If you're looking to dress up your stairs a bit, there's painting, tiling, or... wallpapering! Take a cue from UK designer Sarah Moore (of the online shop Sarah Moore Vintage) who used subtly different patterns of paper to cover the risers of her stairs.

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Name:

Benjamin YC

Location:

Singapore Singapore

Square Feet:

549

Division:

International

What I Love About My Small Home:

Generous bay windows that let in the sun with a view of lush greenery, the local tropical bird population, and an occasional small fruit bat at night, while I curl up with a book and hot chocolate. My tiny, but functional, kitchen(ette) which is easy to clean up, but has the capacity to handle (modestly-sized) dinner parties. And the sunken marble bath - a touch of real luxury - that cleverly makes full use of the limited bathroom space, and lets me soak the stress away after a long day.

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Name:

Alexandra

Location:

New York, NY

Square Feet:

254

Division:

Teeny-Tiny

What I Love About My Small Home:

Winters make the place a cozy little cave, and summers without AC give us a reason to spend more time outdoors. Plus, we never have to walk further than three steps to find what we need!

Name: Beatriz Macias of Mid Mod Mom
Location: Mission Viejo, Orange County CA
Size: 120 square feet
Years lived in: 10 years, but only used as an office for 2 years.

Beatriz has the great advantage of working from home in this converted office space. Once a bedroom, she redid the floors in cork and transformed the closet to a work bench for her vintage goods and artwork. With amazing taste in design and her everyday hunt for vintage finds, I love how bright and "no fuss" this workspace is. 

Even when I was little, I was flummoxed by friends and relatives that would keep the TV on in the background: are you watching or not? Why add noise to the world? I held onto that point of view for decades, but now, after three years of living alone, I find myself soothed by the sounds of Liz Lemon's misadventures unfolding in the next room...

Wicker often seems relegated to boxy outdoor furniture or whimsical bohemian pieces. As these lovely rooms show, however, there are plenty of wicker pieces out there for people who just want elegant, textured pieces. 

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Name:

Lauren

Location:

New York, NY

Square Feet:

340

Division:

Teeny-Tiny

What I Love About My Small Home:

Living in a tiny apartment with randomly angled walls and sloped floors is such a uniquely New York experience. Other than that, I instantly adored the large front window that looks out to the street.

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Name:

Yamini

Location:

Boston, MA

Square Feet:

485

Division:

Tiny

What I Love About My Small Home:

I remember falling in love with this apartment almost instantly as I walked through the doors. It was the windows really: four big windows letting in swathes of gorgeous afternoon sun light. In fact, my favorite thing to do really is to sit under my counter and look at the apartment, taking in the play of light on my turquoise walls. I love that despite being such a small apartment, there’s a proportional division of space between the kitchen, living area, and bedroom without making it look too closed off. It’s also rather quirky in that the walls are uneven and the ceiling is a little crooked, which though made structural changes really difficult, makes it that much more unique. Yet its biggest selling point is really the location. I’m within walking distance to downtown, close to Whole Foods and a whole bunch of restaurants and coffee shops, the cinema and art museum, all whilst surrounded by a whole lot of green!

Candace Jackson just wrote an interesting piece for the Wall Street Journal about luxury, over-the-top spaces for kids. It's tempting to focus on the money being spent on these elaborate bedrooms and "teen lounges," but what I find much more interesting is the reason many parents cite for creating these teen havens at home and how it may affect kids and the family dynamic. 

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Name:

Hollyanne

Location:

San Francisco, CA

Square Feet:

765

Division:

Little

What I Love About My Small Home:

We LOVE the big windows that let in lots of natural light, and the built-ins in the the kitchen are gorgeous. We fell in love at first sight. We also love the French doors leading into every room.