72 Austin Home Spring 2015

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The CasitaSQUARE FEET: 600 / NEIGHBORHOOD: HYDE PARK

INTERIOR DESIGNER: CRAVOTTA INTERIORS

There is a common design philosophy that dictates that small spaces should be white because that color helps the space feel bigger. But interior designer Mark Cravotta took a slightly different approach when furnishing the 600-square-foot casita that sits at the back of his Hyde Park home.

While the casita does have white walls (“I’m not one who feels like a small space needs to be painted white in order to make it look bigger,” he says. “That was not the goal with the white paint. The goal was to reflect more sunlight”), Cravotta injected high-impact color wherever he could. And the result is a rich and playful space that seems bigger than it is because of it. (The guesthouse can be rented on a nightly basis via Airbnb.)

Bedding in the lone bedroom (there is also a loft with a twin bed, pushing the capacity to three) is orange, red and gold. Six colorful antique Moroccan rugs add interest to the floors while brightly embroi-dered pillows on the chairs in the living room take your eyes away from the surroundings. Dramatic artwork adds a final colorful touch.

“Against a bright, sunny white background, there’s a lot of punch,” he says. “The space is not luxurious in spatial proportion, but it’s luxurious in its appointments within the space constraints.”

When Cravotta renovated the casita, he replaced impractical shelving with a cabinet that now contains the refrigerator for the kitchenette.

“The smaller the space, the more important every consideration is,” Cravotta says. “You can’t afford to be flip about any of those decisions because everything becomes important in terms of its usage and in terms of how it interacts with the traffic flow as you are moving through the space.”

“I’m not one who feels

like a small space needs

to be painted white in order

to make it look bigger,”

Cravotta says.Even though the casita is just 600 square feet, Cravotta uses high-impact colors in both the living area (top) and bedroom to keep the place as rich and playful as possible.