Name: Josef Location: Vrsovice — Prague, Czech Republic Josef, a 34 year old, Czech media professional, purchased this apartment in the hip Prague neighborhood of Vrsovice in 2009 and did little to no renovation, so last year he asked his friend Daniele, a 34 year old Italian interior designer, to help revamp the entire apartment. With a small budget available, they tried to save money on builders and did most of the work themselves apart from electric and plumbing.

Name: Ashley Mary Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Hello! My name is Ashley Mary of @ashleymaryart. I’m a freelance abstract painter and illustrator. I live and work out of a small, older apartment in Minneapolis with white built-ins that is charming as all get-out. I’m a frugal SOB so I pride myself on a finding unique and affordable decor that feels custom to my story and flavor. I want a space to feel above all bright, white and light so I can make colorful/crazy art.

Name: Jody Location: Carlsbad, California Our mid-century modern home is located in South Carlsbad, California. It was first owned by musician Harry James and model/actress Betty Grable and was a hangout for The Rat Pack. It was later owned by Dustin Hoffman. What initially sold me on the house was the 15 foot copper doors and giant wall that leads into a courtyard. The home is 2,900 square feet and mostly windows or doors that open up to the outside.

Name: Amy Location: Ballard — Seattle, Washington My husband and I (plus our two puggles) live in an 800 square foot loft in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. The location drew us in, but aside from the array of charming boutiques and restaurants just outside our building, we immediately fell in love with the soaring ceilings, exceptional natural light and covered outdoor space – a huge bonus given Seattle’s notorious rainfall!

Name: Jaclyn Location: Park Slope — Brooklyn, New York We are a young married couple living in Park Slope Brooklyn, trying to survive in New York, and our one bedroom apartment is absolutely everything to us! For starters, it is 75% MIRRORED… the kitchen cabinets, the kitchen island, the bathroom cabinets, both walls of the bedroom. It’s the very first thing people notice and talk about.

Name: Joanna Location: Silver Lake — Los Angeles, California When we saw this house, it was love at first sight. The lofted ceilings, leaded glass windows and striking dark wood floors knocked our socks off. Not to mention it had room for our little one who was on the way. My husband is an animation director and I’m an art director/interior designer, so having an inspiring place to live and work was extremely important, as well as having a walkable neighborhood.

Name: Janelle Location: Santa Ana, California I live in an 800 square foot industrial loft in Santa Ana, California. My apartment is located inside of an old spiral staircase factory, and my design studio is just downstairs. I choose to live here because as a creative entrepreneur it offers me flexibility in my daily workflow. Plus I love being surrounded by other artists, there is always someone around to bounce ideas off of. My studio is filled with all of my favorite things.

Name: Celine Location: East Bay, California I am an Interior Designer and would like to share how I styled my small, sweet apartment. Our apartment is located East Bay, California and is 1250 square feet. The first time I walked through this apartment, I truly felt at peace and believed that we could do something special here. Our style is eclectic, airy and chic. My husband, who is from Africa, wanted to keep a breeze of Africa as well. I worked to create a space that feels like home to us.

Name: Candida & Jeff Location: San Francisco, California My husband (Jeff) and I have lived in our tiny but ridiculously charming Apartment for around two years. We both wanted a home with charm, built in the 1920s and close to the ocean. We were looking at Studio and Jr one bedroom homes in San Francisco. I had actually been browsing Apartment Therapy to get inspo on how to decorate a small space, and saw a feature of a home that converted their walk in closet into a bedroom.

Name: Vanessa Location: Montréal-West — Québec, Canada Our home is a Craftsman style semi-detached brownstone built in 1926. The character and charm of the house’s architectural details are what sold us when we purchased it three years ago. The previous owners made us PROMISE that we would never paint over the woodwork or coffered ceilings as they were original features of the home.

Name: Sunny Location: Williamsburg — Brooklyn, New York I moved into this apartment in 2009 with a roommate when I was 26, needless to say it has gone through MANY changes, from bad vintage furniture to a lace teepee in the middle of the living room, to finally, my little sanctuary that I call home. My husband and I share this modest 700 square foot, two bedroom apartment and I love coming home to it.

Name: Tracey and Ruben Location: Loganville, Georgia Our 1,600 square foot apartment was featured as a House Call two years ago. In May of this year we purchased a 2,900 square foot home, our forever home, and we didn’t buy a thing! Not one piece of furniture. The only thing we’ve had to purchase are window treatments. Our new home has a ton of windows and a lot of natural light and we love it!

Name: Farida Location: IJburg — Amsterdam, Netherlands I live on the man-made island of IJburg, developed on reclaimed land in the former lake IJmeer. There is one bridge connecting IJburg to the rest of Amsterdam. The first residents moved to the neighborhood in 2002. I moved here in 2005, to a newly built apartment (900 square feet). I love living here because of the modern architecture, proximity to the lake and back in 2005 it was affordable to buy an apartment.

