justin and michelle demers (formerly of j’m now part of stillmotion) live just outside of toronto, canada. their home is a tiny 604 square foot space that houses the couple and their two kitties (stellar and guinness) and two dogs (emery and drift). their home is located on a quiet street the ends with fields and protected green space. the evergreens in front of the home are actually larger than the whole house! the space is filled with skylights, which help to make it feel bright and open. in the morning, the couple opens the skylights to listen to the birds chirp away as they eat breakfast. (fun for the cats too!) (see more images of their tiny house on flickr!) {thanks, justin & michelle!} -amy a.
[our style is a mix of clean design (justin) and comfort (michelle). with only 604 square feet, and essentially all of it being one big room, both of us really have to love what lives in our house, which results in a careful curation of what we display at any given time. previously owned by a carpenter, the 'bones' of our house were already outfitted with custom cedar woodworking, amazingly incorporated into every nook of our house.]
[photo above: because our house is so small, we've had to come up with many creative storage solutions. one of which is this red (ikea) cabinet that stores our dishes, boardgames, and our dear puffin from grand manan island.]
[photo above: instant snaps of our adventures around the world.]
[photo above: originally we had drafted up a plan to create a custom staircase out of wood boxes that could then be used as book shelves, but we've grown to love our dangerously steep wood staircase. our stump is from a company out of toronto called urban tree salvage, and is a salvaged tree that was cut down by the city.]
CLICK HERE for more of Justin & Michelle’s sneak peek!
[photo above: attila (gnome). guinness (kitty). our sofa had to be comfortable enough to support many afternoon siesta's, but still match the overall style of our house.]
[photo above: chalkboard pantry doors was our creative solution to solving the bland build in pantry doors. they now serve as our place to write each other love notes + daily chores.]
[photo above: salt and pepper grinders. a recent addition from the latest one of a kind show in toronto.]
62 Comments
That fridge looks more narrow than a standard bottom freezer fridge, is it? If so, what brand and model is it? Looks like it would be great for smaller kitchens.
This is my favorite sneak peak in a long time. Great use of space and color!
I am in LOVE with that yellow entertainment stand! So cool!
beautiful! i love the pops of yellow everywhere!
I LOVE this sneak peek! Justin & Michelle did a great job all around with this space.
(I particularly adore the, “I promise I will never…” artwork. I assume it was DIY? In any case, I’m going to shamelessly copy yours and make my own for my office–customized with my own overused fonts, of course! :)
that yellow credenza… that blue photo wall… that hilarious typography poster… love/want it all.
WOW! I have 900 SQ FT and I don’t think I have this much space. I thinks it’s time for me to make a few changes in the house.
This sneak peak makes me want to see the exterior of the house…
I wouldn’t own a gnome, but this one looks great in the room, perfect balance for such clean-lines, dark sofa.
matt–not sure of their model but we have the summit ffbf28 fridge for smaller spaces. it’s taller than normal, and narrower. it’s also counter-depth so it’s great in our small kitchen.
http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/FFBF28.html
Okay, I absolutely ADORE the wall art declaring the intention to NEVER use Hobo, Comic Sans, or Papyrus ever again! That is just fabulous beyond words. :-D
i love the raw edge on the turquoise wall. and i can’t believe that red cabinet is from ikea!
ha! the type poster is hilarious.
A great looking space. Love it. I hope you siged our typography pledge poster before you framed it!
LOVE the red IKEA cabinet, and the two colorful paintings on the wall next to it! Colorful and cheerful house!
Dream house! I love it. So very much!
So beautiful – and so nice to see some great design in my own backyard! Yay Canada!
the i promise print made me laugh!
Love this sneak peek–I just moved in to a 650 square foot apartment, and I’m excited for inspiration on how to decorate a small space. Also love the puffin–I worked on with puffins on Petit Manan island, (Grand Manan’s little brother island) for a summer!
Love this–especially the sectional! Where is it from??!
what a great space – love all the bright pops of color. who are the paintings from? they’re lovely.
LOVE the red IKEA cabinet, and the two colorful paintings on the wall next to it! Colorful and cheerful house!
I too love the sectional! Where did you purchase it?
justin, michelle! love it! love the little peek into your home! <3
Ditto the sectional love! I’ve been looking for one just like it for my living room! Please share! =)
nice colors.. what color is the blue by the computer desk?
Amen to the sans comic sans!
Those white kitchen chairs are GREAT. Let me guess … you got them from a great little shop in Spain. Whenever I ask someone where they got something I love it ends up being from “some great little shop in …(insert exotic faraway country here)”
The gnome side table is hilariously wonderful.
