Name: Anna Location: Oak Park, Illinois For a few long months after I moved into my apartment last winter, I dreaded coming home each night. I’d just lost a spacious dream apartment in a devastating breakup. I’d lost the sunny windows and the working fireplace. And I’d lost the man I’d planned to come home to for the rest of my life. “I live here now,” I repeated aloud as I paced the short hallway between my new living room and bedroom.

Name: Margaux Location: Echo Park — Los Angeles, California We have a beautiful sun filled apartment in Echo Park, LA. The house itself is an Arts and Crafts/Craftsman bungalow type, originally built as a triplex in a historic neighborhood full of beautiful old Victorians and Arts and Crafts homes.

Name: Heather Location: Clerkenwell — London, England I moved to London with a few suitcases of clothes and not one home item. I thought it would be fun to start over, as designing my own places have been fun projects and my style evolves quickly. I was looking for charm and character and lots of light. I was flexible on the location, as long as it was fairly central London.

Name: Emily Location: Brooklyn, New York The charming loft that my boyfriend and I have called home for the last three years may soon be a distant memory. As cookie cutter condos are popping up everywhere in our neighborhood of South Slope Brooklyn, we are on the precipice of our loft housed on the top floor of a century- old building being converted as well.

Name: Aletha Location: Grand Haven, Michigan We spent almost a year restoring unique details to our modest-in-size Mid Century Modern home in Grand Haven, Michigan. We had been house searching for a year, and were outbid on three other Mid Century properties before touring this home tucked away on a quiet street off the beaten path. When we pulled into the driveway, I knew it was the one we’d been looking for!

Name: Jennifer Location: Newbury Park, California Our home is a 1959 post and beam ranch home (1,143 square feet) on nearly one acre of horse property. We gutted 3/4 of the home, leaving original character such as open beam ceilings. The three bedroom home is now a two bedroom with a large open concept living space that works for us It’s very bright, rustic yet refined and eclectic all at the same time!

Name: Lauren & Breeze Location: The St. Roch Neighborhood — New Orleans, Louisiana It’s not very often that you hear about two friends buying a home together. In fact, most people would warn against the idea. But that’s exactly what my best friend, Breeze, and I did last May. We both were in love with the city of New Orleans. NOLA was pure magic for us. We had talked about buying a home, fixing it up and decorating it together. It was our dream.

Name: Sarah Location: Williamsburg — Brooklyn, New York Hello! I’m a chef and founder of Salt House, and I created the ultimate entertaining space and sanctuary in my small (around 600 square feet) Williamsburg apartment. I work and live in this space, so there’s a big dining room table that me and my team work on during the day and then use for dinner parties in the evenings! We can seat up to 20 people, believe it or not!

Name: Elizabeth Location: Luzern, Switzerland Our home is a 4 bedroom, Swiss loft apartment spread across two floors. It’s a fantastic open space with tons of exposed timber and bright light. Although it’s been very tempting to embrace an entire Alpine lodge feel, our years spent in Indonesia lend a very global touch to the decor.

Name: Rachel Location: Clinton Hill — Brooklyn, New York My husband and I moved into this cozy 600 square foot-ish apartment (1 bed/1 bath) nearly 3 years ago. After living with multiple roommates in Bushwick in my early 20s, the apartment initially felt luxuriously spacious…at least in my memory! Fast forward 2 1/2 years later, my appreciation and impression of our apartment is continually evolving.

Name: Kati Location: Rice Village — Houston, Texas One year ago, I packed my cat Boots and everything I owned into a minivan and moved from New York City to Houston, Texas to be with my boyfriend. We rented a great apartment in Rice Village – near a host of boutiques, restaurants, and bars. This was our first time living together, and we were excited to curate an apartment that reflected both of our personalities. We wanted a combination of clean lines and comfort.

Name: Hana Location: Crown Heights — Brooklyn, New York As an interior designer, there’s always a bit of anxiety as to how to decorate my home. My husband and I recently moved to Crown Heights from a Park Slope duplex. The main reason we were looking to move is because I was starting my business and planning to work from home, like my husband. We needed a home with enough rooms to house both of our work spaces.

Name: Emily and Zack Location: Fishtown —Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Back in June, my husband Zack and I made an unexpected decision: we left our two-bedroom apartment in the posh Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of downtown Philadelphia to call a one-bedroom Fishtown flat home. We weren’t planning on moving when our previous landlord approached us about renewing our lease for a third year. But as it goes, one conversation led to another, and we began itching for a new experience.

Name: Savannah, Mike, Finn the cat and Nori the 3-legged Pit bull Location: Verdun, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Our apartment is on the ground floor of a triplex in the ever-evolving neighbourhood of Verdun. We probably visited about 30 apartments in the area before falling in love with this one. We were looking for a place that was pretty spacious because we both work from home and would be spending the majority of our time in the space.

Name: Alexandra and Aaron, Hank the dog and Ben the cat Location: Slidell, Louisiana When I got a job as a meteorologist at a New Orleans television station, I was thrilled to move home to the vibrant and unique city where I grew up. Shortly after, my soon-to-be husband joined me from his hometown in Texas. He’s more of a small-town person and preferred to live a little removed from the city.

Name: Erika and Charl Location: Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia The space is very similar to both our offices, which personally makes me feel so comfortable in my day-to-day. We moved in with Charl’s dining table – a refurbished monastery window which my dad broke immediately trying to get it inside – we since restored it with a huge glass shower window, which I personally think has made it look even better; and his black leather couches, my cow hide, plus our various bits.

