The Latest: 2019

Name: Susan and David Location: East Bay, California Size: 2,250 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, owned Susan and David’s East Bay home comes with intact natural features, Douglas fir beams and cabinets, and a functional floor plan. Why anybody would list this mid-century home as a “tear down” on the market is a mystery. Luckily, Susan and David stumbled upon the listing when a sale fell through.

Name: Eric and Lori Wright with their kids Claire, Julia and Maximilian Location: North High Shoals, Georgia Size: 1700 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned This Georgia home has history. Built around 1898, Eric and Lori’s house is nestled on three acres of bucolic countryside near the Apalachee River; there’s a babbling creek that they can see from their sleeping porch.

This couple's inspiration comes from pop art, comic books, cinema history, and literature.

Name: Celeste Green and Blaque Reily Location: East Nashville — Nashville, Tenneesee Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 8 months, renting With the combined creative talents of Celeste Green and Blaque Riley, their home was bound to be beautiful. And this bright 1930s home in East Nashville really marries their two styles in an inviting live-work space.

Name: Ashley Zohar Location: West Hollywood – Los Angeles, California Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, renting Stylist Ashley Zohar’s eye for design and style was influenced by her mother, who has a vintage shop in LA. As she grew up, her interest in fashion naturally progressed her toward a career as a stylist. Friends began knocking on her door for design advice, and from those jobs came more opportunities, eventually leading to her signing with an agency.

Name: Michelle and Barry Location: Tai Hang, Hong Kong Size: 1800 square feet Years Lived In: 1.5 years, renting Having made London their home for seven years, Michelle and Barry had the opportunity to relocate to Hong Kong with work a year ago. It wasn’t an easy decision, as they had just bought and lovingly renovated their Victorian home in East London (with every wall painted in carefully chosen colors).

Name: Ana, German and their children Antonio, Ramón, Salvador and Carmen. Location: Tigre — Buenos Aires, Argentina Size: 950 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, owned Ana and German were taking a Sunday bike ride when they saw a small “SALE” sign on this house and decided to take a look. The structure was really run down; there were holes in the floor with plants growing up through them.

Name: Melissa and James Lawrence Location: Vredehoek, Cape Town, South Africa Size: 1184 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting Cape Town-based interior designer Melissa and her husband James didn’t want to invest a ton of money in this home since they are renting it. But because Melissa is in the interior design field, they knew exactly what could to be done to enhance the space and in a cost effective way.

Name: Bridget McCullagh Location: Lakeview — Chicago, Illinois Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting If Mary Tyler Moore moved in with the Golden Girls, their home might look something like Bridget’s vintage-inspired Chicago apartment. “I love the natural wood and plant-heavy look of the 1970s,” she says. Luckily, Bridget inherited a lot of decor and furniture from her mother and grandmother.

Name: Christine Stucker Veal and James Veal Location: Clinton Hill — Brooklyn, New York Size: 2100 square feet Years Lived In: 3 1/2 years, owned Original wood beams and brick walls mix with modern designs in this Brooklyn townhouse, built in 1890. It’s the home of husband and wife Christine Stucker Veal and James Veal, the founders of Stewart-Schafer.

Name: Carly and Brad Moeller Location: Ravenswood Manor — Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,800 square feet Years lived in: 3.5 years, owned For all you design-loving storage fanatics, this home is for you. Carly and Brad each have architectural backgrounds, and they were able to bring style and function to their 1950s Chicago home when they updated it. (Like a bold color palette that creates a playful atmosphere in every room.

Name: Kate Reid and Joff Reid Location: Southsea — Portsmouth, United Kingdom Size: 580 square feet Years Lived In: 2 years, renting Creative couple Kate and Joff Reid have been together for eleven years, and living in this small two-bedroom apartment for two years. Their goal with this space was to create a reflection of both their creative careers — Kate is a designer and Joff an artist — as well as surround themselves with memories they’ve made together.

Name: Angela Belt, her husband Leon and their daughter Brooklyn Location: West Hartford, Connecticut Size: 900 square feet Years Lived In: 8 months, renting Angela’s career revolves around interior design and creativity. As a senior designer and contributing editor for Homepolish and an interior stylist and art director for AphroChic, her work has been featured in publications like Elle Decor, House Beautiful, The Washington Post and more.

Name: Leah and Thom Adair Location: Powderhorn Park — Minneapolis, Minnesota Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: Own Leah and Thom inhabit the first floor of a duplex they own in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. Duplexes like theirs dot the streets in almost every neighborhood of Minneapolis, but from the moment you step into the entryway of Leah and Thom’s home, it quickly becomes apparent that this one is a little bit different.

