It must have been tempting for the owners of this 1,000-square-foot Mediterranean cottage in San Anselmo to add more space to their home. Not only do they have a young daughter, their neighborhood is filled with inspiring examples of what other people have done by putting on additions to similarly sized homes. But, according to Alison Davin, their designer, this couple chose to keep it cozy. “Adding on to the house was never a consideration,” she says. “They wanted to keep it small.”

The home received a clean, modern coat of fresh, white paint and was populated with an assortment of primitive antiques.