Small Space, Big Ideas

"I was so tired of white walls," says Amy Cotteleer. A marketing executive who spent 300 nights on the road last year (for clients like Motorola and the Gap), she longed for an antidote to all those pleasantly generic hotel rooms when she moved into this 692-square-foot house. "That's why I have loud wallpaper, bold colors, and gold chain-mail curtains," she explains.

In decorators Alexandra Loew and Lauren Soloff of the L.A. firm From the Desk of Lola, she found kindred spirits who encouraged her to go for design elements most people wouldn't attempt in a small space—like black walls and an 84-inch sofa. "I didn't want to feel like I was sitting on Barbie furniture," says Amy, who is six feet tall. In the end, those risks resulted in a gutsy and feminine interior—epitomizing the very woman who, after a night away, can't wait to put the key in her own door.