A Peek Inside: indie home tours with Jill from Small Stump

It’s been a long time since we’ve had A Peek Inside someone’s home, so are you ready to go on a tour this morning? Wipe your feet and follow me into Jill Pilotte of Small Stump’s home then.

1. How would you describe your designing style?

natural, simple, handmade

2. Tell us about your home. Is it an apartment or house. Is it newer or a refurbished older home? Did you completely redo it or just add some new paint?

We live in a tiny brick house by the beach. My husband’s grandfather built it. Before I moved in the wall between the kitchen and living room was taken out. We have painted several times but no other major renovations have been done. I really want to redo the kitchen next though!

3. Pick a few of your treasures and share what’s the special about them to you.

Oh boy. I have quite a few treasures! I love my loyal loot log bowls- I think they are the perfect combination of woodsy and refined. I also have a set of custom stuffed dog sculptures made by Sian Keegan that make me smile every time I see them.

4. What was your favorite project in decorating and designing your house? What would you do differently?

When I moved in the walls were yellow and dark brown and there was a leopard print rug and a futon. My favorite project was just minimizing and adding lots of natural and vintage touches to the house.

5. What’s your favorite room and why?

I love the wooden table in the dining room. This spot gets the most light in the house and is nice and warm in the afternoon sun. I take many photos on this table with the white brick wall backdrop.

6. Any current or upcoming home projects?

Nothing in the works- the kitchen is in bad need of an upgrade so that will probably be next. But I have a fantasy of moving to a farmhouse in Vermont so we may be saving up for that.

7. Who are your furry friends?

Pee Wee is the big baby- a three year old cattle-pointer, and Bernie is the little guy- a four year old corgi-cattledog. They have similar markings so everyone always thinks they are related. They follow me around the house so they make it into a lot of photos.

8. Tell us about your studio? Is it separate from your home?

The studio space used to be in the hallway (now this area is Matt’s drumming/computer/video game workshop). I moved into a separate studio (…garage) in March with my Studio Choo partner, Alethea. The studio was also built by my fiance’s grandfather and is pretty raw. It took about a month to clean out the space (we’re still working on it!). We love to display flowers and supplies on the wooden supports and shelves.