One of the ways Anna Eskridge made peace in this home? Donating the TV.

Name: Jawaria, my husband, and our four children Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Size: 675 square feet Years lived in: 16 years, renting My husband and I came to the U.S. for college and met in Florida. I moved to Pittsburgh for my master’s and my then-friend, now-husband followed suit. The rest of the 16 years are just a slightly elaborate version of that story. I make impulsive decisions and my husband follows along, and now our children are part of the adventure.

After not needing these side tables anymore, Tiffany upcycled them into one seriously cool cat tree for her cat, Cat.

Lifestyle blogger Tanika's home is super cozy with added hints of boho charm.

When it was time for Dana and Dan to renovate, they had a secret weapon: Dana's mother is a wizard when it comes to maximizing space and storage.

Name: Kadri Teider and husband Location: London, United Kingdom Size: 345 square feet Years lived in: 4.5 years, renting We found this little flat when we first moved to London, and it’s fair to say it wasn’t love at first sight (due to its size!). We were only planning to live here for a year max but then quickly realized how conveniently located everything around here was and decided to stay and embrace it.

Name: Rachel Stroly, husband, and two rescue cats Location: Atlanta, Georgia Size: 1,600 square feet Years Lived In: 3 years, owned The house has a totally granite exterior and sits on top of a hill, so we fondly call it the “Frankfurter Fortress,” a.k.a. “The Fort.” I met my husband four years ago at a Halloween party. He was dressed as a chicken and I was a hot dog (frankfurter) so there are a lot of hidden (and not so hidden!) references to that around.

Name: Kevin O’Gara and family Location: Cabbagetown — Atlanta, Georgia Size: 1,500 square feet Years Lived In: 5 years, renting My dad first moved to Cabbagetown, a historic neighborhood in Atlanta, when my parents divorced in 2009. His first pad was a three-room shotgun duplex where my sisters and I first started exploring the neighborhood, and quickly we fell in love with its artistic charm!

Name: Giana Shorthouse Location: FLATS at Ponce City Market — Atlanta, Georgia. Size: 655 square feet Years Lived In: 2 years, renting I’m a designer and prop stylist living at Ponce City Market; the building is a historic, mixed-use community hub and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. My apartment is an extension of me and what I do.

Name: Rachael Gibilterra, her husband Virgil, and their rescue pup, Jovie Location: San Diego, California Size: 180 square feet Years lived in: 3 months, owned Rachael and Virgil live full time in this Airstream (currently parked at an RV park in San Diego) that they renovated themselves.

Name: Corey Dane Location: Madison, Wisconsin Size: 809 square feet Years Lived In: 5 years, owned My 800-square-foot condo has been a labor of love since purchasing it in the winter of 2013. Funny thing…I wasn’t looking to purchase a home at the time. I had just moved to Madison and planned to rent an apartment while I got a lay of the land, then stumbled upon the building and my home while helping a friend move into another unit.

Name: Chelsea Pursley, my bunny, Bailey Location: East Downtown — Austin, Texas Size: 450 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting I found my house online about a month before moving to Austin from Atlanta. I signed the lease sight unseen, and thankfully it was even better than I expected! I live here with my pet bunny, Bailey, and I work from home full time as a UX designer. Since I spend so much time at home, creating a functional space that reflected my style was essential.

Name: Austin Buben, roommate Loren Kennedy, and an English Bulldog named Sherman Location: Lower East Side — New York, New York Size: 450 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, renting (Austin has lived in the apartment for three years. Loren moved in a year ago and the two of them have made many improvements and adjustments to the space.) Austin is a creative who works in interior design and branding for hotels, restaurants, and bars. Austin loves to cook and was blessed with a green thumb.

Madison and Matthew are both pretty low-key individuals who enjoy a neutral and relaxing environment.

Tami was going for warm, trendy, hipster cafe vibes in her small rental garage apartment.

Name: Ami Jachimski, husband, daughter, a labradoodle and a cat Location: Ocean Pines — Berlin, Maryland Size: 1,505 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, owned My husband and I live in a cozy little A-frame in a wooded neighborhood with our 9-month-old daughter, our labradoodle, and a little tuxedo cat. Our house was built in 1987 and we are the second owners of this home. The original owner built our home himself and used it as a vacation house.

Name: Christina Kelley, husband Brandon, and our dog Marvin Location: Miramar Beach, Florida Size: 1,700 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned It’s a modest beach house with an interesting layout! The main living area is all on the second floor, which you reach via a massive set of stairs running up to the front porch. We are surrounded by palm trees so our views are filled with swaying fronds out every window.

Whitney is a fan of creatively using organization to make the impossible happen.