YES! My hubs just about died when I made him read that art piece decrying the terrible fonts.
Also, I believe I’ve spied with my little eye those photo ropes at photojojo if I’m not mistaken. Very cool to see them in context. Love it!
I love this, especially the blue wall, yellow sideboard and splashes of red, beautiful!
I have so many ideas for decorating my office now! I LOVE the chalkboard cabinets and the snapshots on clips in front of the blue wall. Those are so creative! I have a ton of photos that I want to put up but I can never think of a creative way to do it. So thank you for the inspiration!
Fonts! Hurrah! We must be diligent!
great colouring!
we like the ikea cabinet as well, but can’t seem to find it on the website, can you tell us what it’s called please? it would be lovely in our new house (and affordable!)
Beautiful home, modern yet cosy. I love the colour scheme and chalkboard doors-it’s so unusual!
Yes, please share the sectional info! Maybe it’s time for a non-hideous sectional round up?
Did the couple make the font poster? Can I purchase a print? I’d love to give one to my graphic designer fiance!
I would also buy that print from you. Although suppose it would become a lie if it were recreated. :p
Wow! Great space and that font poster is just too amazing! I read that people could make their own screenprint of it at Pull + Ink, an AIGA Miami event. Can they be purchase anywhere? I’d love to have one for my office!
The red cabinet appears to be the Linnarp, with the glass doors atttached.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00118250
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70150270
Haaa!!! I agree with everyone – the font poster is genius!!!
And the home is simply adorable!
that poster at the end of the stairs was a major chuckle. this house rocks! >great great find grace -
I need that sofa! Did anyone find out what it is? LOVE!
the red cabinet is perfect. and i agree, love the font poster.
Great photos, great house! Love the color variations! I need that red ikea piece :)
This 604 sq. ft. space done so nicely is bolstering my confidence that it will all turn out well, I am midway through renovation of my new (to me) 690 sq. ft. house :)
I second the suggestion to round up sectional sofa suggestions! Especially ones for smaller spaces!
woot woot CANADA!! I adore that poster, the yellow entertainment unit and that poster along with everything else!
cute house! I would love to know where the yellow entertainment unit came from. kudos!
YES! Please give info on where the yellow entertainment center came from!
thanks for the info on the cabinet amymadeline!
thanks everyone for your comments!
it’s really neat for us to have our home on d*s, and to read the wonderful comments from everyone.
our sectional is from style garage – http://stylegarage.com/products1/sofas-sectionals/jane_bisectional/jane-bisectional.shtml
it’s a really large sectional, but for us it serves as a guest bed when our friends stay over (when the back cushions are removed, it’s really quite comfortable to sleep on)
our poster is a simple pledge from lure design – http://www.luredesigninc.com/pledge/
our red and yellow cabinets are from ikea – http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90134104
we didn’t install the middle door on the yellow cabinet so that we could use it for our electronics.
our dining room chairs are kartell dr. yes chairs – http://www.stylepark.com/en/kartell/dr-yes
i believe our fridge is a ‘normal’ width. it’s actually quite wide and short (had to fit in a pre-determined space). it’s a samsung fridge.
hope that helps!
- justin & michelle
I need in a bad way that poster. That is my mantra! Where can I find/buy one of my own?
THANK YOU for the link to the poster source. I just noticed that that they have lines at the bottom of the pledge for signatures and witness signatures, too. Genius AND hilarious!
I’d love to know what paint is on the bluish photo wall if you have a moment. Fantastic sneak peek!
what a rockin’ pad. love. it.
what about the dining room table? it’s so simple, and compliments the look of the chairs in a subtle way. where is it from?
I looooove the simple pledge poster!! thanks for the link I will be getting it for my new home office! yeah! :)
I have LOVED (as on obsessed over, talked about to anyone who will listen) Just Demers photography. Now that they have teamed up with StillMotion I am dying on the East coast!
It is so inspiring to see the home of someone you professionally respect.
Now seeing their design method, I’m thinking “Yeah, I could be friends with this great couple!”
This post was very inviting, thank you!
Yay for Justin and Michelle!! Their home is beautifully well-designed and spacious. Definitely a great example of how you don’t need much space to have an amazing home.
thanks again everyone!
paint is sherwin williams # SW 6954 – resonant blue
dining table is a one of kind from a local metal-worker
the paintings are also from a local artist, who we worked with many summers ago.
- justin & michelle
Hi Michelle
I lived in Toronto and would love to know who was the carpenter who did the wood work in your place. Just bougth a new house in Toronto and need someone to do that type of work.
Thanks
Marie
I would have loved to see more of your charkboard kitchen cabinets!!! I think about painting mine…
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