Name: Olivia Williams, interior designer
Location: Venice Beach; Los Angeles, California
Size: 1,800 square feet
Years lived in: 1 year; rented

Olivia and her landlord are lucky to have found each other. Olivia often walked past her the building that is now her residence and fell in love with it so much that she started stalking the property and asking neighbors about the space - she had to live there! She finally got the name of the landlord and when she called him the loft was available to be rented, but...

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Name: Westbrook Maker
Location: Venice; Los Angeles, California
Size: 500 square feet
Years in business: 1 1/2 years

Westbrook Maker owners and hat designers Nicholas Fouquet and Gregory Westbrook moved their workspace from an underground parking garage in Venice to an official location on Abbot Kinney Boulevard less than than a month ago. After acquiring the location, they outfitted and designed the space, which now includes a store, in under 2 weeks! 

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Name: Irving Diaz-Burg & Timothy A. Day (and Matias, their Wheaten Terrier)
Location: Union Sqaure; New York, New York
Size: 850 square feet
Years lived in: 3 years; rented

While they now live upstate, Irving and Timothy were kind enough to share  images of their previous home in Downtown New York, overlooking Union Square. In this soothing space high above the hustle and bustle of one of the busier parts of the city, the couple and their pup Matias enjoyed an enviably bright and well decorated home. 

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Name: Stacy and Christoph
Location: Russian Hill; San Francisco, California
Size: 1,400 square feet
Years lived in: 3.5 years; Rented

Walking to Stacy and Christoph’s Russian Hill apartment from mine in nearby Pacific Heights was like taking my own personal stroll down memory lane. I lived just around the corner from them 10 years ago, and despite never getting used to the steep hill climb it was one of my favorite neighborhoods — very classic San Francisco, right on the cable car line with a view of Coit Tower to the east and Alcatraz to the north, with quainter and quieter restaurants than you find down the hill on Polk Street. 

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Name: Kirsten Coplans & Pearl
Location: Uptown, Denver, Colorado
Size: 900 square feet
Years lived in: 11 years

Kirsten Coplans is not just a collector, nor is her house just a house. Artwork, family memorabilia and rescued taxidermy grace the walls, shelves and floors of her tiny dollhouse of a home, all displayed lovingly and with purpose.

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Name: Nicole & Zach Lowery (and Oliver the dog!)
Location: Berkeley neighborhood, Denver, Colorado 
Size: 690 square feet, half of a duplex 
Years lived in: 5 years; owned

Wedding and event "party" planner Nicole Lowery and her husband, Zach, a web developer, settled in Colorado about 5 years ago in a old classic duplex built in the early 1900s located in the Berkeley neighborhood of Denver. I first met Nicole through her party planning business, and wasn't surprised to find her home just as stylish, energetic, and colorful as she is. 

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Name: Jared & Caryn
Location: Lakeview; Chicago, Illinois
Size: 1,000 square feet
Years lived in: 2.5 years; rented

Jared, who is working on a Ph.D. in African-American Studies, revealed to me his dissertation mantra: "Just take it bird by bird." Drawn from the writings of Anne Lamott, this saying suggests that when one writes, it's best to proceed one step at a time, focusing on the immediate task instead of getting bogged down by the big picture. This is excellent advice for writers of any ilk, but looking around Caryn and Jared's home, it also seems clear that taking it "bird by bird" is a great way to build an inspirational home full of truly loved objects.

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Name: James Franco and Mark Goldrick
Location: Newport, Rhode Island
Size: 1200 square feet (includes an outdoor deck)
Years lived in: 8 years; rented

When James and Mark first laid eyes on their third floor apartment, they saw past the hideous wall mural in the stairwell, dingy cabinets and linoleum in the kitchen, holes in the walls, and ratty stained carpeting. The dumpy place that scared every other potential renter away filled them with a sense of excitement and possibility. Inspired by the apartment's hip South Broadway neighborhood, which reminded them of the old East Village of their 1960's youth, the duo set out to transform the place into a home. With a lot of imagination and hard work, they've created a unique space filled with humor, color, and kitsch.

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Name: Ralph Martin and Julie von Kessel, their children Lulu (7) and James (3), and Tony the cat
Location: Berlin-Kreuzberg, Germany
Size: 175 square meters/1,884 square feet
Years lived in: 2 years; rented

The story of how novelist, journalist and ex-New Yorker Ralph acquired such a spacious, classic apartment in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood, with a rent that hasn’t been raised in over 20 years, is the stuff myths (and dreams) are made of. The space was earmarked for their family over ten years ago by the previous tenant, a friend and work colleague. Ralph, his wife Julie and their growing family patiently waited five years to move into the warm, multi-kulti neighborhood and their future home.

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Name: Emily & Jonathan Power, with Ramona (almost 2) and Ottoman, the Wheaten Terrier (there’s also four goats, three chickens, and two ducks who live out back).
Location: Lower Highland (LoHi) Neighborhood, Denver, Colorado
Size: 564 square feet 
Years lived in: 3 years; rented / owned

Almost three and a half years ago, the Power family decided to put down roots in a 1910s charmer located in the (now ever so popular) Lower Highland neighborhood of Denver. Just as the name implies, these two are indeed a power couple. They have their hands in multiple creative endeavors at once and yet some how manage to be incredibly talented at them all. 

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