Brace yourself, this is a goooooood one. I’ve been lusting after Christina Higham’s home for a VERY long time after discovering it on Instagram. You may already know her as the designer behind Sun Soul Style, but if you don’t know her work already, you should now! Christina’s home is the definition of California casual to me. It’s layered, textured, and an eclectic mix of cozy decor elements. I absolutely love it! Let’s peek in and take a tour.
Home Tour: Inside The California Casual Home of Sun Soul Style
Who: Christina Higham, aka Sun Soul Style
Where: San Francisco, CA
Number of years spent living small: Living small in this apartment for 5 years
To start, tell me your story about how you ultimately ended up choosing a small space?
My husband Daniel and I met and live in San Francisco — and small space living kind of comes with the territory of living in a city. We always had a dream of living near the ocean, so when we found our apartment in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset (1 block from the beach) we knew even though it was tiny we had to take it! We like to joke that we have an “ocean view” because if you stand on our deck, you can see a small sliver of the Pacific!
What is your biggest challenge in your small space?
The biggest challenge recently has been my husband and I working from home together during shelter-in-place! Luckily we have an office, but our walls are thin so it can be tricky when we are both on conference calls! When the weather is nice, I try to work on the couch on our deck!
What is your favorite part about living small?
My favorite part about living small is you are sort of forced to not accumulate extra stuff because you simply don’t have space for it! I’ve adopted a strict one-in-one-out policy for my closet (as has Daniel for his surfboards!), which definitely discourages me from buying things that I don’t really need or love, but also keeps my closet edited and filled with pieces I truly love.
What is your number one hack for living small?
If we haven’t used/worn it in 6 months — it’s out! Also utilizing space in creative ways – we have a low platform bed (CB2 Drommen bed- highly recommend!) but I found some great fabric storage bags that slip neatly underneath, which I use to rotate out summer and winter clothes. I also love using floor poufs for extra seating – while we can’t fit additional chairs in our living room, poufs can be pulled out when we have extra guests over.
Do you ever feel pressure to be “minimalistic” or feel guilty about buying things you don’t “need” for your home?
100% yes! I really try to be strategic about what I buy for our home – if it doesn’t have a “place” things will immediately start looking cluttered. Also, I have learned to prioritize quality over quantity – I would rather invest in a beautiful hand made piece of pottery than a janky knick knack.
What have you learned about yourself by living small?
To be totally honest, I have some “hoarder-ish” tendencies. Living small has taught me that less things actually makes me feel calmer – when things are organized and have their place I have way less anxiety.
What’s your number one storage hack?
Hidden storage! When you’re living in a small space, things can easily start to feel cluttered when on display – so we tried to opt for storage options that hide our clutter. For example in our office, we made a plywood storage bench for our sporting and camping equipment. We also “hacked” the IKEA Besta unit to create a floating credenza below our TV – which hides items like books, media equipment and other knick knacks. I also love using woven African baskets and hampers for storing items like books and workout equipment.
Another storage hack is utilizing wall space – I hang my hats up the wall in our bedroom, and we put hooks in basically every closet we have to hang bags, brooms, and towels.
Who is your biggest small space inspiration?
I love the #smallspacesquad feed! Also @apartmenttherapy, @ikeahackers, @readtealeaves, @smallspacedesigns, @whitneyleighmorris.
What do your friends and family say about your choice to live small?
Our friends and family love our little beach pad – and I think when they visit and get to hang out in our quaint little neighborhood by the beach, they understand why we’ve chosen to live small!
Thank you so much to Christina for giving us a peek into your amazing home! Be sure to follow her Instagram feed for more inspiration.
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
Hi! I was wondering in the bedroom picture there is the Besta IKEA cabinet! Do u have a link to that? I cannot find it anywhere