Dramatic Modern

Melissa's apartment is full of subtle, tongue-in-cheek cultural references to movies and TV.

Pati has found furniture from second-hand stores, online, or second-hand sites to transform this rental from drab to fab. Making a small rented house into a home-one low budget DIY

Name: Timothy Griffin and Nico Fournier Location: Lower East Side — New York, New York Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, owned Timothy and Nico, both hoteliers, have created an apartment full of mood and atmosphere. They both wanted to try and create that feeling of hygge, and they did it thanks to cozy textiles, moody colors, and atmospheric light choices.

Name: Angie Teater Location: Midtown East — New York, NY Size: 350 square feet Years lived in: 8 years, renting Have you ever seen a dining room, living room, and bedroom fit so elegantly into 350 square feet? Long-time New Yorker and avid traveler Angie Teater made it happen. She’s the owner and principal designer of Angela Leland Interiors and she knows how to make good use of small spaces. She’s also a master at styling a room.

Name: Marta Location: Sant Cugat – Barcelona, Spain Size: 1300 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, owned Marta is a woman who knows what she wants and her Barcelona home is a beautiful blend of all her favorite things. She loves plants, illustrations and natural materials, and you’ll find all of those things and more in the home she’s owned for a year and a half.

Name: Kenyatta Forbes Location: Bronzeville — Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,450 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, owned Kenyatta is inspired by patterns in nature, textures, and bold and bright colors, all of which can be found in her Chicago apartment. “I think the thing I love most about my home is the elements of history, memories, and design,” Kenyatta says. “I love how they all come together and couldn’t exist without each other.

Name: Coro Urdaneta and Marco Cortavitarte Location: Sanlitun — Beijing, China Size: 1,500 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting It’s hard to find an expat in Beijing who doesn’t know about the Moka Bros, or the Venezuelan siblings behind it. When the restaurant first opened in 2013, it flipped the capital’s healthy café scene on its head, largely thanks to its refreshingly bold and trendy creative concept.

Name: Alex Crabtree and her husband Adrian Location: London Size: 900 square feet Years lived in: 1 1/2 years A print in the bathroom declares: “Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love.” And this exuberant, eclectic London apartment, lavishly filled with collections and curios, beautifully tells the story of property, kitchen and interiors public relations expert Alex Crabtree.

Name: Miriam Rieder and her sister Angel Location: West Hartford, Connecticut Size: 1,400 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting As the hardworking owner of Taste By Spellbound bakery, Miriam wanted to live in West Hartford for the hip young vibe of the town. But she also wanted to create a home that could be her oasis away from the rigors of owning a business. And, being self-employed, she needed to find something she could afford on a tiny budget.

Name: Claire Swindale Location: Blackheath — Southeast London Size: 1,500 square feet Years lived in: 15 years, owned Claire Swindale is fearless. She spent eight years seeing the world (with a prolonged stint in Nepal) where she trekked around Mount Everest and explored the countryside from the back of a truck.

Name: William Watson (and Lola!) Location: Bowery — New York, New York Size: Approximately 1,500 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting Will was involved in the art world for several years before starting his own creative agency, Watson and Company. And he moved into his Soho apartment nearly a year ago. He uses his space not only as a place to live, but to paint and spend time with his adorable baby girl Lola when she stays with him.

Name: Alea Lovely Location: Greenpoint — New York, NY Size: 800 square feet Years lived in: 8 months, renting The apartment of Alea Lovely more than lives up to her name. A creative whose expressions vary from photography to painting and beyond, Alea infuses her space with a sense of what motivates and inspires her. This includes plenty of art, lush colors and textures, and details influenced by places, people, and things she adores.

Name: Irma and Robert and three kids Location: Cerdanya, Spain Size: 2,691 square feet Years lived in: 9 years, owned With tall ceilings, incredible art pieces and sweeping views of the Pyrenees mountains, this house charms everyone that walks in. But it didn’t always look this way. It might be hard to imagine cows ever being in this living room, but while this is a modern architectural structure now, it used to be a barn! The beautiful original wooden ceiling beams give it away.

Name: Laura Lane, Nic Rad and Samo the dog Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn Size: 1972 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, owned Laura’s a comedy writer, author and the co-creator of This Is Why You’re Single (a comedy sketch show, podcast and book). Nic is an artist and podcaster (Victori + Mo gallery represents his work). Are you thinking that the home of two incredible creatives must be an incredibly attractive, one-of-a-kind space? You’re right.

Name: Stephan Weishaupt, founder of AVENUE ROAD Location: Cabbagetown, Toronto Size: 2,000 square feet Years Lived In: 12 years, owned Weishaupt is the founder and curator of high-end furniture retailer, AVENUE ROAD. Working with Chapi Chapo Design, Weishaupt completely remodeled and reinvigorated a falling-down Edwardian house in Cabbagetown—one of his favorite neighborhoods in Toronto.

Name: Zane and Aldo Location: London, UK Size: 860 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, owned We lived together in Australia before moving to London in 2014 on a work transfer. We were only going to be here for two years, but we fell in love with the city and decided to stay. Aldo works as a Senior Designer in a prominent architectural firm, and Zane became COO of the tech consultancy 101 Ways. We were already living in Borough and knew we wanted to stay here.

The apartment is on a top floor of a classic French building—envy-inducing enough already—but the views inside and out are really something.

Architect Andrea Serboli's Barcelona apartment was completely renovated, and it's now a sleek, bold, and modern home.

From the bold use of art to the dreamy and dark purple bedroom, this Beverly Hills condo packs in lots of inspiring ideas for decor.

Name: Nicole and Dan Lucey Location: Park Slope — Brooklyn, NY Size: 2800 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, owned Nicole, her husband Dan and their two kids moved into their Park Slope brownstone just over a year ago. After a dramatic (and much debated) paint job and face lift, this four-story home is now one everyone slows down to admire. Nicole and Dan chose architects Wendy Cronk and Erin Cowhey Design and contractors Versatile Renovations NYC to help with the renovations.

Name: Jewel Marlowe and family Location: Jamestown, Rhode Island Size: 3,000 square feet Years Lived In: 10 months, renting “As a military family, we have learned that even short-term rentals can have high style. This 10-month rental home is a prime example,” shares Jewel Marlowe, blogger, interior stylist, and frequent customizer of rental homes.

Name: Niraya and Humberto Location: Miami, Florida Size: 943 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned We are an architect (Niraya) and a civil engineer (Humberto) and yes, we discuss design a lot. And ever since we lived in Brooklyn, we’ve always dreamed of owning a loft. Living in Miami we knew this was not possible, especially if we wanted to stay in our neighborhood of Coconut Grove. So we looked and looked for a townhouse that we could convert into a “loft.

Name: Brian & Kerry Grabowski Location: Jamaica Plain — Boston, Massachusetts Size: 800 square feet Years lived in: 4.5 — owned Entering Brian & Kerry’s loft, the first thing you see is the courtyard. It’s hard to miss an entire wall of windows that reaches up to the 18-foot ceilings. “In the winter, it’s like living in a snow globe,” Brian reminisces, “…when it actually snows.