Name: Maria and her two children Location: Sant Gervasi — Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,184 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting Maria came to live in this apartment when she moved from Madrid with her two children two years ago. The apartment once belonged to her grandmother, so Maria remembers fondly coming to play here with her cousins when she was a toddler. The space looks quite different these days, though. When her grandmother lived here, it was heavy on dark wood.

Name: Coni, Albert and Mia (plus their cat!) Location: Ciutat Vella — Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,023 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, owned When Swiss fashion designer Coni met Albert in Barcelona years ago, their adventures as a couple were off to a good start. After a year of dating, they moved into a small apartment in Barcelona. However, they knew they’d have to upgrade to a bigger space when Coni became pregnant with their daughter.

Name: Mireia Location: Gracia — Barcelona, Spain Size: 969 square feet Years lived in: 12 years, owned As a pattern designer, Mireia has an eye for mixing different textures and styles, and the beautiful Barcelona apartment she’s owned for over a decade has proven to be the perfect canvas for her to show off her styling skills.

Name: Gloria, her husband and two children Location: Sabadell — Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,615 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, owned Being a fashion designer gave Gloria the opportunity to travel and find trends and styles from all over the world. A lover of color and texture — her passion is mixing them with the minimal and white design sensibilities of Scandinavia. A feeling of “This is it!” washed over Gloria when she found this 1930s apartment in Barcelona.

Name: Sylvia Location: Barcelona, Spain Size: 1722 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, renting After practicing as a lawyer for fifteen years, Sylvia found her true calling at the age of forty and became a stylist. She likes to call it “wardrobe art” because her job is not only following trends but also looking for special pieces with a story to tell. She loves Africa, especially Marrakesh, where she wants to live one day.

Name: Pamelyn Rocco, her husband Chris and their daughters Moorea and Harlow Location: Playa Vista, California Size: 3,600 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned Pamelyn and her husband were actually familiar with this house before they ever moved in — they used to live next door! Though it wasn’t exactly their style, she saw the potential and knew with a little design direction it could be amazing. Even more incredible?

Name: Anna Lane, her husband Chris and their two children Noah and Rose Location: Los Angeles, California. Size: 1,700 square feet Years lived in: 7 years, renting When Anna and her husband moved into this house, she was determined to create a homey, warm place to live. The previous tenants of this rental had a vastly different design style than Anna, but she painted, bought furniture from flea markets, did some gardening and even updated the floors.

Name: Andrea Howe Location: Seal Beach, California. Size: 2,300 square feet Years lived in: 7 years, owned When Andrea Howe and her family started searching for a house, nothing they found was what they were looking for. This house had one thing going for it though: “The decision of purchasing this one was the tree in the backyard,” says Andrea.

Name: Ares, her husband and their baby Location: Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,292 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting When Ares was on the hunt for a larger apartment for her growing family, the search was initially a bust. Nothing seemed to be what she was looking for, that is until this unit came across her radar. Which is kind of surprising considering the state of the space when she found it.

Name: Flavia and her family Location: Newport Beach, California Size: 3,600 square feet Years lived in: 10 years, owned It took looking at nearly 200 houses, but Flavia and her family found the perfect home in this house when they moved from North Carolina to Orange County in 2008. Well, almost perfect. While it was a very nice space when they bought it, it never quite reflected the family’s style and taste.

Name: Dolores and Marco Location: Barcelona, Spain Size: 969 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned Dolores refuses to follow trends. As an art director, set decorator and interior designer, she’s able to see her home as a blank canvas. And it’s a bright, light-filled space she’s intentionally filled with elements that feature character and history.

Name: Leti, Julian and Helenita Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina Size: 1,184 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned When it came to starting the project of renovating their apartment for their new family, Leti and Julian were all in. They worked with an architect to help with the layout of the space, but the couple was very hands on: “We chose every material in this apartment.

Name: Irma and Robert and three kids Location: Cerdanya, Spain Size: 2,691 square feet Years lived in: 9 years, owned With tall ceilings, incredible art pieces and sweeping views of the Pyrenees mountains, this house charms everyone that walks in. But it didn’t always look this way. It might be hard to imagine cows ever being in this living room, but while this is a modern architectural structure now, it used to be a barn! The beautiful original wooden ceiling beams give it away.

Name: Carles Ruiz Carrión Location: Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,184 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting While sharing the place you live with the place you work might sound exhausting, for interior designer Carles Ruiz Carrión, it’s a perfect match. When he was looking for a space to run his design business out of four years ago, he spent a year searching for just the right spot.

