The Latest: 2019

Name: Adrianne Herold (and my fiance Dylan and our cat, Scavenger) Location: Champaign, Illinois Size: 1,005 square feet Years Lived In: 1 year, renting We actually lived across the parking lot in the same complex but in a two-bedroom and one day I noticed them ripping carpet out of some units and replacing it with wood paneling. I quickly asked our landlord if we could just transfer our lease to one of the updated units and she actually let us do it!

Name: Lauren MacLean Location: Montreal, QC, Canada Size: 700 square ft Years lived in: 1 year, rent Born and raised in Ontario, a few years ago Lauren was ready for a change and looked to Montreal for a new adventure. Knowing little about the city, she was nonetheless drawn towards its culture and beauty. “I found a listing online for a tiny vacant studio, so I checked it out and loved it right away. It was one small room with zero closets,” she says.

Name: Kira Cole and two cats Location: Gold Coast — Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,080 square feet Years Lived In: 8 months, owned My home was built in 1892, originally as a single family. In 1978, it was renovated into condo units. I actually grew up in the unit below, so I was very familiar with the building and neighbors when purchasing! When I first got my hands on it, it had not been renovated (not even paint touch-ups) since the 1978 renovation, so it was in serious need of love.

Name: Molly Bernard, girlfriend Hannah, and Henry (her eight-pound rescue mutt!) Location: Brooklyn, NYC Years lived in: Just a few months! Proud and terrified first time home-owner!

Name: Maggie Smoller and family Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Size: 1,600 square feet Years Lived In: 4 years, owned Since the day we closed on this house four and a half years ago, we’ve been putting our stamp on it room by room. As self-proclaimed homebodies, there’s nothing we love more than staying in and getting cozy, and it was so important to create a home that we loved being in and living in.

Name: Latisha Carlson, husband Matt, and their three kids Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico Size: Just under 2,000 square feet Years lived in: 7 years, owned Photographer Latisha Carlson, her husband Matt, their three kids, and the dog all live in a renovated modern bohemian dwelling. In the heart of a residential street in Albuquerque, their house has not only been a personal DIY renovation, but a place for Tish to hone in on her passion for interior design.

Name: Becca Tobin, husband Zach Martin, and Orly Martin the dog Location: Laurel Canyon — Los Angeles, California Size: 1,200 square feet Years Lived In: 2.5 years, owned We moved into our home a little over two years ago. We were drawn to the space because the house had so much charm! Los Angeles is filled with a lot of new construction that feels really sterile, so this 1930s gem felt super special.

Name: George Mendes and Siamese cats, Roscoe and Daisy Location: Downtown Brooklyn, New York, New York Size: 950 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years George Mendes knows good food. He’s the chef behind Aldea, the Michelin-starred New York restaurant whose offerings reflect the cuisine of his parents’ native Portugal. He’s also the inhabitant of a beautiful Brooklyn apartment that seems an embodiment of the mantra “less is more.

Name: Laura Santora, husband Kevin, daughters Ellie (6), Evie (4), and Dylan (1), plus dogs Moco and Oliver Location: Mission Viejo, California Size: 3,450 square feet Years Lived In: 3.5 years, owned When looking for a new home three and a half years ago, we wanted something with enough space, some character, and something we could make our own.

Name: Meredith and Luke Coe + our 1.5-year-old son, Nathan Location: King of Prussia, Pennsylvania Size: 1,830 square feet Years Lived In: 1.5 years, owned My husband and I bought this home (our first!) in May of 2017. It was very dull and slightly neglected when we first bought it—all of the walls were a shade of brown or yellow and the floors were in need of some serious TLC. We’ve been able to make several minor updates that have really helped turn it into a space we love!

Name: Kaitlyn Shimazaki Location: Belmont Heights/ Belmont Shores — Long Beach, California Size: 650 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting Kaitlyn has one of those quintessential beach cottages we all imagine landing when we move to California. Her small home is technically the guest house to a larger home, but she gets all the perks of a “standalone” building.

