Musician Scout Willis almost didn’t tour the charming French Normandy house in Los Angeles (featured in AD’s March issue) that she now calls home. “It’s really small,” she remembers her realtor telling her. “But I think you have to see it.” The 1920s storybook house measured in at just 1,000 square feet—not much bigger than the average two-bedroom apartment in New York City—and she instantly got butterflies, realizing quickly that this was the one.
Now that she’s moved in, this petite footprint can be easy to miss, thanks to the masterful use of every square inch—a specialty of Roman Alonso from the AD100 firm Commune, whom she tapped for the interiors. “I love a little space,” confesses the designer. “I live in an 850-square-foot apartment and before that I lived in one that was even smaller. I have a good way of working my way around it. I was able to advise her on how to maximize it.” One overarching piece of advice? Edit. Says Alonso, “Buy fewer things, but make sure those things are high-quality.” Here are a few more tips and tricks he employed to maximize the impact of Willis's surprisingly compact cottage.
Find a cocktail table that does double duty
Because there was no room for an indoor dining table, Willis worked with Commune—and their fabricator Miguel Rojas—to create a custom cocktail table that could also serve dinner. “Her friends use big floor cushions to sit on the ground around this table,” Alonso explains of the blue quartzite and cherrywood piece. Eager to be involved in the process, Willis, playing Goldilocks, went to the Rojas’ studio herself to make sure the height was just right for having dinner.
Go with built-ins galore
To add storage and display surfaces in the living room, Alonso made use of what he calls the “dead spaces” in each corner. “You couldn’t really put a piece of furniture there,” he explains. Instead, he fabricated triangular wooden storage units, clad in Judson glass, with a hand crafted look that feels in sync with the 1920s house. Meanwhile, on the left side of the sofa, they worked with Miguel Rojas again to create a side table that could double as a crate for Grandma, Willis’s dog. “It has mesh on the doors and it's like a little house,” explains Alonso.
Carve out storage
In the petite bathroom, Alonso says, “it was an exercise of using every possible inch of space.” Here, they even broke through walls to create cubbies and additional storage, recessing two furniture pieces into the wall. “She picked the profile of the legs, and we drew them to her specifications,” he explains of the highly collaborative process.
Live outdoors
With limited indoor hang-out space, Willis uses her charming grounds as a sort of outdoor living room. Working with AD100 firm Geoponika, they inserted a brick-clad sunken lounge, bed, and dining area into the garden, teaming with unconventional plant life to create a surrealistic, en plein air annex for hosting and chilling alike. “Since I couldn’t have a sunken conversation pit in the house, I thought, I'll just put one outside,” recalls Willis, who is always considering how conversation flows. “My friend called it flirty architecture—if I’m having a party, people at the big table can talk to people on the daybed lounging or the people in the conversation pit.”
Use your walls
To make the most of the small, galley kitchen, Willis and Alonso mounted as much to the walls as possible. With custom shelving and hanging racks, she could display her collection of Le Creuset cookware and ceramics. These storage solutions keep things within arm’s reach while also lowering the cabinetry requirements. What’s more, the kitchen tools themselves pack a visual punch when left out in the open.
.jpg)
