A 400-Sq.-Foot Bunkie Gave This Austin Designer Permission To Go Daring

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Domino Reno: Before + Afters, DIYs, and Advice From the Pros

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Claire Brody has a knack for seeing the potential in small areas. When the Austin-based inside designer and antiques purveyor first laid eyes on her future residence, the run-down 1,000 square-foot bungalow wasn’t an apparent selection for her household of 5. 

At that time, Brody and her husband had been seasoned renovators, having refreshed and bought a number of properties within the space whereas elevating their three younger children. “Most people would have torn it down,” she says of the Nineteen Forties two-bedroom home. But the couple hatched a plan, in the end including 1,800 sq. toes to extra comfortably accommodate their brood. 

Next, they turned to the bunkie within the yard. Originally, the construction had served as a carport however had fallen into disrepair. “I wanted the exterior to be complementary to the main house. The goal was to make it seem as if it had always been there,” explains Brody, “So we used the same skinny lap-siding often found on old houses here,” together with a lick of olive inexperienced trim to match. 

Inside, the garage-turned-studio’s modest 400-square-foot format turned a design testing floor—beginning with the toilet, which was added together with a kitchenette. “Because the back house is its own structure, I felt more confident to not hold back,” she says. 

Her place to begin: tomato purple and powder blue checkerboard tile from the Concrete Collaborative x Domino collection. Inspired by sun-soaked coastal locales, the hand-pressed cement designs imbue a heat, artisan high quality (however, not like customized, are able to ship). From there, Brody scored a stone vainness high on Facebook Marketplace, marbled material from Spoonflower, and unlacquered brass {hardware} that paired seamlessly with the tile for an elegant cottage vibe. 

“I’m truly a collector at heart. All of our closets are stacked full of things,” says Brody of her intensive assortment of antiques and classic curios, which she sells on-line and peppers into her initiatives. (A favourite purchasing hang-out, the sprawling Round Top Antiques Fair, is simply an hour drive away.) Brody layered in storied items to floor the area—from panorama oil work to ceramic desk lamps. The petite eating desk got here collectively from a stone remnant she discovered that match completely on high of a pedestal base she had in storage. “It’s always nice when something you’ve been hoarding can finally be put to use!” says Brody with amusing.  

To steadiness the darkish wooden paneled partitions, she painted the ceilings an ethereal mild blue and coated the flooring with citrus inexperienced. The orangey-red window trim and kitchen cupboards tie neatly again to the breezy rest room tile. Meanwhile, the comfy velvet upholstery and plush carpets improve the cocooning impact (the piped sleeper couch even sneaks in additional friends as wanted). Like every part within the studio, it’s all in regards to the combine. “I like to create interest by putting unexpected pieces together that don’t feel like they should go together.” 

For now, the bunkie acts as a visitor home for Brody’s sister, however the designer hopes to finally rework it into an artwork studio and workspace. Just one other reminder of all of the promise a small area can maintain, when you have a imaginative and prescient.

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