Apartment

The walls of Marty's Lower East Side Apartment are covered in photos and notes from friends throughout the years.

By shopping secondhand and grabbing items off the street, Bronwyn Tarboton, a musical theater performer who runs the brilliant Instagram and TikTok accounts, @nyctrashtotreasures, was able to make her dream home an affordable reality.

Erin and Ben's flat sat vacant for two years and was run down and leaking in areas before they bought it. “However, when we saw it, both my husband and I knew it was what we had been looking for. It was a place where we could design from scratch what we wanted our home to be like..."

The best decorating advice artist Ben Cuevas ever received came from Amy Sedaris. "...[S]he says that she viewed her rental deposit as her design fee — which I think is just brilliant. If you’re renting, but plan to stay put for a while and want to really make your space your own, consider your deposit the fee you pay for being able to live in a space you truly love and can call your own."

When Katelyn Sailor and her husband, Kyle, decided to try living in New York City a year ago, they arrived with only their clothes, a bed, kitchen items, and some basic decor. 

In the past five years since AT toured Puno and Daniel's home, the loft has maintained many of its enviable qualities like gorgeous light and super cool vibes. But there have been lots of updates, too.

Michal Kolaczkowski and Trevor Kuhn have been renting this 300-square-foot studio apartment on New York City's Upper West Side for about seven months.

Ainsley's small rental apartment's size and atypical angles offered quite the design challenge: to fit in useful, cohesive items without feeling too cramped or cluttered. But she tackled the challenge beautifully and cleverly.

Amanda's apartment in the Arts District of Los Angeles sits above an old factory. Her Japanese-inspired home is filled with a neutral palette that gives the space a clean and homey feel to allow conversations between friends to flow.

Brianna Holt, a freelance journalist, took this plain condo and transformed it with a Parisian Modern-inspired aesthetic, fully remodeling the kitchen, renovating the bathroom, installing built-in shelves, and adding new doors and crown molding throughout.

Emma and David were dating long distance for two years before moving in together. As soon as they saw this apartment on Craigslist, they knew it was the one. They blended their aesthetics by adding new art and toning down colors.

Kelly and Nick's apartment in Pigalle, Paris reflects their love for vintage clothing, flea market hunting, and music.

Fairy tales, period dramas, and fantasy novels have all lent imagination to this space. "I feel inspired among rich jewel tones like emerald green and plum, and have put up a fairy light canopy in every place I’ve lived — I like to make my inner child happy!" exclaims Lauren Park, who shares this home with partner, Kevin, and their two cats.

Jahzeel and Joseph, who are both vintage furniture hunters and sellers, live with their two cats in a San Diego condo they renovated, replacing old appliances and bulky kitchen cabinets, adding fresh paint, and incorporating STUNNING vintage art and furniture pieces throughout. They also turned a closet into a top notch cat bathroom!

Allegra Rose Berger is a creative freelancer, influencer, and artist, and it has always been important to her to have a space that inspires her.

As a fashion accessory designer, Courtney is used to taking on creative projects and making art. With her studio apartment in Manhattan, she uses thrifted furniture and brings it back to life with a fresh coat of paint to add a finishing touch to her home.

When Victoria was subletting in New York for the summer, her cab home drove past a brownstone in Harlem with a "For Rent" sign in the window. She had her driver let her out early in front of the building that would become her new home.

Artist Michael Pybus turned a new construction white box into a wildly colorful home filled with vintage IKEA pieces, tropical fish, and an art studio.

Jamie and Mike moved to Chicago for grad school and never left. Now their home has given them a place to make the most of their small space while adding in items that bring them happiness.

During the pandemic, Brian left his apartment with a rotating cast of roommates and gave himself time to find his perfect home. When this loft in the West Village went up, he knew he had to have it. He has since converted the small space into a plant filled oasis.

Pratika and Mareya are roommates with an eye for design. They've made their small NYC apartment feel bigger with the use of natural light. They focus on surrounding themselves with things they love to complete the space.

Tessa and Roman have struck the perfect fusion between Mediterranean vibes downstairs and mountain style upstairs in their Barcelona apartment they renovated.

When Amino and Antonio moved into their Spanish home, they had to combine her "more is more" mentality with his "less is more" way of life. They've made the space their own embracing the five built in arches of their house.

Lauren brought her love for the '60s and '70s into her Brooklyn apartment through color, using orange as the main hue. The small studio features an orange mirror and couch and lots of cute retro decor elements to complete the look.