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.

Architect Andrea Serboli's Barcelona apartment was completely renovated, and it's now a sleek, bold, and modern home.

Name: Eli and Luis Location: El Borne — Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: Owned 2 years Though Eli and Luis consider themselves modern nomads, they decided to settle down in one spot two years ago. That’s when they found this apartment in Barcelona’s El Borne neighborhood. Luis wasn’t initially sure it had any potential; the apartment wasn’t in great shape. But Eli fell for it from the moment she saw it and convinced Luis to give it a chance.

Name: Nacho, Irene and baby Ray Location: Gracia – Barcelona, Spain Size: 750 square feet Years lived in: Owned for 10 years Nacho bought this 1930s attic apartment in rough, raw shape. The old kitchen is where the current kitchen is today. The beautiful mezzanine (that houses the master bedroom) didn’t even exist. After two years of remodeling it solo, he was ready to enjoy his loft “for one.” But then he met Irene, and a little later, a third resident arrived: baby Ray!

Name: Alida and Alex Location: Gracia – Barcelona, Spain Size: 480 square feet Years lived in: 6 months, renting Having a boyfriend who works at IKEA can make it difficult not to turn your entire home into an IKEA catalog, but as Alida and Alex’s small Spanish apartment shows, infusing your home with cute details can completely transform the personality of a place. Their apartment is best described as an adorable pastel nook, a rare style in Barcelona.

Name: Pere and Marta Location: Gracia — Barcelona, Spain. Size: 970 square feet Years lived in: 7 years, rented Pere has been living in this Barcelona apartment for seven years; a long time for a rental. And even more impressive when you learn he’s been sharing it with one of his best friends. How has such a feat of rental roommate relations been achieved?

Name: Sara, her husband and their three children Location: Sant Gervasi — Barcelona, Spain Size: 7,000 square feet Years lived in: 5 years, owned Sara’s no fan of minimal design. Thankfully, she’s got plenty of room to get as ornate as she wants. Chandeliers from France, rugs from Russia — every object’s got a story. But the house does, too: It used to be an old school!

Name: Lucia and Paige Location: Highland Park — Los Angeles, California Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, rented Roommates Lucia and Paige have a decorating motto when it comes to treasures from thrift stores: If you want it, you get it! That’s how they were able to create a pretty home even though they don’t have a big budget. The roommates say they complement each other perfectly: Paige is good at solving problems and Lucia is the handy one.

Name: Anna Location: Barcelona, Spain Size: 754 square feet Years lived in: 13 years, owned Anna has a degree in geography and has worked for 13 years as a publicist for IKEA, but after finally finishing her apartment’s two year-long renovation, I think it’s safe to say she also has quite the passion and expertise for design. Responsible for all of the design decisions in the 754-square-foot space, the biggest priority was a roomy and functional kitchen.

Name: Raul, Igone, Nora and Naida Location: Sagrada Familia — Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,600 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned As their children grew, Raul and Igone started to look for a bigger apartment where their two girls could have more space to run and have fun. House searching was not easy, however, and it took Raul and Igone three years to finally find the place. Though the apartment certainly didn’t look like it does now when they first viewed it.

Name: Blanca (Toco) Goñi, Fernando Oliver, little Clara, and dog Tigro Location: Palermo — Buenos Aires, Argentina Size: 1,077 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned A neutral color palette, natural materials, and white furniture are the trademarks of Toco Goñi, an Argentinian interior designer who’s worked for over seven years, mostly designing custom furniture for her clients.

Name: Carina Casanovas Location: Gracias — Barcelona, Spain Size: 3,000 square feet Years lived in: 25 years, owned Carina has been buying, restoring and selling antiques for 28 years. Antiques are such a part of her life, that her house reflects this passion as well. The home she’s owned for 25 years does have some antique store vibes, but it’s still cozy and home-like. And there are tons of things to look at, from skulls to religious art.

Name: Gianni Ruggiero, his wife Valeria Dubin, and their two daughters Olivia and Mila Location: Barcelona — Spain Size: 2,153 square feet Years lived in: 8 years, renting This big open Barcelona loft has seen a lot over its lifetime. In the 1960s, it was a photography studio, welcoming lots of models and colorful characters into its airy interior. When that photographer retired, he moved out and let his son rent the place: Gianni, an architect who appreciates simplicity in things.

Meritxell Ribé and Josep Puigdomènech are the designers behind Barcelona-based firm The Room Studio.