Name: Veronica Location: Vicenza, Italy Hi! I’m Veronica! I’ve lived with my husband Giuseppe and our cat Spulcy in our rented apartment for almost ten years. Our home is located in the heart of Vicenza, a city in Palladio in the north of Italy. I’m a designer in an artisanal leather factory and a visual artist. Giuseppe is a teacher of graphic design and an artist as well. Our style is eclectic, a little boho, and we love to customize our furniture and walls.

Name: Annie & Rush Location: Riverdale Park, Maryland I’m in public relations and Rush is an artist. We live in Riverdale Park, Maryland in a 1904 rambler with our cat, Osmond. Our neighborhood is in Prince George’s County, an inner-Beltway suburb of D.C. where we were both born and raised, so when we decided to buy a house it naturally felt like home. We bought our house in 2015 after months of hunting for an affordable apartment. Rents in the D.C.

Name: Ana Maria Location: Ottawa — Ontario, Canada I own an 800 square foot condo in the heart of downtown Ottawa. I have lived in the unit for exactly three years as of today. I purchased the unit for its open concept style and spacious rooms which makes it feel larger than it actually is. I was also attracted to the condo’s classic and high quality finishes that don’t go out of style. My decor style is classic rather than trendy.

Name: Nicole & Dave Location: Baltimore, Maryland Nicole and Dave are an artist and designer couple who discovered this hidden 900 square foot gem nestled in South Baltimore. Previously a box factory, the industrial-chic apartment boasts one bedroom, one bathroom and a studio with high ceilings and plenty of natural light. The space was furnished with modern pieces and a growing art collection that play off of the bold window lines and brick work.

Name: Anmarie Location: Wimbeldon — London, UK My husband John and I have been renting our south London flat for one year. It’s a two bedroom, one bath, ground floor flat in a purpose-built block of 32 similar flats. In our eight years of marriage we’ve lived in five rental flats and it seems creative decorating has occasionally left us high and not-so dry.

Name: Ashley Location: Portland, Maine When my fiancé and I moved back to Portland almost two years ago, a lot had changed. Portland had become not just the place to visit, but the place to live. It has many of the same features as bigger cities like New York, but with the easy of a small city. While we knew we wanted to find a place we could make into a home to live in for a while, we didn’t know how hard it would be to find. Real estate had changed.

Name: Audra Location: Parkfairfax — Alexandria, Virginia Our 900 square foot condo is located in Parkfairfax, one of the greenest residential areas in the DC metropolitan area. Built in the 1940s, it has plenty of little quirks that you can expect to find in an older home, but we love how it’s built with solid materials like sturdily laid brick and solid woods.

Name: Maria Location: Moscow, Russia Located in the old district of Arbat in Moscow, Russia, our three bed city center penthouse has lots of charm with its mix of modern and historical. Black marble retro fireplace, a mix of updated granite and original hardwood flooring, tall ceilings with crown molding and bright rooms. It’s a modest 128 square meters (1,378 square feet) but its layout makes our space feel bigger. Originally from the United States, we moved to Moscow as expats.

Name: Jody Location: Round Hill, Virginia We lived in a 3,500 square-foot house, and owned five other traditional American homes. One day, when looking over finances, we realized we were both working to support our home. The house owned us. At the same time, we’d been questioning our carbon footprint. I “blame” that on the Solar Decathlon.

Name: Mollie Location: West Loop —Chicago, Illinois My husband, Dave, and I have lived in this space for a little over a year. Prior to moving in we did an entire gut rehab of the space. The condo was originally a factory that was later converted to residential condos (imagine maple cabinets and dark granite counter tops).

Name: Victoria of Prospect Refuge Studio Location: Fulton Neighborhood —Minneapolis, Minnesota It’s been said that the house is “built like a ship” with a use for every space and nothing extra. This simple 1920s foursquare on the south end of Lake Harriet was ripe for a refresh when Minneapolis designer, and co-owner of Prospect Refuge Studio, bought it in 2014.

Name: Max & Mia (2 years and 3 months) Location: Austin, Texas My son Maxwell’s black and white nursery was actually featured on Apartment Therapy when he was born in 2014. When I found out I was expecting another baby just 14 months later, I was excited to update the nursery to welcome our baby girl. We absolutely needed another bed or crib and a larger dresser to make room for two kiddos.

Name: Mia Location: Bed-Stuy — Brooklyn, New York I live with my boyfriend and our roommate in a charming two-bedroom brownstone in Bed-Stuy. It is a fairly tiny (700 square feet) home, but it is very cozy and charismatic. The boys are from Florida and comically obsessed with orange so that color can be found all over the apartment.

Name: Gina Location: Canberra — Australian Capital Territory, Australia Located in the leafy suburb of Hughes, Canberra, Australia, our newly built architectural home uses contemporary black metal cladding and red brick to connect the house with the more traditional homes in the area. We originally bought the land nine years ago with a small white brick house on the block and made some renovations immediately to make the house liveable.

Name: Ana Location: Tacoma, Washington After a long house hunt last year, I bought my first home in early October. It is a 1921 fixer-upper craftsman with good bones that I bought in lieu of having the money to buy a “nicer” place. But after much elbow grease I now have the house I couldn’t afford! I am a special events designer by day and I run an online vintage shop by night. I think my space is unique as it is a showcases of my eclectic worldly style on a budget.