The Apartment Botanist, Alessia Resta, shares a peek into her small home filled with hip decor and TONS of plants.

Jody and Jon have turned this loft with tall ceilings into their hip, vintage-filled retreat.

Name: Gabrielle Silverlight, Brian Hamilton, and Miss Mabel the kitty Location: Kensington — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: Around 1,000 square feet Years Lived In: 1.5 years, renting and own After years of renting a home and separate workspace, ceramicist Gabrielle Silverlight and her guitar pedal designer husband Brian Hamilton of smallsound/bigsound decided to buy a house.

Name: Lady Soule, Michael Ryan Handley, pup Jackson Location: Fishtown — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: 2,580 square feet Years Lived In: 2.5 years, owned If you have even the slightest hint of a bohemian style, you may have spent hours drooling over the patterned, textured furniture and decor delights offered up by Anthropologie. (Or is that just me?

Name: E.M. Ricchini, and kitty and a pup Location: Fishtown — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: 1,230 square feet Years Lived In: 1.5 years, renting Philadelphia-based fashion blogger E.M. Ricchini knows how to put together an outfit as well as a stylish apartment. By day, she works in marketing and branding, but along with her style skills, she also writes, photographs, models, and travels, too.

Name: Jacqueline Sarah, my fiancé Joshua Zeolla, and our 5-year-old son. Location: Currently in Greenville, South Carolina Size: 200 square feet Years Lived In: 8 months, owned There’s so much to love about our tiny home. What I personally love the most is that the space truly uniquely represents my family and I. There’s a master bedroom that feels like our own little oasis, and a bunk/bunk room we created for our son so he too could feel like he had a space of his own.

Name: Michelle Qazi and family Location: Bellevue, Washington Size: 3,000 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, rented Walking through Michelle’s front door, you see right away from her design aesthetic why she chose this particular home, which she shares with her husband and two young sons. The vaulted ceilings, wood-paneled walls, and windows that are forms of art in themselves, could not be a more perfect frame for the strong ’70s vibe the interior as a whole exudes.

Name: Marta Escoda, husband Albert, and kids Ivet, Marc, and Alex Location: Sabadell — Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,400 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, owned When personal shopper and stylist Marta Escoda decided to move into her grandparent’s apartment, she knew it would need renovating. But while she wanted a fresh start and to make new memories in this place, she also knew this apartment was part of her history and heritage, and desired to keep some of the original character.

Name: Cristina, Marc, Daniela, and twins Mateo and Marcos Location: San Gervasi — Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,450 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, owned Cristina has interior design in her blood; for her it is a passion and a way of creating good feelings through beautiful visuals. She founded the multi-disciplinary design studio, CIRERA+ ESPINET, with her partner Mariona Espinet, and defines her personal style as breaking the mold.

Name: Clara Marina and family Location: Exaimple — Barcelona, Spain Size: 970 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting This modest Barcelona attic apartment actually started out as the building’s laundry rooms. After renovations, it’s now the bright, warm, nature-inspired home for a young family. After living in Chile for six years, Clara and her husband decided to come back to Spain.

Name: Naeme El-Zein and partner David Rousseau Location: Pointe-St-Charles, Quebec, Canada Size: 600 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting Naeme is a creative director, strategist and writer who’s worked with a variety of brands like PULP magazine, British Vogue, WANT Les Essentiels, and ALDO Group, to name a few. She’s passionate about boundary-pushing ideas, visuals, words, and experiences that evoke an emotional reaction.

Name: Lauri Carleton, husband Bort Carleton, kids Kelsey and Ari Carleton, Buoy the Aussiedoodle, Zorba the Yorkshire mix, and Jake the orange tabby Maine Coon cat. Location: Lake Arrowhead, California Size: 2,300 square feet Years Lived In: Owned, renovations for 7 years, lived in for past 5 years Our family planted their roots in Lake Arrowhead in the 1940s. Lauri grew up spending an extensive amount of time with her grandparents that had built a family lodge in Lake Arrowhead.