Name: Charlotte, Nicolas, and little Louison Location: 14th arrondissement — Paris, France Size: 700 square feet Years lived in: 5 months, renting Charlotte and Nicolas share their cozy and playful Parisian apartment with their soon-to-be-two-year-old daughter, Louison. Their interior design style is geometric with bits of childhood magic and graphic novel thrown in. The space is light and colorful, but equally as functional.

Name: Melanie Branam, husband Scott and brand new baby Molly Location: Myers Park — Charlotte, North Carolina Size: 1,600 square feet Years lived in: 4 1/2 years, renting You can immediately smell the flowers when you walk into Melanie’s home, which is only natural given she is one of Charlotte’s premier florists. Melanie is the talented woman behind New Creations Flowers and her 1,600 square foot home is not only where she lives, it also serves as her floral studio.

Name: Jimmy Brower, Damien Merino, and their dog Joey Location: Gaskill — Oakland, California Size: 700 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting Jimmy and Damien instantly fell in love with their Oakland apartment. The bond was so strong that they signed the lease before they even looked inside. Risky — yes — but they don’t regret a thing about the decision, as they find themselves drawn to the natural energy of the space more and more each day.

Name: Natasha Harden Location: Bella Vista — Oakland, California Size: 725 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting Natasha—a Virgo—credits her Zodiac sign for her heightened sense of detail. “I can spend hours thrifting, and trust me, I always find something cute,” she proudly says. “I usually just walk around in a thrift store and I let patterns and textures speak to me.

Name: Peter Venuto Location: The Plateau — Montreal, Quebec Size: 1,500 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting Peter Venuto’s apartment was originally an Airbnb rental — which Peter himself once rented — but after the landlord grew tired of that setup, Peter managed to work out a deal with him and rent it as a “normal” living space. Today, the apartment showcases bright pink colors, metallic walls, and lots and lots of synthesizers.

Name: Jesse, Jason and their dog Honey Location: Nashville, Tennessee Size: 3200 square feet Years lived in: Almost 1.5 years, owned Jesse and Jason purchased their 1929 Tudor style Nashville home a year and half ago. Jesse is a songwriter who has lived in the Music City for about 15 years and her husband Jason is a more recent transplant from Michigan. They both love Tennessee and were excited to buy their first house together here.

Name: Anna Saffer and Clementine the cat Location: Mt. Vernon — Baltimore, Maryland Size: 450 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting At only 450 square feet, it takes some flexibility to make this small space (an apartment carved from a historical Mt. Vernon townhouse) work. Somehow, Anna has managed to do that, despite several space challenges — like the kitchen being too small for the refrigerator.

Name: Sarah Schwie Location: South Minneapolis, Minnesota Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting Though Sarah has lived in her south Minneapolis rental for two years, she’s taken her time to fill the space. Just the perfect size for her and her cat — and filled with lots of natural light — it has plenty of whimsical vintage features to keep you peering around the corners the entire time you’re there.

Name: Jade Goulding of Style + Space Location: Auchenflower — Brisbane, Australia Size: Approximately 85m squared Years lived in: 2 years, renting Jade, an interior stylist and founder of Style + Space, lives in this inner city apartment with her husband and two young daughters. While the apartment only has two bedrooms, the living space has a great layout, allowing a lovely flow through the apartment. Windows on three sides of the apartment allow their place to get great natural light.

Name: Alison and Jay Carroll Location: Joshua Tree, California Size: Roughly 275 square feet Years Lived in: 1 year, owned It started out as a hunt for a weekend spot. But when Alison and Jay Carroll saw property in Wonder Valley, California — a small community of artists and musicians in the Mojave Desert — they decided to leave behind their house in L.A. and take to the desert full time. The couple is the design duo behind Wonder Valley, an olive oil brand, shop and studio.

Name: Mynhardt Joubert and Ian Engelmohr Location: Paarl, South Africa Size: Roughly 1776 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, renting This quirky and colorful loft space in Paarl is home to a well-known chef and his partner. No one had lived here before — it was previously an open gallery space that belonged to the shop downstairs. And when Mynhardt moved in three years ago, much needed to be done.

Name: Ron Kelly and Emily Goodstein Location: Petworth — Washington, DC Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: Ron has lived here for 4.5 years, Emily moved in last year; owned Colorful, comfortable, and warm, Emily and Ron’s home is full of treasures with a tale. They’ve decorated with a combination of modern and bohemian elements that give a global feel to their Washington, D.C. apartment.

Name: Terra Loire Location: Toronto, Ontario Size: 700 square feet Years lived in: 8 months, renting After living in nine different spaces over the past eight years, Terra finally feels like she has found a home in her mid-town Toronto apartment. She’s definitely had her tour of living all over the city—east to west, centrally and along the lakeshore—experiencing many of Toronto’s diverse neighborhoods.

Small isn't an excuse; it's an opportunity.

