The Latest: Aug 2010

Name: Alison and JoeLocation: Plainfield, IllinoisSize: 1,800 square feetYears lived in: 3 months Alison and Joe have only lived in their house for about three months but you wouldn’t know by looking at it. The way their suburban home is so completely and tastefully decorated it looks like they’ve lived in their house for three years.

Name: Mary & Eric Martineau (and Bogart the dog) Location: Harrison West — Columbus, OhioSize: 1,620 square feetYears lived in: 2 owned for 3½ Creative reuse is nothing new to Mary Martineau. As owner of Short North gallery Transformations, she used decoupage and paint to rework ordinary pieces of used furniture into functional works of art.

Name: Kevin Sharkey, decorating editorial director of Martha Stewart LivingLocation: Far West Village — New York, New YorkSize: 2,500 square feetYears lived in: 2 After 18 months of renovations, Kevin Sharkey was so pleased to have his apartment complete for the September issue of Martha Stewart Living that he invited Apartment Therapy editors for a private tour! The contemporary space is high over the Hudson in one of the Richard Meier towers on the West Side Highway.

Name: Kate Bingaman-Burt & Clifton BurtLocation: Portland, OregonSize: 600 square feetYears lived in: 2 Kate and Clifton have done an amazing job showing off the items they’ve collected while maintaining a great live/work space in their small lofted apartment. You may be familiar with Kate’s art-project-turned-book, Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today?, a collection of ink drawings cataloging many of her daily purchases.

Name: Tyke O’Brien and Jon LeaverLocation: Topanga Canyon, CaliforniaSize: 1,700 square feet — 2 bedrooms Years lived in: 3 — ownedWho else lives here? Our son, Monty (almost 2 year old) and our cat, Tiny. And there’s a coyote named Jeff who sometimes mills around outside. When we last saw Jon and Tyke in their Topanga Canyon Casa it was cozy and warm, filled with wood and deep rich colors and patterns.

Name: Amna & Paul WerdelLocation: Adams Morgan — Washington DCSize: 750 square feetYears lived in: 2 — rented Take a good look, because these are some of the last pictures snapped of Amna and Paul’s Adams Morgan gem before it goes under the knife…or the sledge hammer as it were. Their turn of the century building is being turned into condos, and part of the process is a major renovation of all the units.

Emily Henderson is a professional prop stylist, so it comes as no surprise that her own home is very lovely to look at — her talent for creating beautiful rooms is wonderfully apparent and for HGTV viewers, familiar. Her design skills are on display on HGTV’s Design Star, where she has made it very far in the competition, currently she is one of the final two contestants.

Name: Lindsay & JeremyLocation: Capitol Hill — Washington, DCSize: 700 square feetYears lived in: 1 As anyone who’s ever lived with a significant other can tell you, there’s an art to compromise. When Lindsay and Jeremy moved in together four years ago, they found themselves confronted with the challenge of creating a space that reflected their mutual interests (books, movies, music) without losing sight of their individual aesthetics (geek chic for him, granny chic for her).

Name: Christopher Cushingham Location: Downtown Los Angeles, California Size: 780 Square Feet Years lived in: 6 months Large windows are a valued element to loft living. Chris worked as a residential window cleaner growing up, which helped develop his appreciation for unique and expansive windows. In fact, these industrial windows and the generous natural light they provide sold him on this particular loft.

Name: SarikaLocation: Lower East Side — New York, New York My studio apartment is smack dab in the middle of New York City’s Lower East Side — a neighborhood that recently topped a list of best places to live for the “young, single and cash-strapped.” Fitting the bill on all three of those things, and zeroing in on the last item (working on a reporter’s budget here!

Name: Kate & CameronLocation: Carroll Gardens — Brooklyn, New YorkSize: 850 square feet — 1 bedroomYears lived in: 10 months Kate and Cameron are very in sync when it comes to style. They married a year ago, and moved into this great apartment soon thereafter. Buying furniture was easy as they both knew they wanted simple and efficient pieces.

Name: Dan & Sarah Herchenroether Location: Newport, Rhode Island Size: 1,176 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years Dan used all his experience as an architect and whole lot of elbow grease to transform a small cottage on a quiet street away from the tourist hustle and bustle of Newport, Rhode Island from drab and dated (think tons of wood paneling) into a sweet and contemporary family home.

Name: Nicole GibbonsLocation: HarlemSize: 650 square feetYears lived in: 3.5 years We love peeking inside the homes of designers and other creative professionals, and our latest House Tour comes courtesy of Nicole Gibbons, who is the brains and the beauty behind one of our favorite interior design blogs So Haute.