tiny, and I her account has always been an inspiration for minimal, small-space living. Her account and the now-defunct magazine "Cottage Living" (RIP).
Oh gosh, I LOVED Cottage Living too, and I even got pretty far in interviews for a job working there. (Glad I didn't move to Birmingham though!)
Hello! Thanks for following for so long. Oh how I loved Cottage Living, too! Some of my favorite small houses were in that magazine.
Love this! And I’d join a Zoom.
I'd join a Zoom book club, too!
Yay!
Noted! I've got at least one more reader who is interested, so I think we'll do it!
I would be too if not too late!
This is a sweet home with a sweet story. I smiled at the description of the boys' hobbies -- drawing, playing guitar, and plane replicas -- they sound like they're from a different era. I wonder where they hid the laptops, gaming consoles, and phone chargers? Or maybe that's just my experience with teenage boys...
I know that she has a space above the boys’ closet for electronic consoles, including a shared computer, PS3, and DVR, + router and modem, but I also think that this family was pretty low on screen time. Hoping my kid is playing guitar and drawing when he hits his teenage years ❤️
Hi Erin, thanks for bringing this up! I like having the opportunity for the conversation to develop further in the comments. While the drawing, guitar, and aviation interests were definitely the strongest of our boys' individual interests (which have been interesting to see revealed in their adult lives - our youngest recently sent us a video clip of his latest on guitar, our middle one flew an actual airplane over our house for the first time a couple summers ago, and our oldest's early drawing abilities have crossed over into film editing, which now employs him full time), they did have electronics, too. There was a desk in the loft with a TV above it that served for watching movies, sports, etc., and as a monitor for a desktop computer and their PS3, which were tucked into the top of the closet, as Laura mentioned. Our goal and guideline for them (and us) was less screen time, more real-life time. More outdoors, less indoors. It was muddled and imperfect and we went through many iterations along the way, much like all of parenting and life requires! For charging/storing, I hung wall files (the same color as our walls) in a couple places in the great room for housing/charging smaller electronics/phones.
Is there a floorplan of this lovely house online anywhere? I live in a 665 square ft apartment and can't work out how all this fits in!!
I can ask Carmella, but I think the economy of space is in the all-in-one kitchen-dining-living space. I live in 690, so the way I extrapolated from my own home was that if I eliminated 25 square feet and (half my foyer) and gave the excess plus my galley kitchen’s square footage to kid room, you’d end up with rooms not unlike Carmella’s.
Hi Nina. I posted a quick hand sketch of the layout awhile back in my Instagram stories. You can find it in the Q&A highlight!