Less Is More: How a Berkeley Couple Turned Their Tiny Home into a Creative Haven

For Nola Burger, her home’s interior design is never done. “We’re always editing and moving things around,” says the Berkeley-based book designer. While she originally purchased the California bungalow in 2001, Nola lived elsewhere. She moved back in 2017. Since then Burger and her husband, Thomas Harder, have refined the home’s interiors patiently and organically over time. “Doing things slowly over time is a better approach to interior design for us.” 

The biggest change was a complete remodel of the kitchen. “It was a glorified former back porch that was probably turned into a mediocre kitchen in the 70s,” says Burger. “When you were in the kitchen you were completely cut off from the rest of the house. It had no actual connection to the house or the backyard.” Burger tapped architect Andrew Dunbar of Interstice Architects to help realize her vision. Burger loves the simplicity and craft of Japanese design, so Dunbar created a design with an engawa, which is an extension of the house into the outdoors. “Our architect designed a large overhang over the backyard deck so it feels like the kitchen extends outside.” 

The interior of the house is also filled with intention. “I want everything to be great as far as how it looks, feels, and functions,” says Burger. “If it doesn’t hit all those notes we don’t bring it into the house.” Additionally, the house is filled with pieces that were custom made by Harder, whose woodwork runs the gamut from custom carpentry to furniture design and building. A particularly special piece is a tansu—a traditional Japanese storage chest—which is the focal point of the dining room. “I had a giant beam of ash lumber that I’ve held onto since the 1980s. A friend of mine saw it and asked if he could use it to make a traditional tansu. He started it, but sadly he passed away, so I finished it for him. The entire tansu is made out of one piece of wood. I estimate that we both put 350 total hours into it,” says Harder. 

Harder and Burger’s home is a place of thoughtful curation and intriguing design objects—including their unique collection of vintage Waring drink mixers. 

“The closets that I built in the bedroom are four sliding tansu-style doors that have over 100 pieces of wood for each door. They’re made of salvaged Port Orford cedar and the frame is salvaged Monterey cypress from the Presidio in San Francisco,” says Harder. 

The couple’s home was technically a two bedroom, but they opted to convert the second bedroom into a library and home office for practicality’s sake. 

The 120-square-foot backyard cabin is the newest addition to the house. “We knew we needed a little more space. Just another room—a place to work or for houseguests.” The duo designed it together by creating mini models out of foamcore. Then Harder got to work building it from scratch. “Everything is homemade. There’s no off-the-shelf wood.” The siding is reclaimed old growth Canadian red cedar, whereas the interiors have a bamboo floor and a reclaimed redwood ceiling. The desk and bed, which are built-in, are made out of poplar with reclaimed redwood for the fronts and drawers. The windows are strategically placed up high or very low for privacy without sacrificing light. “We approach the design of our home organically. Like us, it’ll continue to change and grow, which means there will always be a project on the table that we’re itching to get started.” 

Start an eye-catching collection of color with this set of four tins, perfect for adding both storage and a little flair to the shelves.

This bold pendant light takes retro, curvaceous design and updates it into this modern version, with four colors to choose from.

Add immediate design flair with a simple trick: beautiful design books. Ellsworth Kelly’s monochromatic Chatham Series is sure to catch the eye of art fans and novices alike.

Can’t build your own tansu chest? Find a vintage one instead, like this Japanese three-piece chest of drawers from One Kings Lane made of delicate kiri wood.