Name: Nikki McWilliams
Location: WASPS Meadow Mill Studios; Dundee, Scotland
Size: 200 square feet
Years lived in: 1 year; rented

Nikki McWilliams, famed for her fabulous biscuit-themed soft furnishings, is as sweet as the treats that inspire her work. After graduating in Fine Art from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in 2008, she started her own design business in 2009, with a thirst to make functional objects that have a place outside of a gallery setting and take up residence in people’s homes. Indeed, each of her pieces is a little work of art – a sculpture, a talking point, a cheeky statement full of personality. It surely takes a sort of (excellent) soul to have a large Tunnocks Teacake sitting proudly on their sofa.

Name: Carl and Emma Morenikeji of Scaramanga
Location: Freuchie, Fife, Scotland
Size: 4 bedroom House
Years lived in: 7 years; Owned

Some years ago, when Carl and Emma set out to ‘find themselves’ traveling the world, they found each other — and spent a further two years journeying together before returning to the UK.

Name: Kirsty (Lovely Pigeon) and Pete (Uniform) Thomas
Location: Cellardyke, Fife, Scotland
Size: Three story house with attached netloft containing kitchen and studio; 1800+ sq feet     
Years lived in: 6 years; Owned

Kirsty and Pete Thomas live and breathe design, so it’s no surprise that all that creativity leaks out around their home from time to time. This old house has serious personality. Thought to have been built in the late 1800’s by a fishing captain (I’d like to think wearing a white fluffy beard and a thick woolly jumper), it amazingly still has the original steel pulleys used to lift the nets up from the back door into the loft space — now Kirsty’s design studio and the home of Lovely Pigeon.

Name: Alison and Paul Macleod
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Size: 2 bedroom flat
Years lived in: 6 years; Owned

Alison Macleod approaches both her beautiful jewellery craft and her eclectic home with the same quirky enthusiasm. She tells me there is a side of her personality that is obsessed with the art of collecting things and fascinated not only by the aesthetic significance of a collection of items, but by the collector themselves. She loves the relationship between a person and an object, the story that collected things can tell, and so she fills her home with such things — items that have their own story and that have become a part of hers. 

The lack of summery weather in London over the past few years has put my balcony on the back burner of my upgrade list. This spring, I decided that maybe a balcony refresh would bring a sunnier summer. Here are a few of the simple changes that I made to my teeny tiny outdoor space.

There is simply no garden show greater than Chelsea. The Chelsea Flower Show takes place annually on the grounds of the Royal Hospital in London, and it features the finest garden designers, builders, and products in the garden industry.  If you are looking for inspiration, there's no better place to find it. 

Like this Small Cool 2013 contest entry? Favorite it below!

Name:

Emily

Location:

London United Kingdom

Square Feet:

850

Division:

International

What I Love About My Small Home:

Our house is OLD (built in 1900), which can be challenging, but we love the cozy English cottage details, like the worn-in original floorboards, period fireplaces, and the rooms under the eaves.

Like this Small Cool 2013 contest entry? Favorite it below!

Name:

Maddalena

Location:

London United Kingdom

Square Feet:

500

Division:

International

What I Love About My Small Home:

The first time I saw this apartment I fell in love with the huge sash windows and their original wooden frame. The living room is south facing, and I love the bright and cozy feeling of the space.

Name: Lizzie and Phil Ford
Location: West-end, Glasgow, Scotland
Size: 1,400 square feet
Years lived in: 7 years; Owned

When Lizzie joined her husband Phil in his Victorian tenement flat three years ago, it was a little lacking in personality. Since then, it is fair to say that the space has been completely transformed. Utterly offended by the huge expanse of magnolia, she attacked it with gusto, desperate to breathe some life and color into the walls and make the flat an expression and extension of their style, a place that really felt like home.