The Latest: Jun 2016

Outdoorsy types have their own unique organizing struggles. You see, bikes and surfboards and other sporting equipment are big. And they’re really hard to store neatly at home–especially without a garage or a mudroom or even more than a few hundred square feet to work with. These house tours, though, managed to make it work, finding tight and tidy spaces where they could store some big equipment at home.

Name: Maria Location: Moscow, Russia Located in the old district of Arbat in Moscow, Russia, our three bed city center penthouse has lots of charm with its mix of modern and historical. Black marble retro fireplace, a mix of updated granite and original hardwood flooring, tall ceilings with crown molding and bright rooms. It’s a modest 128 square meters (1,378 square feet) but its layout makes our space feel bigger. Originally from the United States, we moved to Moscow as expats.

Name: Jody Location: Round Hill, Virginia We lived in a 3,500 square-foot house, and owned five other traditional American homes. One day, when looking over finances, we realized we were both working to support our home. The house owned us. At the same time, we’d been questioning our carbon footprint. I “blame” that on the Solar Decathlon.

Name: Mollie Location: West Loop —Chicago, Illinois My husband, Dave, and I have lived in this space for a little over a year. Prior to moving in we did an entire gut rehab of the space. The condo was originally a factory that was later converted to residential condos (imagine maple cabinets and dark granite counter tops).

Name: Victoria of Prospect Refuge Studio Location: Fulton Neighborhood —Minneapolis, Minnesota It’s been said that the house is “built like a ship” with a use for every space and nothing extra. This simple 1920s foursquare on the south end of Lake Harriet was ripe for a refresh when Minneapolis designer, and co-owner of Prospect Refuge Studio, bought it in 2014.