Name: Jennifer Jorgensen and two pups Location: Kingfield — Minneapolis, Minnesota Size: 1,700 square feet Years lived in: I purchased it in 2012, so 7-ish years… I had no idea until I just looked up when I bought it—that’s a long time! Jennifer is one half of the Minneapolis-based, custom hand-painted and printed wallpaper and furnishings company, She She. (Kate Worum is the other half of She She, and we toured her home, too!

Name: Kate Worum Location: East Isles — Minneapolis, Minnesota Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting Not all Minneapolis brownstones are created equal. The moment you step into Kate‘s spacious apartment, you forget where you are. Kate, one half of the Minneapolis-based custom hand-painted and printed wallpaper and furnishings company She She, lucked out when she nabbed this spacious, bright, and beautiful upper floor apartment.

Name: Adria and Dan Location: Ballard — Seattle, Washington Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, owned Adria—who works in UX design and is also the founder of the food and travel blog, The Emerald Palate—says she never considered green among her favorite colors. But when she and Dan—a software engineer—first walked into this house in Seattle’s Ballard area, she immediately knew that the wall in the dining room needed to be green.

Name: Kate Keesee, Robert, Gracie , and our doggy Guinevere Location: Orange County, California Size: 1,375 square feet Years lived in: Grew up in this home! I was gifted this home that I grew up in by my mother who adopted me when I was 12 years old. I have over the years taken the unwanted and discarded to create a space that tells the story of how I found myself within these walls.

Poet and artist H. Melt's home is filled with colorful art, captivating books, and a few flamingo-themed home decor items.

Name: Maya Goldfine Location: San Francisco, California Size: 400 square feet Years Lived In: 6 months, renting Call it fate or luck, but something aligned the day I found this studio. By chance I had come across the listing on Craigslist the evening prior—at 5:45 p.m. it was posted that an open house was happening at 7:30 a.m. the next day.

Name: Stevie Van Horn Location: Fort Greene — Brooklyn, New York Size: 950 square feet Years lived in: 2 months, renting Stevie Van Horn recently began renting this apartment in Brooklyn’s Fort Green neighborhood—employing “zero-waste” philosophies when decorating the interior.

Name: Kate Best Location: Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania Size: a whopping 4,500 square feet Years lived in: Own Kate, a celebrity makeup artist for stars such as Vanessa Williams and Jennifer Lopez, spent 25 years living in Manhattan before deciding that it was time to move full-time to the Poconos. Passionate about interior design, her home works as a showroom for all of her artifacts she’s collected around the world.

Name: Amanda Suter and Dmitri Slavashevich Location: Hillcrest — San Diego, California Size: 1,848 square feet Years Lived In: 6 months, owned Amanda and Dmitri moved into their home this past July, but you wouldn’t guess it. Their Victorian vernacular cottage feels cozy and lived in, with lots of personal details.

Name: Alma Location: 515 Madison Avenue — Midtown Manhattan, NYC Size: Lounge/Waiting area: 800 square feet Private therapy rooms: 100-120 square feet typically Group therapy rooms: 200-250 square feet typically Interior spaces—the personal and public environments we spend much of our time in—have an impact on us. Emotionally, and sometimes even physically. You can improve and change decor elements in your home to affect the way you and others feel in your space.

Name: Jennifer Hutter, my husband Bodhi, our 19-month-old son Ryder, and our two dogs Daisy and Summit Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Size: 400 square feetWe spent the past nine months renovating our vintage 1968 Chris Craft Cavalier. Bodhi did all the work inside himself. I did the design work. It was one of the biggest challenges we’ve had together as a couple to really figure everything out one step at a time, but one of the most rewarding.

After a recent divorce, zero-waste advocate Ariana has created a cozy and comforting home in just 400 square feet, using minimal decor and DIY projects.