10 Must-Follow Rules For Making a Small Space Beautiful

Roger Davies

Who could be lucky enough to live there?" That was Janet Korff's thought 25 years ago when a wrong turn led her down the wooded driveway of the cottage she now calls home. "At the time, I would have never guessed that one day I would be that person," she says. But a quarter-century later, the house unexpectedly hit the market, she and her husband, Larry, made an offer, and Janet suddenly found herself back down that same driveway—her driveway.

Built in 1890, the quaint Redlands, California, home was originally the gardener's residence on a large estate and had long gone unoccupied. "The house itself was unlivable," she says. "The other interested buyers wanted to tear down the property." But despite the home's neglected state, she couldn't resist those roses enveloping the house.

As soon as the "sold" sign hit the flower-filled

front yard, the Korffs began to sow seeds of change in the small home. "It took us six weeks of working around the clock," recalls Janet. "But when we moved in, it felt so good to have done every bit of it, save some electrical work, ourselves." Here, find out how Janet cultivated every single inch of her precious 970-square-foot home.

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