Natasha and Rob somehow make it work in their East Village apartment, despite it being tiny!

This chef has an enviable kitchen, but there's so much more.

Name: Akhira N. Ismail Location: Fort Greene; Brooklyn, New York Size: 288 square feet Years lived in: 3 years Akhira is beautiful and brilliant and welcoming and warm, and her apartment is no different. With only 288 square feet and a modest budget, she’s created a space so stylish and functional that when you see the photos, you may want to move in immediately.

Name: Matt Rudkin Location: Hell’s Kitchen, New York, NY Size: 300 square feet Years lived in: 6 months; rented Matt’s apartment feels cool. It’s hard to tell if it’s the soothing grey of the walls or the pile of fluffy pillows placed carefully on the bed or the sunlight streaming in through an entire wall of windows, but the feeling you get immediately upon walking in the door is one of calm and relaxation. Matt moved to this diminutive space (300 square feet!

Name: Katie & Soloman Location: Arcata, California Size: ~750 square feet inside Years lived in: 5.5; Owned Have you ever dreamed of getting away from it all, maybe living in a little house with a big garden, growing your own food, making your own clothes? That’s life for Katie and Soloman, whose home in Arcata, a California college town 280 miles north of San Francisco, is full of color and warmth and the sense of a life well lived.

Name: Judy and Don, plus two little ones (and a dog) Location: Braeswood; Houston, Texas Size: 3,400 square feet Years lived in: 2 years Judy and Don’s architect, Gary Tran, made an unconventional design choice that transformed their entire home. Most Houston homes have the kitchen and living room on the first floor and the bedrooms on the second floor, but in this house everything is inverted; the public spaces occupy the top floor, with a view over the treetops beyond.