“Love grows best in little houses, with fewer walls to separate. Where you eat and sleep so close together, you can’t help but communicate. Love grows best in houses just like this”

From the time that Brian and I were married we have lived in some form of a “little house”. As students we lived in an apartment and now we live in an even smaller apartment, a studio of sorts. After my husband finished his undergrad and before graduate school we accepted a job in Las Vegas. Not knowing where to live and wanting to be close to family we worked out a plan with my Sister and Brother-in-law. The house they had recently bought had a carriage house (studio type apartment above a garage). The previous owner had used the space fore a photography studio. We took on the task of turning the space into a studio apartment for our little family!

The first step was a renovation. I always have these awesome ideas and then my husband gets roped into carrying them out. I always help A LOT but someone has to feed and take care of the baby right 😉 He’s a trooper.

Here is a list of the things we did to make the apartment totally awesome!

1. Painted the whole thing (there was seriously 5 different colors of paint in the place!)

2. Framed in the “kitchen” and instal shelving

3. Frame in a tiny room for Jack. We knew it was going to be a studio apartment but we also were realistic with the fact that at the time we had a 6 month old. He needed a room separate from the commotion for nap time and bedtime.

4. Rip out carpet and install plywood floors!

#4 is my favorite! Have you seen the tutorials floating around Pinterest for this? Well I couldn’t wait to try it out! Let me tell you it was A LOT of work! WAY more then I expected. I’m not going to sugar coat it! But in the end was it worth it? YES! and Would I do it again? YES (just don’t tell my husband thats the plan)!

Lets start with the finished product  I seriously love this little space!

“Work Space”

 This is where all the Lucy and Doyle creating takes place! You can see my sewing machine peaking out on the ground. Usually my desk is covered in fabric, ties, velcro, labels and anything else I might need! 

Our Kitchen
I LOVE the way that open shelving makes a kitchen feel! My Grandparents had open shelving in their kitchen growing up and my parents do now as well! We painted the walls with a black chalkboard paint which brought the whole look together! I love seeing all of my beautiful dishes! Can you tell I have a little bit of an obsession

These are the jars that my Grandma and Grandpa had lining their kitchen shelves!

I found this hutch at habitat for humanity in LA and drove it all the way back to Las Vegas. It was the perfect piece for all of our kitchen gadgets! Now I just need some cute knobs any ideas?

Our “family room” area

(missing curtain divider that I had taken down to switch it out for something different )

(crazy bookshelf that needs some serious organization!)

Jacks Play area.

Although most of the time he ends up in the family room area with all of his toys. I think this little spot in the house is my favorite

Well I think I covered it all! I am excited about the way that our little Studio turned out! It has been perfect for us and has kept me busy getting everything set up just right! We put a lot of hard work into this place and it’s been fun to see how it all came together!

Hope you enjoyed a little peak into our space! Stay tuned our all the renovation pictures!

-Ashley