Name: Jessica Henry Location: Duboce Triangle — San Francisco, California Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting Jessica likes to collect things that remind her of a specific time and place, like the leather butterfly chair she got in Argentina, or the bedroom mirror she found at a San Diego thrift store. All of those mementos combined with eclectic accents — and lots and lots of greenery — are what makes her place special.

Name: Matt Casper and Ted Dorsey Location: Echo Park — Los Angeles, California Size: 2,132 square feet Years lived in: 6 years, owned Going to a dinner party at Matt and Ted’s is probably the grown-up equivalent of going to Disneyland. While their dining room alone makes the Haunted Mansion look like child’s play, every room in the house possesses its own unique design that feels both sophisticated and fun.

Name: Jen Nolan Location: Rittenhouse Square — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: Roughly 500 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, renting When Jen moved to Philadelphia from Washington, D.C., she didn’t have any connections in the real estate world. Like many young professionals, she turned to Craigslist. Thankfully, she stumbled across an ad for a beautiful studio apartment in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Name: Eduardo Valadez Arenas Location: Fruitvale — Oakland, California Size: 400 square feet (plus adjacent work studio) Years lived in: 4 years, renting After coming to the U.S. from Mexico city, Eduardo settled in Thousand Palms, California, a small desert town just east of Palm Springs. This upbringing in small desert towns throughout California continues to influence his personal style, art aesthetic and home design.

Name: Andrea Kerbuski and her dog James Location: Lansing, Michigan Size: 2,014 square feet Years lived in: 8 months, owned Andrea avoided home ownership for years, preferring the more flexible, mobile lifestyle of renting apartments. And, she always thought she’d wait until finding a life partner to buy a house. But after a brief stint in Chicago for work, she realized she loved her home state of Michigan and her community, and that she could absolutely buy a house on her own.

Name: Michael Berger Location: Hamilton — Ontario, Canada Size: 1,100 square feet Years Lived In: 2 months, renting When it comes to making the most of a new space with a small budget, Michael is a master. He completely transformed a dingy old rental apartment into an ’80s-inspired boho glam space for very little money! How was he able to pull off such a stylish feat? Patience, creative thinking, and killer thrift shopping skills.

Name: Flora Tsapovsky and Tom Kolinski, plus Theo the cat Location: Berkeley — California Size: 720 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, rented “Every morning I stand here with my cup of coffee and soak in the views, even if it’s for a minute,” describes Flora of the view from her home’s large glass corner wall that looks over Berkeley and the sparkling San Francisco Bay.

Name: Magalie René-Hayes, her husband Mike Hayes and Prince the pup Location: Los Angeles Size: 1500 square feet Years Lived In: 4 years, renting Interior designer Magalie also goes by the title Conscious Designer. “I’m on a mission to create beautiful spaces for a better world and I apply a unique approach that combines holistic ideas, science, and design principles for smarter, happier, healthier living.

Name: Elizabeth and Rac Location: Bedford-Stuyvesant — Brooklyn, New York Size: 2,000 square feet Years lived in: 2.5 years, owned Having lived in Brooklyn for over a decade, Elizabeth and Rac decided to buy a place of their own after getting married two and a half years ago. They purchased a home in the historic Bedford- Stuyvesant neighborhood and immediately set to renovating it to match their personalities. The couple spent eight months renovating their home before they moved in.

Name: Con and Miep Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands Size: 1,614 square feet Years lived in: 13 years, owned When Con and Miep got married thirteen years ago, they both sold their apartments and moved together to one of the high-rises in Eindhoven’s city center. Con loves color, and Miep’s furniture before she was married mostly consisted of black and white. Thankfully, they both love modern design, and were pleasantly surprised by how great their furniture merged.

Name: Katherine McEachern, Ian Tse and Gracie (the dog) Location: Berkeley, California Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: 6 years, renting “As an editor at Rue, I’m constantly looking at inspiring spaces and filing away ideas. For me, personal style is an ever-evolving challenge,” says Kat McEachern, the Lifestyle Editor for the stylish magazine.

Name: Ashley and Terry Reth, and their two cats, Boy and Girl. Location: Portland, Maine Size: 1000 square feet Years lived in: 2.5 years, renting Ashley and Terry celebrated their first six months as a married couple this April and have been together for over ten years…but they originally met all the way back in kindergarten! New to marriage, but not to each other, they are happy to now have a place their family can grow into.

Name: Ciara Elliott and family Location: Mistley, Colchester, Essex UK Years lived in: 2 years, owned “I do love big statement pieces — like our brightly coloured yellow sofa and the stand-out rug in our lounge — and I think if you have a few of these big-ticket items you can actually revolve a whole scheme around them,” smiles Ciara Elliott, editor of leading UK interior magazine Essential Kitchen Bathroom and Bedroom.