Name: Tracey Dean, my daughter, and boyfriend along with two cats and a small dog Location: Coquitlam — British Columbia, Canada Size: 1,400 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned I live here with my 11-year-old daughter, my boyfriend (and idea executioner), two very patient cats, and one silly blind rescue min pin. I got this place a couple of years ago and gave it a complete gut job inside and out. Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Rustic bohemian eclectic.

Name: Ola Zwolenik, my husband and our dog Location: Bromley — London, United Kingdom Size: 2,005 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned My husband, our dog, and I moved to England from Poland in 2012. We fell in love with the idea of having a period property and in 2017 we decided to buy our first ever home. It’s a cute little terraced house in South East London. We started renovating right away, but still have some big plans for it. What is your favorite room and why?

Name: Shana Cohen and all of the pets that are on our farm! Location: Southwest Ranches, Florida Size: 800 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, owned My home resides at the back end of my family’s farm, Blue Stallion Farm. It is small and cozy, both from the outside and within. The entrance of my home overlooks the paddocks and barn where the horses are kept, truly capturing my passion and essence.

Name: Blair Wilson, my spouse Stephen, and our two pets, Tina the dog and Masaki the cat Location: Historic downtown — Frederick, Maryland Size: 1,700 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned Three years ago we were living in suburban Washington D.C., and on a weekend drive we discovered charming and picturesque Frederick, Maryland.

Name: Chelsea Del Rio, and cats Cat Millett and Fannie Purrkins Location: Sunnyside, NYC Size: 300 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years, renting I share my apartment with my feline companions Cat Millett and Fannie Purrkins (named after queer women in history because that’s my thing). This home was a miracle.

It's only 280 square feet and currently home to two parents, a baby, and a dog.

Name: Ashley Amaral, my husband, Alipio. Our son Benny and our dog Georgie Girl Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho Size: 3,100 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, owned When my husband and I met we were both living in Europe and then our first few years of marriage we lived in Brazil. So this was our first home we bought together in the States. When we moved in it was referred to by the neighborhood as “the Skittles house” because it was every color of the rainbow!

Name: Carla Moreno Location: Seattle, Washington Size: 225 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting Seattle is an expensive city and finding a place to live that doesn’t break the bank is hard. Over the years, I’ve learned to live with less and in the process, I’ve learned a lot about my needs and wants. As I get older, I desire experiences more than things, but I feel my apartment reflects my creative home making skills.

Name: Samantha Stein Location: New York, NY Size: 275 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting Last year, I got moved back to my home city of New York for a project I’m working on. I was excited, but unfortunately it meant a year separated from my longterm boyfriend. I used the opportunity to finally snag a little studio in the West Village and live with just the bare essentials by myself before he comes home!

Name: Alexandra Curtis and dog Jake Location: Old Town — Scottsdale, Arizona Size: 831 square feet Years lived in: 5 months, owned I bought this condo in July. Designed and renovated it myself (renovated with the help of a few people). My last house was white and bright, so I figured I would do the complete opposite with this new space. With such tall ceilings it allowed for a much darker color palette. I live here alone with my dog, Jake.

Name: Amanda Campbell, husband and two daughters Location: Beaumont, Alberta, Canada Size: 1,500 square feet Years lived in: 10 years, owned Our house was built in 1993 on four acres of land just outside Edmonton, Alberta (Northern Canada!). When we purchased the property in 2008 it was in need of a little TLC… the original pink carpet, ’90s popcorn ceilings, and dated fixtures were all still intact.

Name: Joanna Reeves, husband, two children Location: Bath, England Size: 2,800 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, owned I always wanted to live in a tall skinny house and luckily my husband is pretty laid back (or doesn’t like an argument), so he agreed. It was very much a fixer upper and in the first six weeks we had 16 new windows, a new staircase, and most rooms re-plastered. Oh and made the roof rainproof. Every wall and ceiling is white, but it’s still a really colorful house.

Name: Chris Murphy Location: Saugatuck, Michigan Size: 950 square feet Years Lived In: 3 years, owned I own a vintage (and new) home furnishings store in Chicago, District Chicago. Whenever I needed a break I found myself going up to Michigan to camp to de-stress and be in nature. A couple years into this routine, I started looking for a house that would help with my escape.

From the bold use of art to the dreamy and dark purple bedroom, this Beverly Hills condo packs in lots of inspiring ideas for decor.

Name: Christina, husband Kele Dobrinski, and three kids Location: Serene Lakes atop Donner Summit, California. About 10 miles from Truckee and just two miles from Donner Lake. Size: 2,800 square feet Years lived in: 1 years, owned Our family is full of adventure seekers who love skiing, hiking and kayaking, so discovering an unloved A-frame cabin tucked away in the off-the-beaten path community of Serene Lakes had a ton of appeal to us.

