I took a mini break from sharing more Small Space Squad home tours, mostly because life has been quite tumultuous lately. But it’s time to get back on track and share more inspiring and amazing small spaces! Today’s tour is a good one, too: meet the bright, bold, and colorful life of Rachel, aka blogger behind The Crafted Life. I know this is a slightly different aesthetic than you usually see here on the blog, but I was SO excited to share Rachel’s space. To me, the best way to describe the color palette is juicy thanks to saturated pops of aqua, yellow, and pink. Let’s take a tour!
Home Tour: Inside The Bold & Colorful Home of The Crafted Life
Who: Rachel Mae Smith of The Crafted Life
Where: NYC
Number of years spent living small: 2+ years in NYC, but also lived in Philly, Portland, and SF before this so I’ve been living small for about 8 years
To start, tell me your story about how you ultimately ended up choosing a small space?
For the most recent move of mine, I was living in Philadelphia, my (then boyfriend, now fiancée ) was in New York. I’m self employed, so because my job is flexible with location, it made more sense for me to move to New York. Rent is expensive, so the opportunity to live small is just one that comes with living here. There’s something so comforting and cozy about city apartments.
What is your biggest challenge in your small space?
I work at home, so my 650 sq ft apartment is a home for me and my fiance as well as my office, craft studio, and shop storage. He also started working at home during COVID, so things are tight. My biggest challenge is having to move furniture for every photoshoot and having to overhear all his zoom meetings.
What is your favorite part about living small?
Living in New York is the best. I love the design challenge of it all and searching for the items that fit perfectly in a very specific space.
What is your number one hack for living small?
Don’t forget about wall space! If I were to have just purchased a desk (instead of building my own), then all the storage above my desk would’ve been lost. Use both floor and wall space if you have it!
Do you ever feel pressure to be “minimalistic” or feel guilty about buying things you don’t “need” for your home?
Not really no. Life seems too short for that. I’ve tried to follow the rule that if my fiance or I don’t love something, then there’s no reason to have it for our home. If we do, then we try our best to find space, especially if it brings us joy.
What have you learned about yourself by living small?
There’s a lot that I can do without. And that I clearly love my fiance if we’re able to share a desk all day, everyday.
What’s your number one storage hack?
The more organized you are, the more space you’ll have. When organizing a space, it helps to pull everything out of the space, get rid of what you don’t want/need, then put back in order (I’m fond of ROYGBIV). Give everything a space or container to go into, otherwise you’ll just misplace it and clutter will happen all over again.
Who is your biggest small space inspiration?
Love heymaca’s colorful home!
What do your friends and family say about your choice to live small?
They’re able to stay with us for free when visiting New York, so no complaints yet!
Thank you so much to Rachel for giving us a peek into your amazing home! Be sure to follow Rachel’s Instagram feed for more inspiration (and great DIYs).
You can find even more Small Space Squad Home Tours here:
- Kristina Rasmussen
- Wild and Pine
- Arielle Vey
- Anne Sage
- Jess Ann Kirby
- Sara Toufali
- The Gold Hive
- Den For Our Cubs