Name: Alex Location: Hell’s Kitchen – New York, New York My studio is a big, modern space in Hell’s Kitchen. My friend recommended that I decorate my place like a boutique hotel room. That became the blueprint the my whole style. I created a bedroom area with a Gus Modern wingback bed and a great print of an Airstream. A half rectangle, grey bookshelf separates the living room area without blocking the sight lines to the window.

Name: Lianna Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin This condo building is in the Brewer’s Hill Neighborhood of Downtown Milwaukee. I fell in love with the condo from the moment I saw it. Packed with rich history, it used to be a shoe factory and was abandoned for years before it was re-purposed into condos. I love the cream city brick detail that is characteristic of this area and hard to find.

Name: Virginia Location: Maitland, Florida My husband, Garrett, and I live in an 816 sq ft condo that we rent in Maitland, Florida. What we loved most when Garrett first came to view the condo and continue to – is the incredible lake view we have from our living room window. We are on a gorgeous Central Florida lake and the sunrises can’t be beat. (Check out our #goodmorninglakemaitland !) The condo complex was built in the 1950s but our unit has been updated.

Name: Emily & Ian Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan Our house is old—about 120 years old! It is in Heritage Hill, which is one of the largest and oldest urban historical parks in the country. Living in an old house has some quirks—our stairs are super creaky and the windows are heavy and made gasping sounds in the winter, but overall we love all the little unique parts of the house and the neighborhood.

Name: Fernanda Location: Brasília, Brazil I have always been a design lover and always felt this was my talent, but I ended up graduating in journalism. One day in 2011, I was writing an article about affordable design with a work friend when we encountered the site (we did an interview with you guys). I became really obsessed with the house tours and did my own blog on house tours in my city (Brasília, Brazil) inspired by the Apartment Therapy idea.

Name: Hannah Location: Tupelo, Mississippi I am incredibly lucky to live in my great-grandparents home on the land that used to be our family farm. My house is a converted 4-square home that my grandmother, Rooney, was born in. We don’t know the exactly age of the home, but it was definitely built before 1936 (Rooney’s birth year.) My green little house is completely surround by a white picket fence and directly behind it is our family lake.

Location: Brooklyn, New York I live in Red Hook, Brooklyn. I have been in this apartment for 4 years. It is a small 2 bedroom apartment with a really good sized back yard. I live here with my 10 year old Golden Retriever, Duke. The negative of being on the ground floor in a flood zone is that I was flooded during Sandy. I have since re-built and am happy to be back! My style is modern & eclectic. I am an avid thrift store, flea market and craigslist shopper. I love mixing styles and patterns.

Name: Lauren and Shawn Location: Toronto, Ontario Lovers, builders, crafters and believers that a Shared Life is truly a beautiful thing, our latest home renovation was a basement conversions from a dark uninviting space to a beautiful and bright retreat that we are renting as a B&B. Each detail was daydreamed about, hunted for and brought together to create a space for our guests to truly unwind and indulge in.

Name: Ford and Hillary Location: Houston, Texas In 2011, when we were ready to buy a home, we chose a very affordable (ahem sketchy at the time) neighborhood knowing that things in the area were changing and it was only 2 miles from downtown Houston. We purchased a 1910-ish home that had been a rental for the last 20 years and paid $85,000 for it.

Location: Los Angeles, California Katie is a photographer and submitted some gorgeous photos of her friends Matt and Ellen’s home! From Katie: “Ellen has a brilliant design mind and works at Sugar Paper LA. Matt is a writer/director/actor. They just received their two foster kids – the most precious twin boys. I asked Ellen to answer a few questions about her home and this is what she said. . .” My husband Matt and I have lived in our home for a little over two years.

Name: Kristine Renee Location: Sacramento, California After spending a couple of years working in Southeast Asia, relocating to Sacramento, CA was a big transition. Home has always been my most treasured oasis and I knew that in order to be content with my new geography, I must create a space that reflected me; my travels, stories, studies and adventures.

Name: Karla Location: Menasha, Wisconsin My husband and I live in a 1400 sq. ft home of our dreams. Often, the running joke from friends is, “have you left your house this weekend?”. The reality is we love our home and it is hard to leave. We were fortunate enough to find an architect who listened to “we-are-on-a-very-tight-budget-can-you-really-make-this-happen?” and he did (thanks Matt!).

Name: Maria and Tristan Location: Chicago, Illinois My husband Tristan and I have shared this classic Chicago graystone apartment together for a little over 3 years. It is roughly 1,200 sq. ft. with 3 bedrooms and 1 bath, featuring a giant kitchen, and separate dining room. We moved here from a very small garden apartment with low ceilings and little light, so we instantly fell in love with the 12’ ceilings, giant windows, and nearly double the floor space.

Name: Eric Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania My place is a converted Bath House – Built at the end of the 19th century, It was part of the Philadelphia Baths Association until it’s closing in 1947. It was then a Glass manufacturing building until it was used for “local transient activities.” We are its first-ever tenants.

Name: Cat Location: Downtown Los Angeles, California My fiancé Alex and I live in the heart of DTLA’s historic core, a step away from all our favorite bars and restaurants. We love the excitement and bustling energy of this reviving community, but it’s nice being able to escape into our calm, monochromatic oasis. Our loft is less than 800 square feet in size but the high ceilings and large private outdoor terrace make the space feel airy and spacious.

Name: Joyce Location: Los Angeles, CA My little house is my ultimate happy place! I work in the interior design field so the aesthetic of my home and the state of my surroundings are very important to me. Before finding this little gem I was living in an apartment building and yearned for an entertainment space- somewhere that looked out into lush greenery. I couldn’t have gotten more lucky! It’s a bohemian wonderland with a porch that wraps around to reveal a romantic hammock.