Katie has turned her Harlem apartment into a home by adding in her Alaskan roots and finding beauty in small spaces.

When it comes to the Brooklyn apartment of experiential designer Briana Guin, it’s clear that specific shades were chosen for her home from the beginning, down to the smallest details.

When designer Elena Petresku began creating a vision for Oksana's apartment, they were working together remotely and she didn't know if her vision -- or the power of gray -- would translate. Now they've created a modern space that balances the colors of the city.

Jussara Mallmann had always dreamed of decorating a home in a French style, so when her daughter moved abroad, she decided to renovate the home to create a space that was 100% true to her style.

Architect Emanuel de Sousa actually found this apartment by chance. When his sister spotted the place, de Sousa says it was rundown and abandoned, but he was leaving his rental of four years at the time, "so it was almost serendipity..." he says.

Diego Martinez's 600-square-foot space serves as his art studio, chill space, and office all at once. He knew that despite its small size, he would be able to make a home of it thanks to the view and all the natural light it gets.

Natalie Doef describes her style as bohemian, whimsical, modern, and fresh. "I tend to gravitate towards earthy features; I love incorporating natural materials like rattan, bamboo, clay, ceramic, and stone."

When fashion stylist and influencer China Calé and her family of five were on the hunt for a bigger apartment, they came upon this huge apartment that had lots of potential but needed work.

Mish, who founded design studio Tangerine Living, says this rental apartment was initially a very awkward studio with a tiny, unused upstairs storage room. But along with partner, Ryan, they redid floors, ceilings, doors, kitchen, bathroom, and decor... and all on a DIY budget!

Art director Valentina, her partner Rafael, and their cats Taco and Coco live and work in this sunny San Juan apartment filled with colorful murals and local art.

Fabien Eleb is a mid-century furniture dealer who runs the store, à demain, and shares this Paris rental apartment with his family.

Claire Arnaud and Julien Pasteau live in a high-rise building in Paris’ 20th arrondissement in a meticulously designed and decorated apartment.

Arnold d’Alger, the creator of bazar d’alger, and Bruno della Mattia, a web developer, have been renting this Paris apartment for three years.

Alice Gras and Anaïs Seguin share this charming rental apartment in Paris' 17th Arrondissement with their cat, Billie. They are the founders of the creative studio Girlzpop and of the media company, MOYO.

Marion's super small apartment in Paris' 11th arrondissement had lots of potential when she purchased it, and she's been DIYing a smart, functional, and fabulous home full of personality and character since moving in!

With so many different generations and personalities having to share the same home, the family hired designers Kasturi Wagh and Vineet Hingorani of kaviar:collaborative to help them design this apartment to work for everyone.

Originally from Kenya, Ash Appleton splits her time between London and this two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Nairobi’s vibrant Westlands’ neighborhood, which she has been renovating to reflect her “modern, bold, bright, blended, and whimsical” sense of style since purchasing in 2016.

Visual artist and designer⁠ Meagan Jain and her partner, Nikolas, fell in love with the skylights and the south-facing windows of this Brooklyn rental apartment. They also loved the amount of space; there is enough room for her art studio and more.

India, who's the owner and curator of the colorful home goods shop Apartment 528, lives in this incredibly colorful rental apartment in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Yuka, partner Daniel, and two fur babies, Bear and Penguin, share this colorful 700-square-foot Echo Park rental apartment.

Carla's duplex in Savannah had been rented to students and not updated in decades before she bought; one of the toilets almost fell through the floor when renovation began. Two years later and the whole place looks entirely different!

As an artist, Jessica has transformed her apartment into a colorful paradise. She fills the walls with her own art and works by other artists to make her home into a bright, DIYed space.

Tay is a set designer, builder, and DJ, and describes herself as an “audacious welder of dreamscapes,” like the colorful apartment she rents in Brooklyn.

Lærke Victoria, a creative living in the Danish capital, has thrown caution to the wind in her colorful, kaleidoscopic apartment, complete with a plethora of adorable DIY papier-mâché fruits.

Thanks to great layout planning and smart storage ideas, this couple's small apartment feels much bigger. And there's an adorable terrace, too!

"My favorite color is pink, which is also very evident in not just my apartment but anything I design at work too. If I can work the color pink into a project or my home, I will absolutely do it," says Briana Guin, who shares this 635-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with two roommates.

Astead W. Herndon thinks you should always invest in a good couch. His is a gorgeous pink one... a bold color suggestion made by a Hinge date!

Daniel Parkington and husband Geof Parkington share this 670-square-foot apartment with their pup, Stella.