The Latest: 2018

Name: Genevieve Danger Berrick Location: Echo Park — Los Angeles, California Size: 900(ish) square feet Years Lived In: 1 year, renting Family legend has it that when Genevieve was 3 years old she firmly informed her mother that she would no longer be wearing pink. And she stood by her word until she rediscovered the color and its place in her east side home. “I decided to really lean into my enjoyment of it.

Name: Michaela Grut and family Location: Lidingö — Stockholm, Sweden Size: 1,936 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, owned Michaela Grut comes from a creative family—there have been artists in several generations of her history. So it comes as no surprise that she’s found herself in a career that stretches her artistic muscles.

Name: Becky Elfes-Terjung and Cliff Lance Location: Piedmont Avenue — Oakland, California Size: 400 square feet Years lived in: 6 years; rented When Becky took on a job as a display artist at Anthropologie, she would constantly bring home leftover scraps from work. This is where her love of plywood grew, as it provided her with a blank canvas that allowed her to be as creative as possible.

Name: April Christenson, husband Mike, and two cats Liz Lemon and Maeby) Location: NE Portland, Oregon Size: 609 square feet Years lived in: 9 months, owned My husband Mike and I (along with our two cats Liz Lemon and Maeby) moved from Omaha, Nebraska, to Portland, Oregon in 2015. We initially downsized from a 2400-square-foot house in the suburbs to a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Portland. After renting for a couple of years, we decided we wanted to own our own place again.

Name: Paleny Toros and husband Location: Van Nuys, California Size: 1,592 square feet Years lived in: 8 months, owned My husband and I bought our 1958 ranch style home in May of 2017 and spent six months remodeling before we moved in over Thanksgiving weekend. We did major work in the kitchen, dining room, and two bathrooms, and some minor changes in the two bedrooms, living room, garage, and sunroom.

Name: Crystal Meyer, and my husband, Garrett Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Size: 475 square feet (400 if you’re not counting closets or the bathtub) Years lived in: 3 years, renting My husband and I are both mechanical engineers—he works designing power plants, and I work at a roller coaster design company. Our engineering brains definitely drive our space to be functional. Our possessions reflect our hobbies: We both love reading, playing board games, and playing the piano.

Name: Max and Tamera Walters Location: Austin, Texas Size: 843 square feet Years lived in: 7 months, renting Tamera and her family live in South Austin with their daughter (with a second child on the way!). South Austin, an expanding part of the city, has become increasingly expensive, so Tamera and her family chose to live in a complex where they would have security, convenience to work, and be within their budget. The apartment is a two-bedroom, one-bathroom on the ground floor.

"I love all my chairs. I'm a chair person, and all my chairs have a story," interior designer JJ Acuna says.

Name: Alyssa Low, Collin Koetz and two cats, Shiloh and Smalls Location: Evanston, Illinois Size: 1,500 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, owned Alyssa Low and Collin Koetz met in design school and got married in 2014. They live with their two Maine Coon cats, Shiloh and Smalls. After renting in Lakeview for a few years, Alyssa and Collin decided to buy their first place in Evanston.

Name: Christie Grotheim (and my husband, Niklas Andersson) Location: New York, New York Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, owned My husband and I found this fixer upper in Harlem, sold “as is,” which in this case, was pretty atrocious. But we saw past the filth and peeling paint and realized the potential in the place right away. A corner unit on the third floor, it was flooded with light, and as a four-bedroom (converted to three) we would each have our own office.