After separating from my husband, I moved into my parents’ converted garage, a roughly 150-square-foot casita. The bunk bed had to stay for future family visits, but I still needed the place to feel comfortable and functional.
Asking Alex Pevtsova, a local interior designer, for help felt a bit extravagant when I was trying to save as much as possible. I admired her work, though, and interior design has never been my strong suit.
She started with what was already working
Sending her photos and a video of the space had me biting my nails with nerves. I imagined her being horrified by the tiny room and existing furniture. Her first observation, though, was how functional it already was, which not only was a kind response but also made it easier to talk about the problems. The main thing we focused on was storage, and creating a dedicated space for many of my things.
My purse and keys needed somewhere to land, and my clothes needed more shelving. I also didn’t have a spot for paperwork and filing. Then there was the question of where to keep tools and gift-wrapping supplies, the kinds of things I’d shove in a junk drawer. Talking through those needs helped explain why the space felt so overwhelming.
In a room this small, she explained, “It’s important to reduce visual clutter when possible, and that’s why storage solutions offer the best value.”
Courtesy of Camilla Richardson
My $600 budget took us to Ikea
When I told Pevtsova I wanted to spend around $600 and hoped she wasn’t cringing at my minuscule supplies budget, she confidently suggested Ikea. We talked through my needs and looked around before designing a wardrobe with the store’s planning software.
The cabinet we planned would hold clothes and bags, with a shelf around waist height for work papers and organizers. I liked that I could close the doors and put the mess out of sight.
When she asked what I liked visually, I said light wood, and she agreed it was a good choice for keeping things brighter. I felt more confident with every decision we made. Maybe my years of believing I had poor taste were just insecurity.
When we finished, the Ikea wardrobe came to about $650 with the shelving I needed, more than my entire shopping budget. We talked through ideas and found a similar wardrobe on Amazon for $229.10 and a $120 cube storage unit with fabric bins, which Pevtsova approved as I shared links later that day. Bathroom storage cost $43.63, bringing the total to $392.73.
Our roughly two and a half hours working together, including texts about Amazon finds, cost $375 at her $150 hourly rate. With my purchases, the mini redesign was about $768.
Pevtsova pointed out that buying something you hope will work can get expensive if you’re replacing it a few months later. She saved me time and money by helping me figure out what I needed first.
Courtesy of Camilla Richardson
It took time to put things together, but I’m thrilled
Going the more budget-friendly Amazon route had its drawbacks. The fit delivery driver couldn’t get the boxes to our porch because they were so heavy. I couldn’t carry them either, so I opened them outside and brought in the wooden pieces one by one.
My soon-to-be ex-husband is super handy, and I was pretty insecure about building something like this for the first time in so many years. The directions were terrible, but I kept going partly because I wanted to know I could figure it out, even when I realized it was taking an unreasonable amount of time.
It did take an entire Saturday, but I was so proud when I finally finished. There are a few imperfections, but I like how it looks in the space.
Once I could start putting things away, I removed the awkward hanging cloth shelf and moved so much clutter into the cube unit’s bins. There’s room for more storage on top of the wardrobe, too, and the space feels more open now.
My mom also removed the grommets from the existing curtains and closed the holes at no cost. I love how they look now, and they block more light when needed without those openings at the top.
Hiring a designer for such a small job might seem silly, but I needed that help getting started in this tiny space. The room works for what I need right now, and getting my belongings organized has brought some peace during a pretty chaotic time.
