An Airy Lofted Bedroom Makes This Artists’ Home Feel Much Grander Than 750 Square Feet

It’s not so often that you find couples that are equally interested in trying out their significant other’s hobbies—but that’s just how Danielle Hutchens and Dana Seagraves operate. When Hutchens got really good at making ceramics, she began to show Seagraves the ropes. At the same time, he was schooling her on how to surf. “I’d be the beginner, he’d be the teacher, and then we would come home and switch,” says Hutchens. And then, Seagraves started to get really good, really fast, thanks to the fact that the pair have a pottery wheel at their California home. “We just started filling up the shelves with stuff that we were both making and decided to create a company out of it,” shares Hutchens. From their Topanga Canyon bungalow, they founded their small-batch studio, Canyon Ceramics Co. 

The 750-square-foot upper story is what Hutchens and Seagraves technically call home. Downstairs, they converted an old bedroom into a full-on ceramics studio outfitted with both an electric and gas kiln. Further down the hill, past the large passion fruit tree, is a separate building where Hutchens paints and does occasional graphic design work (she’s behind the logo at the Topanga Farmers Market). Seagraves and Hutchens have it all right there, which was part of the draw when they bought the house in 2021. 

“We got really lucky because we were able to be patient,” Hutchens recalls of their real-estate search. Their former landlord in Santa Monica let them lease month to month, allowing them time to find the perfect place to put down roots. When their agent eventually came to them with this home—a former 1920s hunting cabin that had been added onto over the decades—there was no guarantee they could buy it. The sellers weren’t actually sure if they were ready to sell. Luckily, Hutchens and Seagraves hit it off with them, promising to keep the home’s integrity intact. 

They leaned on Seagraves’s past building experience and Hutchens’s father’s carpentry skills, and focused on updating the kitchen and bathroom and, most recently, expanding the studio into a space where they can also host workshops and semi-private classes. Ahead, the creative duo lets us take a look around.