The Latest: Aug 2018

Name: Nikki Darling, my three cats and dog! Location: Highland Park — Los Angeles, California Size: 450 square feet Years lived in: 10 years, renting I moved into my home in 2008 to attend Cal Arts. I had lived in New York previously since 2002 where I went to undergrad and stayed afterward. I lived in a punk dump with a rotating list of roommates and pets. I wanted to live alone in my own home. I found this back house with a yard in my budget and haven’t left since.

Name: Jellina Detmar, her husband Jan, their children Déjan and Melin Location: Kollum, the Netherlands Size: 2,422 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, owned It’s hard to believe Jellina and her family moved to this old farmhouse a mere one and a half years ago. The former residents had created a drywall box within the house, concealing many of the home’s beautiful elements like the big wooden beams.

Name: Ashley Taylor and Tymer Tilton and their dog Moseby Location: Red Hook, Brooklyn Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, renting Golden accents around this Red Hook loft shimmer in the warm sunlight beaming through a large south-facing window. Healthy green plants cheerfully spread their leaves from corners, tabletops, and even the ceiling. A deep, soothing teal grounds the space.

They emphasized flow and perception of space over actual square footage, and tried to design the home to perfectly match their lifestyle and habits.

Name: Vanessa Combe, my partner Blake, and our cat Marlon Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting Apartment hunting in Toronto is a miserable affair. The city gets more expensive every year and the lack of housing—especially affordable housing—means that everyone is fighting tooth and nail for a place to call home.

Name: Pratiksha Tandon, husband, and 17-month-old daughter Location: Foster City, California Size: 1,350 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting I am an architect and an interior designer married to a data scientist currently living in the Bay Area, California. We moved to the Bay Area from Connecticut a year ago to be close to family. The thing that made us fall in love with this house were the big gorgeous windows on all three sides with beautiful views of green outside.

Name: Olivia Muenter, her boyfriend Jake, and their dog Winnie Location: Upper East Side, NYC Size: Not sure Years lived in: 1.

Name: Habiba Koroma Location: Central Harlem, NYC Size: 630 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting A ball pit is not necessarily something you expect in an NYC apartment, but in Habiba’s home, it’s an integral feature of her son’s play area. The ingenious, whimsical kid-friendly space that Habiba, an interior designer, has created for Miles also includes a library, a whiteboard, a hanging yarn installation, and a giant rasterized mural of him.

Name: Chelsea Farmer, husband, son and five rescue animals Location: Owensboro, Kentucky Size: 4366 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned Remember the opening scenes of Disney’s “Tangled”? Rapunzel created a whole world in her little space with colors and inspirations. I’d like to think that if she came over, she would instantly understand my decorating perspective.

Name: Kai and Julie Location: Homebase is Berlin, Germany Size: 118 square feet Years lived in: 6 months, owned We found our home in Berlin by accident. We saw the bus standing on the street on our way to grab a coffee and bought it one day later without knowing anything about US school buses. In Germany you rarely find buses like that and the size is perfect for traveling Europe.

Nelson Chow bought this tiny apartment a year ago and made good use of a small space by building a "treehouse" bed loft.