The Latest

Name: Saria & Kyle Location: Montavilla — Portland, Oregon When Kyle and I first moved into our 250 square foot studio behind a large main house, it was a mess. The concrete floors had spilled paint all over, the walls were halfway painted a sky blue, and it had looked like it was abused and abandoned for years. We did a huge overhaul. It was originally built to be an artist studio so it already had track lighting and a beautiful large built in workspace area, with drawers and shelves.

Name: Andrea Crickmore Location: Byford, Western Australia Size: 200 square meters (2,153 square feet) Years lived in: 3 years; Owned I didn’t even have to get to the door of Andrea’s home to know that it was going to be something completely different from any other home I have photographed before.

Name: Ian and Nikki Fotheringham and their dog, BangBang Location: Ontario, Canada Size: 100 square meters (1,069 square feet) Years Lived In: 1 year; Rented It might be hard to imagine decorating your home solely with furniture that has a past life—upcycled, secondhand or DIY-ed into something new entirely. However, for Nikki and Ian, it comes easily, and this is exactly how they have approached designing their space.

Name: Matt Location: Lower East Side — New York, New York Hi! I’m Matt, and I’m a designer based in New York City. My current focus is on creating organized spaces within the home using custom, 3D printed solutions. I work from home — and home, currently, is a 550-square-foot rental in the Lower East Side. After I sold my studio a little over a year ago, I was looking for something that was different, had as much space as humanly possible and was interesting.

Project by: Alexa Stevenson of Alexa Stevenson Interior Decoration Location: New York City, New York Small spaces sometimes need extra creative and smart space saving ideas. This colorful and small one-bedroom apartment in NYC’s West Village combines a few smart ideas with really bold decor choices for a smart and stylish space.

Name: Gabby & Adam Location: Distillery District — Toronto, Canada We moved into our 497 square foot condo in the historic Distillery District in downtown Toronto almost a year ago. Moving into a smaller space than our previous apartment, we spent a lot of time thinking about items and furniture that we needed and loved in our everyday lives. Everything in our apartment has function or bring us joy.

Name: Michael and Courtney Glantz and sons Logan and Beckett Location: North Barrington, Illinois Size: 2,800 square feet Years lived in: 7 years; Owned The home that Courtney Glantz of A Life From Scratch shares with her husband and two sons is quite literally her dream home.

Name: Nikou and Travis McCarra, their sons, Kian and Zayn, and WIFI the Dog Location: Houston, Texas Size: 1,550 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Owned Nikou and Travis met in architecture school at the University of Houston many years ago—first came love of design, then came marriage. Now they co-own McCarra Creative, a “multi-disciplinary design studio focused on branding, web, print, and 3D.

It’s hard out here for a renter. Something that’s really simple for homeowners–like running your TV cords down behind the wall–is physically impossible for renters, lest we think it’s worth sacrificing our security deposits. Good news: All hope is not lost if you’re stuck with cords that droop and dangle across your beautiful vignettes. The solution? A stack of books.

Name: Brooke Location: Chinandega, Nicaragua My husband and I moved to Nicaragua over 10 years ago to open an office of a local real estate company, Aurora Leon Realty. We recently finished our “passion project”… we resurrected a 50 year old barn that originally was located on neighboring farm in Northern Nicaragua.

Name: Jeni Wu Location: Nob Hill — San Francisco, California Size: 685 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Rented After years of roommates and carpeted studios, Jeni finally got the chance to move into her own apartment, and she couldn’t wait to add her personal style. She works as a home decor buyer and as an interior designer with her own styling business, Wunder Design, so it’s only natural that her space is as stylish as the homes she puts together for clients.

Name: Drew Location: Addison, Texas My name is Drew and I reside in Addison, Texas. I work in the medical device industry but have a love for interior design. I’m mainly inspired by the mid-century modern era and Bauhaus movement. My current home is a 650 square foot loft studio. My home features concrete ceilings, hardwood and stained/polished concrete flooring, and exposed duct work. The raw elements of my home are what I adore and love.

Name: Kristina Sostarko and Jason Odd, Kibi the dog, and Denni the rabbit Location: Victoria, Australia Size: 72.51 square meters (780 square feet) Years lived in: 5 years; Owned I have been a longtime fan of the colorful, graphic prints and artwork created by Kristina Sostarko and Jason Odd, the duo behind inaluxe. The couple originally met at art school in the ’90s and then both worked in the music industry in Melbourne.

New Orleans is a city of mystery, magic, music and a whole lot of style. New Orleans homes just have that je ne sais quoi. There have been quite a few stunning peeks into the homes of New Orleanians on Apartment Therapy in recent years, and I can’t help but notice all the lessons about designing fearlessly — with color, pattern and yes, sometimes a little weirdness! There’s nothing that fills a home with personality like lots of art, the more the better.

Name: Amber & Ryan Location: Downtown — Los Angeles, California We ended up with a lease on this massive two story industrial loft inside a 1900s factory building completely by chance 18 months ago, when our best friends had to move out unexpectedly after investing thousands of dollars into building it out as a living space. They just wanted their investment to stay in the family.

Name: Holly and Ryan, daughters Stellan and Kinley, and German Shepherd Dublin Location: Peterborough — Ontario, Canada Size: 1,300 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Owned When you walk into this family home, you are overcome by a sense of happiness. It’s one of those spaces where you can feel the amount of love and care that has been put into it. It also happens that the people who live in the home are just as warm and welcoming as the physical space itself.

Name: Todd and Kate Novak Location: French Quarter — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 675 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Owned New Orleans is known as a city that loves color, and Kate and Todd Novak embraced that notion with a touch of “understated” bordello in their French Quarter getaway. Though they call Marin County, California, home, Kate and Todd’s love of New Orleans stems from their time at Tulane University.

Name: Steve and Debbie Cotton and their dogs, Baxter and Kiko Location: Western Cape, South Africa Size: 1,800 square feet Years lived in: 5 years; Owned Debbie and Steve have a keen eye for color and a unique style which is evident as soon as you enter their lovely house. Full of personality, warmth and quirky touches, the space makes one feel at home right away.

Name: Tara and Thierry Broucqsault, their son Henri, dogs Lola and Junebug, Maverick the cat, and Bobby the Gecko Location: Santa Barbara, California Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 11 years; Owned Set high above the street, Tara and Thierry’s charming cottage is a place where family, pets and guests can truly feel at home.