Sleepy Hollow Home in Small Cool Contest

A Sleepy Hollow house, built in the 1930s as one of many cabins in what was then a rural resort for Los Angeles-area residents, has been entered into a contest on a Web site called Apartment Therapy touting a concept called "small cool."

The Small Cool Contest is in its tenth year and the site describes it as a way of "showing the world that small homes are among the smartest and most stylish around."  People can submit their residence, if it is under 1000 square feet, with an encouragement to "show off your own brand of compact coolness with photos of your home along with real-life tips for living well in your small space."

At a little over 900 square feet, the house owned by Lena and Jason Sekine, who live there with their two young children, on Rosemary Lane fits the bill, and this is after the living space was expanded by some 60% less than a decade ago by the previous owners, who added a second floor bedroom and made many other changes. 

The Sekines have maximized the space, while employing a personalized sense of style due largely (oops, pardon the pun) to the inspiration of Lena, who is an artist, utilizing her talents in and out of the home, including an otherwise drab fence along Carbon Canyon Road that she livened up with whimsical artistic designs.

In describing the house, Lena wrote for her submission that,

What I love most about our home is that it feels cozy like a cabin in the woods. Although we live in the suburbs, our little historic area called Sleepy Hollow is nestled in the canyons surrounded by nature. Our home has many windows and glass doors that let in natural light and the view of our green surroundings.

With regards to her tips for living in a small space, she offered these helpful hints:

1. Have pieces of furniture that can be moved around easily. That gives us the flexibility to use our space as we see fit. For example, when we have a dinner party, we bring up the lounge chairs from our sitting room to the living area to create a conversation space.
2. Clean and declutter constantly. We try to only keep what we really need. Since we have children, we go through their clothes and toys often and give away things they have out grown.
3. We use colorful rugs to create breaks between areas. It is a great way to section off space.

 Submissions end on Monday, with voting for favorites continuing until 13 June and voting for the grand prize winners announced on the 17th and 18th of that month.

To see the Sekine's submission and others and to vote for your favorite, please click here.