Elaine Musiwa

A restored garage space is color therapy for your eyes, an aromatic journey for your senses, and a calm vibe for your soul.

"We can see ourselves spending the next couple of years making this our home."

This might be the most beautiful Murphy bed of all time.

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: 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.

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

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: Laura Serventi, husband Filippo Del Vita, and their 5-year-old son Location: Bedford-Stuyvesant — Brooklyn, New York Size: 900 square feet Years Lived In: 10 years, renting Artist and photographer Laura Serventi grew up in Argentina, spent some time studying photography in Italy, and in 2007 moved to New York, where she’s been since.

Name: Rachel Waters Location: Sunnyside — Queens, New York Size: 850 square feet, one bedroom Years Lived In: 1 year, renting Rachel has lived in NYC for seven years, previously in Kensington, Brooklyn.

Much of the items in this industrial Brooklyn loft were found on the side of the road, the Craiglist free section, or this building's "freeshelf."

Name: Emma Orlow, roommates Location: Bedford-Stuyvesant — Brooklyn, New York Years Lived In: 2 years, renting Emma Orlow doesn’t just write about food, she makes art with it.

Name: Monique Vatine Location: Williamsburg — Brooklyn NY Years Lived in: 1.5 years, renting Freelance fashion stylist Monique Vatine likes visual and tactile moments in fashion and decor. Her one-bedroom Williamsburg rental apartment has a distinct boho chic aesthetic, punctuated by a great use of prints, patterns, and color. And lots of plants.

Name: Ainsley Gardner, Brandon Stewart, and Betty Cat Location: Chelsea — New York City Size: 737 square feet Years Lived In: 1 year, renting “One of the challenges of living in a newer rental is trying to bring character to the space without making permanent changes,” explained Ainsley Gardner, who’s been sharing this rental apartment in Chelsea with her partner Brandon and their cat, Betty.

Name: Emily Kellerman Location: Ditmas Park — Brooklyn, NY Size: 450 square feet| Years Lived In: 3 years, renting Prop stylist Emily Kellerman’s small studio apartment is proof you don’t need a ton of space—or separate rooms—to live beautifully and well. We first saw a sneak peek of her small 450-square-foot Brooklyn rental apartment in a house call, but I wanted to see more.

Name: Amy Ilias, Jim Denney (and kitties McCabe, Billie Pilgrim, and 3) Location: Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Size: 3,200 square feet Years lived in: 21 years, owned As the Executive Vice President of Art & Design for ABC Carpet & Home, you could definitely say Amy Ilias knows design. And the Carroll Gardens house she’s owned for over two decades is a beautiful display of her elegant and design-forward style.

Name: Mallory Fletchall and David Rhoads, and their two cats Michael and Kiki Location: Greenpoint, Brooklyn Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, renting If Mallory and David’s Brooklyn rental looks familiar, it may be that you’ve caught a drool-worthy snapshot of it on her Instagram account, which has over 71K followers. It’s no wonder.

Name: Carly Fuller and her boyfriend Martin Location: Hell’s Kitchen — Manhattan, NY Size: 450 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting There wasn’t much of an opportunity for Carly Fuller to add her own style to this small Hell’s Kitchen rental when she moved in with a roommate, who had already been living there. But when the roommate moved out a year ago, Carly’s boyfriend Martin moved in, and the blank space was ready to be refreshed and filled.

Name: Olivia Muenter, her boyfriend Jake, and their dog Winnie Location: Upper East Side, NYC Size: Not sure Years lived in: 1.

Name: Grace Flynn and her boyfriend, Tyler Tronson Location: Astoria, New York Size: 425 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, renting Grace’s studio is located in Astoria where longtime residents hang flower pots on their patios and wine bars host signs that kindly ask for smokers to stand by the tree, out of consideration for their neighbors.

"Aesthetic goals are cute but a home filled with good energy and things you genuinely love is even cuter."

Name: Joey Meyers, Mark Baehser, and Bridget (Cat) Location: Lincoln Park Neighborhood of Jersey City Size: 3,200 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned It comes as no surprise that the owners of this home, Joey Meyers and Mark Baehser of Ball & Claw Vintage fame, are part of Brooklyn’s chicest co-op, Dobbin St. While scouting for vintage finds for their stores in Bushwick and Williamsburg, the couple makes sure to keep the most precious items for their own home improvements.

Name: Rachael Bennett and cute puppy, Kuma Location: Crown Heights — Brooklyn, NY Size: 900 square feet Years lived in: 6 months, renting Architect Rachael Bennett doesn’t think you should be scared of designing without color. “I find many people think that ‘neutrals’ or ‘black and white’ is either going to be boring (beige on beige on beige, or worse, sterile and cold),” she writes.

Name: Kate Pearce, husband, and kids, Eva and Jo Location: Long Island, New York Size: 2,300 square feet Years lived in: 10 months, owned Having studied Art History, Kate Pearce spent many years immersed in the art world, interning at places like the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, and more. But it wasn’t just art that fascinated her; she also fell in love with antiques.