This Tiny Cottage Breaks One of the Biggest Small-Space Decorating Rules – And It Makes the Rooms Feel Even More Inviting

There’s a long-standing idea that when it comes to decorating a small home, you have to keep things light, keep things simple, and, above all, don’t put anything too big in there. Lovall Cottage, a petite retreat tucked away in Sonoma, California, clearly didn’t get the memo. Instead, designers Austin and Alex of Hommeboys went all in on the small footprint, wrapping the walls in painted wood paneling, filling the rooms with rich earth and jewel tones, and making space for substantial furniture, vintage finds, and plenty of wonderfully tactile materials.

'People can often be afraid of using color and appropriate furniture scale in small spaces,' the designers say. 'We find the opposite often ends in a better overall result.' And they have a point. Rather than trying everything to make the cottage look bigger, there’s bespoke stone, intricate millwork, ornate wallpaper, and vintage lighting, all layered against the earthy colors and natural materials inspired by the landscape. The overall effect is part traditional cottage, part contemporary California, and, most importantly, it's a home that feels as though it has been gathered together over time.

For all its old-world charm, the cottage has a secret: there was nothing old about it to begin with. The house arrived as a 'plain shell', completely devoid of the fun details that might give a cottage its character. With no original paneling, period millwork, or decorative features to uncover and restore, instead, Austin and Alex had to create the sense of history themselves. 'Our design intent was to add what was missing, to give the home an identity and make it look like it had been there for many years,' they explain. So they set about giving the house the kind of details that suggest they have always been there. 'We leaned into the small footprint, opting to create cozy spaces with rich, moody colors, artful stone and lots of texture,' they add.

Designed for Alex's aunt, who was also an interior designer, Alex and Austin saw the space as somewhere that allowed her to showcase her impressive collection of antiques and art. 'We wanted the home to be a jewel box for her, where every room was both inspiring and effortless. Elevated, but comfortable,' they say. They looked to traditional English cottage style for their design cues, but stopped well short of pastiche.

Vintage furniture and Alex's aunt's collections bring genuine history into the rooms, while contemporary furnishings, sculptural shapes, and more unexpected materials keep things feeling fresh. 'We enjoyed creating a juxtaposition between that more traditional style and some of the more modern touches in the home,' they explain. 'Overall, it results in a space that feels really collected and authentic.'

'The size was everything!' say Austin and Alex, and in Lovall Cottage, that meant treating the compact footprint as an opportunity to make each room feel distinct and considered. The designers didn't want the spaces to feel like scaled-down versions of larger rooms; they wanted them to have their own atmosphere. So they clad the entire home in wood paneling before color-drenching it in rich earth and jewel tones, creating a backdrop for the furniture, art, and antiques. 'This provided a welcoming, enveloping space that was the perfect vessel for art and artful furniture pieces to shine,' they add.

Inspired by the surrounding gardens and vineyards, they took tones from the landscape beyond, drawing on the earthy, organic hues. 'The color palette leaned heavily into a base, with walls and flooring of rich earth tones, and accents of deep jewel tones throughout,' they continue.

'The cottage is full of natural stone, carved wood, and the hues of the Sonoma landscape. They were also thoughtful about furniture scale rather than automatically opting for the smallest pieces available. In the snug, generous upholstered seating makes the room feel like somewhere to properly snuggle into, while the dining area is anchored by a striking custom red marble table surrounded by rush chairs. 'The overall goal was to create a home that felt like an embrace,' they add.

The bathrooms are where Hommeboys really let themselves have some fun. Their small footprints became an invitation to go more decorative, not less, so they brought in bespoke wallpaper, custom-carved stone sinks, intricate millwork, vintage finds, and unlacquered brass fittings to give an unusually rich level of detail to these tiny rooms. 'Working with smaller footprints, we wanted each element to be truly bespoke and unique,' the designers explain. 'We wanted it to feel like you were stepping inside a little jewel box, into a sense of timelessness and enduring, romantic design.' It is a deliberately indulgent approach, but the scale of the rooms means that even the most unexpected details feel intimate rather than overwhelming.

The two bathrooms each interpret the idea in their own way. Downstairs, botanical wallpaper, a fluted vanity, and a custom marble sink give the space that romantic quality, while upstairs the primary bathroom turns moodier, with deep blue wallpaper, a carved stone basin, and sculptural lighting. Much of the cabinetry was created in Haus of Hommeboys, the designers' own millwork studio, allowing them to push the design far beyond what a standard vanity might offer. 'The millwork is the standout detail for us,' they say. 'Because we have our own cabinetry and millwork shop, we are able to ensure our designs are executed exactly, which allows us to really be creative and detailed with what we design.'

At the heart of the semi-open-plan living space sits the snug, dining area and kitchen – which all work hard to perfect the balance of old and new. A stone table acts as the centerpiece to the dining space; its sturdy proportions set against the murky painted paneling and textural chairs, while an oversized woven pendant brings a softer, more organic note overhead. It is a traditional eat-in area in spirit but not remotely stuffy, with contemporary shapes and tactile finishes giving the room a more relaxed feel – exactly the kind of mix the designers had in mind.

The kitchen also pairs traditional cottage-style cabinetry with some decidedly contemporary thinking. The rich burgundy joinery has the look of painted furniture, but instead of individual inset panels, the designers used a cut detail to keep the cabinetry from becoming visually overwhelming in the compact space. A deep walnut countertop adds a rich counterpoint, while unlacquered brass hardware was chosen to 'patina and grow more beautiful with time and use'. 'The kitchen really captures the mix of modern and traditional English design,' they add. 'It shows the subtle ways we were innovative throughout the project to make big design work in a small space, as we did with the custom cabinetry.'

Upstairs, the primary bedroom is moody yet wonderfully restful. The turned-wood bed is the room’s obvious showstopper, while layers of linen, wool, and a deep berry throw keep it feeling soft rather than overly styled. A small vintage wooden chair and dresser add to the mix. Nothing feels too matched, too precious or too obviously decorated; instead, the combination of natural materials, rich color, and collected pieces gives this compact room the feeling of somewhere that has been assembled over time. 'The result is a space that feels very true to the client, while still being an elevated version of what had been before.'

The primary bathroom turns a tiny footprint into an excuse for even more decorative drama. Blue-gray botanical wallpaper envelops the walls, creating a moody backdrop for the chunky carved-stone sink and ornate vintage mirror, while sculptural sconces add a little glow. 'The space surrounds you in deep oceanic blues and continues the primary suite experience of serenity and luxe detailing,' say Alex and Austin.

Perhaps that’s the most useful lesson here. Small spaces don’t necessarily need fewer things; they need the right things. A beautifully made piece of furniture, a dramatic wallpaper, a vintage mirror, or a slab of stone can give a room far more character than a carefully edited collection of space-saving pieces. Lovall Cottage may be tiny, but its designers have given it something that can't be measured in square footage: the feeling that there is a story behind every room.

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