Imagining life in a much smaller home can be fun — but this week we talk with a real family of four (plus a giant dog) who actually did it. They moved from a large builder-grade house into a 1,200-square-foot cottage bungalow with just two bedrooms and a single full bathroom. Designer Shavonda Gardner offers candid, practical insights about the many trade-offs involved: who in the family resisted the change the most, the everyday space challenges that persist, and the creative solutions they implemented to make the smaller home work much harder. We also discuss how to design thoughtfully for compact homes (spoiler: lighter paint is only part of the answer), how to broaden and diversify where you find design inspiration online, and a few other updates — including a preview of our new furniture collection and what a recent study revealed about Millennials and homeownership regret.
You can download or stream the episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify — or listen with your preferred podcast app. Use this page as a companion for links, notes, and photos referenced on the show. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may need to open the post in a browser to see the audio player.
What’s New
- We’re sharing a few sneak peeks of our new furniture line. Above you’ll see some of the carefully selected color samples for several wood pieces — each hue took several rounds to perfect. Below are photos of raw, unfinished pieces as they arrived from the factory before stain and paint were applied.
- Follow along on Instagram for behind-the-scenes coverage while we travel to photograph the full collection in North Carolina. You can also check out our Instagram Stories highlights for more sneak peeks and process shots.
- If you’re curious about the study we mentioned on the podcast, a widely reported summary appeared on CNBC under the headline “Almost 70% of Millennials regret buying their homes. Here’s why.” The original research was conducted by Bank of the West.
Shavonda Gardner
- Check out Shavonda’s blog, SG Style, and follow her on Instagram at @sgardnerstyle to see more of her design work and real-life projects.
- She recently began a column for Design*Sponge titled “Celebrating Roots,” where she explores identity, culture, and design through a personal lens.
- Shavonda also helped highlight why it’s important to diversify the creators and voices you follow on platforms like Instagram — a topic that has been covered in outlets such as Domino, and she wrote about it on her own blog as well.
A special thank-you to Universal Furniture for sponsoring this episode. They’re offering a giveaway for $5,000 in living room furniture; for details look for Universal Furniture’s YHL promotion. Podcast listeners have had great luck in past giveaways — fingers crossed it could be you this time.
Key takeaways from the episode that may help if you’re considering downsizing or designing a smaller home:
- Expect emotional and logistical trade-offs: Downsizing affects storage, privacy, and routines. Talk through who will adjust more and make a plan for shared and private spaces.
- Make every square foot count: Multifunctional furniture, intentional storage solutions, and flexible layouts help a small home feel larger and more livable.
- Don’t rely only on paint: While lighter colors can help, layered lighting, scale-appropriate furniture, texture, and thoughtful contrast all play major roles in creating a welcoming, roomy-feeling space.
- Diversify your inspiration: Follow a range of designers and creators to avoid a narrow feed. Different perspectives spark fresher ideas and solutions that can translate into more personalized interiors.
- Be patient with process-based projects: Designing and producing a furniture line, for example, involves many iterations — from selecting color samples to photographing finished pieces on location — so expect multiple rounds before arriving at the final collection.
Thanks for listening and reading — we appreciate you joining us for this conversation about making small spaces work harder and smarter for real families.
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