Ana Kamin

Name: Danielle Moore and Bryan Wang Location: Berkeley, California Size: 1,000 square feet Years Lived In: 1 year, owned You can feel the beachy California vibes in the air when entering Danielle and Bryan’s little Craftsman in Berkeley. Maybe it’s the open-space layout of the living area and the hanging macrame planters combined with soft colors.

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: Allison Shiman Location: The Mission — San Francisco, California Size: not sure about the square feet Years lived in: 5 years, renting “I’m so excited about having my apartment memorialized on Apartment Therapy,” Allison tells us. She’ll be saying goodbye to her beloved apartment soon…to leave on a trip around the world. “I have put so much effort and love in my little space that having it somewhere captured forever makes me so happy!

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.

If you have an old basement or other unused space in your home, you might dream about remodeling that space into something beautiful and useful. For Suzanne and Peter, that dreaming started the moment they bought their San Francisco home three years ago. The dark and dank basement room that came with the house no longer exists and has been replaced with a bright, open and welcoming space.

Name: Zoe Peters Location: Mill Valley — California Size: 231 square feet Years lived in: 3.5 years Nestled under trees on the far edge of family property in Mill Valley is a charming cottage Zoe calls home. Near Mount Tamalpais, it’s the perfect home base for a nature lover. And it’s got a history packed with artistic spirit; the space used to be her brother-in-law’s grandmother’s art studio.

Name: Suzanne Bryan and Peter Carlstrom Location: San Francisco, California Size: 258 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned The basement level of Suzanne and Peter’s San Francisco house is where their garage is located, but there was also a basement room when they purchased it three years ago. Well, the word “room” is a little too generous for what the space was before.

Name: Anne, Dave, Pascale and Liam Lowell Location: Orinda, California Size: 2,000 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, owned After living in San Francisco for 20 years, Anne, her husband and two children moved north over the Bay Bridge to Orinda — a small town in the lush hills of the East Bay. It was the better schools that convinced the couple to make the move over the bridge. They found and nestled down in a beautiful house surrounded by leafy trees.

Name: Danielle Walsh and Greg Brownstein Location: Laurel Heights — San Francisco, California Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, renting Traveling is fun, but can also be hard work — especially when you’re a senior editor at a travel magazine. So your home needs to be something you love coming back to; a place you can take a vacation from vacation.

Name: Kym Pesola Location: Lower Pacific Heights — San Francisco, California Size: 400 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, renting “I wouldn’t say ‘no’ to a real dining table and more space, but it’s actually cozy to gather around on the floor and the sofa when friends come to visit.” In one sentence, media relations manager Kym Pesola sums up big pros and cons of studio apartment living: the intimacy it can offer and the lack of space.

Name: Ana and Patrick Kamin Type of Project: Kitchen Update Location: San Francisco, California When we moved to San Francisco and started looking for apartments, 85% of the kitchens we saw were not acceptable by my terms. On the one side, you have the ones that are newly updated, but the landlord chose the countertop and cabinets straight from the ’70s. Or you have the kitchens that are totally rundown — and the renovation will cost a fortune.

Name: Mallory Guraya Location: The Marina — San Francisco, California Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, renting For over a year, Mallory has called this adorable little studio in the hip Marina neighborhood her home. The broadcast producer was born and raised in California and has East Indian roots. Her style gravitates toward bold colors, rustic trinkets, and dhurrie rugs, while adding touches of the Golden State through beach accents like seashells.

Name: Cindy Zhang Location: Soma — San Francisco, California Size: 232 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting Finding a nice, affordable apartment has become a challenge for anyone moving to San Francisco. When Cindy Zhang moved in 2016 from San Diego, she was super happy to find a cute little studio in the hip neighborhood of Soma.

Name: Frances Walsh Location: Inner Sunset — San Francisco, California Size: 1750 square feet Years lived in: Owned 4 years Before Frances settled into her new apartment in the quiet Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco four years ago, she had lived on the East Coast and had spent a few years working abroad in Russia, exploring Eastern Europe and traveling the globe. The love and excitement for different cultures are visible everywhere through her current apartment.

Name: Brian Mitchell and Ericka James Location: NoPa— San Francisco, California Size: 1,450 square feet Years lived in: Owned 1 year When Brian bought this house in the NoPa neighborhood of San Francisco, there wasn’t much left of the two-story structure. Some might have passed up the opportunity, but he saw healthy architectural bones and potential. Within a year, the house transformed into a beautiful, modern California mid-century home.

Name: Ana Kamin, freelance photographer, writer and blogger and Patrick Kamin, software engineer Location: Haight Ashbury — San Francisco, California Size: 700 square feet Years lived in: 3.5 years rented When Patrick and I moved from Germany to San Francisco in 2012, we were lucky to find this little gem—an apartment on a rooftop of an old Victorian in Haight Ashbury—just next to Golden Gate Park.