2 People and 2 Dogs Share This Small, Sun-Filled SF Studio
Adrienne Breaux
·7 min read
"The West Elm sofa and IKEA PINNTORP table are perfect for a small-sized apartment," explains Xiao He, who lives in this studio apartment with her partner and their two dogs. Credit: Xiao HeCredit: Xiao He
"This is Zero and Totoro's favorite spot at home," Xiao begins. "They love watching what's happening on the ground, so we put the pillow from the sofa down to the floor to make them more comfortable. They LOVE sitting on it, watching dogs and kids running around in the neighborhood, and sunbathing. This faux fur pillow is from Target and works great as a dog bed as well." Credit: Xiao HeCredit: Xiao He
"We found this IKEA lamp in the recycle room of our previous apartment building, so we happily took this lamp home. We love the soft and diffused light from the shade. It's perfect for lighting up the room at night," Xiao writes. Credit: Xiao HeCredit: Xiao He
"This West Elm sofa is so comfortable that Zero and Totoro are obsessed with sleeping on it. And the best thing is: the cover of this sofa is machine washable!" Credit: Xiao HeCredit: Xiao He
"The monotype print on the left is from my friend Yameng, and it's titled "Doggie". I love it!" Xiao explains of the entryway. "The key holder is from IKEA, and the black iron pig is from a store in Brooklyn that I bought back in 2019. The little black pig has been the door guard for every one of my homes ever since. The navy ceramics pan is from Caraway and works amazingly for Korean beef rib stew. The pot on the right is from All-Clad and is great for everyday simple boiling." Credit: Xiao HeCredit: Xiao He
"It has become a yearly ritual for our family to get these Japanese watercolor calendars from the Paper Source. Every month, there's a different fish or crab, and it's delightful to change the fish every month. The bedside lamp is also from Target, and the stool is from TJ Maxx, I think. When we have guests over for dinner, it becomes an additional chair. The study desk and chair are both from West Elm. On it, we have ceramic cups my partner and I made back in New York's Togei Kyoshitsu ceramics studio, an Anthropologie bowl, and a Venchi chocolate box that is too beautiful to throw away." Credit: Xiao HeCredit: Xiao He
"The acrylic shelf from IKEA is my favorite," Xiao admits. "It is very lightweight and airy on the wall. Also, I've been using the Crate and Barrel Acrylic stand to hold my smaller and irregular-shaped drawing. It gives volume and luminosity to the otherwise simple colored pencil on paper drawing. On the shelf, we have a picture book that a friend gave us as a birthday gift, a Shakespeare Sonnet I've had since college, and a free-to-take Moby Dick record I found outside of my art studio." Credit: Xiao HeCredit: Xiao He
"On the left is my friend Xiaoyao's etching print. After seeing the Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles, where historic hotel rooms, closets, and bathrooms were transformed into art galleries, I thought it would be fun to put artworks in the bathroom! When I got these etchings from Xiaoyao, I immediately knew this one was going to be on the bathroom wall. Beside it is an IKEA clock that reminds me to be time conscious in the morning. And below it is an IKEA knob with a MUJI string bag to hold the hairdryer." Credit: Xiao HeCredit: Xiao He
Xiao He, her partner, and their two adorable dogs share this sunny 425-square-foot studio apartment in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood. And it’s surprisingly airy despite being the home of two humans and two pets. Being organized helps.
“We both really like the KonMari organizing principle: the Japanese tidying-up method that encourages you to keep only the items that spark joy,” Xiao writes. “I used to be bothered a lot by the amount of objects I had, and was overwhelmed every time we moved. After reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, our family went through a tidying festival, and donated bags after bags of clothing and objects. Now we have become a lot more conscious of what to keep in our home and what to buy, and more thoughtful of using space. For small apartments, we use a lot of vertical spaces. This helped us a lot when we were downsizing to this 425-square-foot studio apartment from an 800-square-foot apartment.”
"When we took the painting back from an exhibition I had, my partner said, 'Why don't we keep it in our own home?' So, it ended up staying in our apartment. Initially, it was a little awkward to stare at my own works, but luckily, they work out well with the wall space and add a lot more color to our home." Credit: Xiao HeCredit: Xiao He
But don’t think that their home is empty or cold. “We both love the minimalistic and organized lifestyle but also want our home to have warmth and our personal touches,” she writes. “We want to surround ourselves with objects full of memory and artworks from our artist friends. We went for a beige and neutral color palette for the furniture and large areas such as bedding. For smaller objects, we love bold and bright colors as accent pieces. So, we have a yellow teapot, an orange water boiler, and a navy fry pan for the kitchen. They make the space immediately more lively and fun!”
"My favorite moment is when the four of us (my partner, our two dogs, and I) are all relaxing on the small loveseat sofa at the end of the day." Credit: Xiao HeCredit: Xiao He
Xiao describes their home’s style as “artistic, minimalistic, bright, cozy, and airy,” and says they love how multifunctional the studio is. “[W]e eat, sleep, read, relax, and play with our dogs here. The floor-to-ceiling windows and the city view outside the window serve as an extension of the interior space,” she writes.
“Our home contains mostly IKEA furniture, secondhand West Elm furniture that we ‘inherited’ from the previous tenant when we were still in New York, and gifts from friends. They traveled quite a long way with us to the West Coast! My partner and I are both big fans of small and well-designed spaces. After living in Silicon Valley for two years, we decided to downsize our apartment and move up to San Francisco to enjoy city life. I am a painter, and my partner is an engineer. We enjoy walking our dogs, Zero and Totoro, in the city, exploring the coffee shops in the neighborhood, and going to the Roxie Theatre on Friday night.”
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