This Small But Impactful Sunshine-Yellow Five-Person Family Home In Berkeley, California, Has A Strict No-Gray Policy
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A San Francisco design studio remodeled a 1,343-square-foot, three-bedroom Berkeley home for a family of five, using vivid yellow cabinetry, saturated green walls and midcentury-inspired furnishings. The designers added kitchen storage by extending cabinetry into the dining room while keeping the existing layout.

Interior design studio Spearman Spaces remodeled a 1,343-square-foot Berkeley home for a family of five, using sunshine-yellow kitchen cabinets, green bedroom walls and midcentury-inspired furnishings while keeping the existing layout. The project shows how its designers addressed storage and circulation in a compact three-bedroom, two-bathroom home without opening walls or relocating windows and skylights, according to a report by Livingetc.

The home belongs to a couple and their three children. Livingetc reports that the clients wanted to reject the gray finishes often associated with remodeled homes and create an interior that felt warm and personal. Jihan Spearman, founder and principal designer of the San Francisco-based studio, said the family sought a home that felt “happy, warm, and infused with soul.”

The designers worked within a tight timeline and focused on making the existing rooms more functional. The family wanted to preserve the home’s layout, so the project did not involve opening walls or moving windows and skylights. Instead, Spearman Spaces rethought storage and movement between rooms, drawing on the house’s midcentury architecture to guide furniture, materials and details.

In the kitchen, cabinetry was painted Sherwin-Williams Friendly Yellow and paired with patterned marble and distinctive hardware. A skylight and window bring daylight into the compact room. To add storage without changing the floor plan, the designers continued the kitchen cabinetry into the adjoining dining room, creating a hutch-like built-in for serving pieces, appliances and a coffee station. The dining room uses walnut and cherry woods, black leather chairs and geometric forms.

At a glance
reportWhen: Reported by Livingetc; the source does…
The developmentLivingetc reports on a Berkeley family home’s redesign by Spearman Spaces, centered on bold color, midcentury influences and added storage within the existing floor plan.

Color and Storage in a Compact Home

The project’s practical challenge was to accommodate daily family life in a relatively small home while preserving its existing architectural shell. Rather than relying on structural changes, the designers used a built-in extension between the kitchen and dining room to give household items a dedicated place. That choice illustrates a specific approach to small-home remodeling: adapt cabinetry and furnishings to the available footprint when the clients do not want major layout changes.

The color scheme is also central to the reported design brief. Yellow cabinetry gives the kitchen a strong visual identity, while a saturated green wall in the primary bedroom is intended to make that room feel restful and connected to the garden. In the living room, patterned fabrics, colorful furniture and low-slung upholstery support a more casual family gathering space. These are design decisions described by the studio and Livingetc, not evidence of measured effects on comfort, property value or energy use.

For readers considering a similar renovation, the report offers a concrete example of how storage can extend into an adjoining room without moving walls. It does not provide a project budget, construction specifications or before-and-after measurements, so it cannot establish how much the changes cost or how much storage they added.

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A Remodel Around the Existing Plan

Livingetc presents the house as a first family home for a couple and three children. Its reported size is 1,343 square feet, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The studio’s design direction combined the clients’ preference for expressive color with the home’s midcentury architectural character.

The Livingetc report credits photography to Suzanna Scott and the design to Spearman Spaces. It describes a living room oriented toward large windows and geometric elements near the front entrance. The dining area and kitchen connect, allowing the cabinetry extension to serve both rooms. In the primary bedroom, the designers used a deep green wall alongside warm wood and woven yellow textiles; the window faces a tree-filled backyard, according to Spearman.

The source focuses on the interior design and does not identify the home’s address, purchase history, construction date or renovation cost. It also does not state when the work was completed. Those details are not necessary to understand the reported design choices, but they limit what can be said about the project’s timeline and financial scope.

““The clients expressed a desire to completely reject that ‘flipper gray’ aesthetic; instead, they wanted a residence that felt happy, warm, and infused with soul.””

— Jihan Spearman, founder and principal designer of Spearman Spaces, quoted by Livingetc

Project Costs and Completion Date

Livingetc’s report does not give the renovation budget, the project’s completion date or a detailed account of the construction work. It does not quantify the storage gained or describe how the revised circulation performs for the family over time. The source also does not provide independent assessments of the design or the family’s experience after moving in. The published account is primarily a project profile based on details and comments from the designer.

Further Project Details Not Reported

The source does not announce a next construction phase, follow-up assessment or planned change to the home. For now, the reported development is the completed interior redesign as presented by Livingetc. Any further information about the project’s cost, completion date or long-term use would need to come from the homeowners, Spearman Spaces or additional reporting.

Key Questions

Where is the home, and who lives there?

The home is in Berkeley, California, and was designed for a couple and their three children, according to Livingetc.

How large is the house?

The report describes it as 1,343 square feet, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

What was the main kitchen storage change?

Spearman Spaces extended cabinetry into the adjoining dining room, creating a built-in for serving platters, countertop appliances and a coffee station. The existing layout was kept.

Which colors define the redesign?

The kitchen uses Sherwin-Williams Friendly Yellow on its cabinets, while the primary bedroom features a saturated green wall. The living room also combines colorful furniture, fabrics and decorative accents.

Is the renovation cost or completion date known?

No. Livingetc’s report does not state the project’s cost or completion date.

Source: rss

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