Name: Emily and Kevin Location: Reston, Virginia Size: 2,800 square feet Years Lived In: 1.5 years, owned This was the fifth house we put an offer on and we went into it thinking, “What’s the worst thing that can happen? We actually get the house?” Then we got it. We liked the lot, the yard, and… that’s about it. But we knew we wanted a house that we could gut and renovate, so this definitely fit the bill.

Name: Casey Mason and Cole Mason, our new daughter Sunny, and our rescue pups Bodhi and Shea Location: Ventura, California Size: 1,466 square feet Years Lived In: 2 1/2 years, owned This is the first house that my husband and I purchased together, so for that reason alone, it is very special to us. When we were looking for our first home, we knew that we wanted a fixer upper. The uglier the better in our minds. As long as the bones are good, we knew that anything cosmetic could be fixed.

Name: Jonathan, husband Ryan, Sadie (a 5-year-old Devon Rex), and Robbie (a 3-year-old American Cocker Spaniel) Location: Adams Morgan — Washington, D.C. Size: 925 square feet Years lived In: 3 years, renting I’ve lived in this apartment for three years along with my husband Ryan, and our two sweet pets, Robbie the American Cocker Spaniel, and Sadie our Devon Rex—both rescues, both crazy.

Name: Lindsay Wallstrum (founder of Leaf + Lolo, a full-service interior and plant design firm), husband, 2 dogs, 100+ plants Location: Petaluma, California Size: 2,100 square feet Years lived in: 4.5 years, owned My husband and I bought our home four and a half years ago. We took our time finding the right space for us and our two dogs. After visiting many open houses, I finally wrote down exactly what I wanted in a home.

Interior designer Tal offered the landlord a deal: She'd redecorate the large apartment if they paid half of the renovation investment!

Name: Amanda and her boyfriend Location: Pacific Heights — San Francisco, California Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: 2.5 years, owned I’m Amanda, an aspiring graphic designer currently attending UC Berkeley Extension’s Professional Program in Graphic Design. I live in Pacific Heights with my boyfriend, John, who works in finance.

Name: Katie Colleran Location: West Dover, Vermont Size: 3,000 square feet Years lived in: 4 months, owned My husband Tom and I had been toying with the idea of making over a rental house for a while when we stumbled on this 1965 cabin at the foot of Mount Snow in West Dover, Vermont. The house had been sitting vacant for several years when we bought it, and it was full of all kinds of not-so-delightful little treats: two pairs of men’s boxers from the early aughts!

Name: Siouxsie Crow, husband, and two kids Location: Sussex, United Kingdom Size: 840 square feet Years lived in: 15 months, owned We bought our house in August 2017; it’s number 37 and I was 37 when we moved. It’s our first home, as previously we’ve rented. I live here with my husband Sholto, who is an art director and all-around creative. We have two children: a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a third on the way.

Name: Graham Gardner, partner Sarah, and dog Murphy Location: Jamaica Plain — Boston, Massachusetts Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting We are Graham and Sarah—both nearly 30, nearly married, and together for nearly eight years. So far, so good. Sarah is the smart one—thoughtful, sometimes shy, always empathetic, and caring.

Name: Jenii Stewart and two cats, Robin Hood and Will Scarlet Location: Uptown — Chicago, Illinois Size: 400 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, renting I’m a graphic designer and animator and love plants (I’m slowly growing a green thumb), bugs, and my two cats, Robin Hood and Will Scarlet. They both have an excess of personality and it keeps things interesting. Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Mid-century bohemian nerd chic.

Name: Ayanna Barton, family, and short term rental clients Location: Kerhonkson, New York (Hudson Valley) Size: 820 square feet Years lived in: 8 months, owned Our vacation cabin is located in Kerhonkson, a hamlet in the Catskills only two hours from New York City. Initially, I hesitated for a long time to purchase the little cottage. I had recently purchased another home and did not have any plans of buying another property so soon.

Name: Wendy Lau, husband Kwan, and a whole lot of plants Location: Toronto, Ontario Size: 1,770 square feet Years lived in: 10 months, owned I was first drawn to this house for the natural lighting and the sunroom and I knew that it would be perfect for all my plant babies. It was a true labor of love as we renovated this 1970s home to update it to its full potential. We took down all the interior walls and made it one big open space.

Name: Lauren Thorp, husband, two children, cat and dog Location: Historic Shaw Neighborhood — St. Louis, Missouri Size: 2,700 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned My husband, two young children, dog, and cat live in our 122-year-old home in the Historic Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Our house was rehabbed down to the studs in 2016 by investors who we purchased it from.