Apartment

There are colorful and cool murals, 50+ house plants, cool secondhand furniture finds, and a plant hanging idea that'll make you want to grab a ladder today.

Decorating her home is an outlet for her creative energy and most of the brightly colored paintings scattered throughout the space are her own.

This apartment features original hardwood floors, brick fireplace with landscape motifs, and huge floor-to-ceiling windows.

Actress, podcaster, and writer Julie Klausner's NYC rental apartment features a neon sign, stripes, and fake cakes and flowers in the entryway, wild paint colors in the living room, dessert-themed wallpaper in the kitchen, and more.

Kristin and Joel splashed color on all the walls, added a couple murals, painted the kitchen cabinets, tile-stenciled the cement floors, added molding to doors and swapped all the lighting, faucets, and doorknobs to make this space fully their own.

Stacey O'Brien has personalized her 800-square-foot rental apartment with books, art, and a little bit of driftwood DIY.

Living in a small studio apartment has made Senaida realize you don’t need a lot of space; you just need a little bit of creativity and storage options.

The apartment's building is about 100 years old and has lovely vintage features including tall ceilings, which make the small space feel even larger and luxurious.

This home is COMPLETELY unrecognizable after a gorgeous remodel.

Hildos, an artist, channeled her anxiety of the challenging last year into creativity, taking on some major home decorating projects. "It took a lot of patience, research, building, and injuries."

These podcasters and founders of an events company consider the dining room table as the anchor oftheir home... and it's now has become their podcast recording studio, too. "In many ways, this is the space where we can still bring people together and now instead of feeding their mouths, we are feeding their spirit with inspiration."

For Mitch, going tiny was a way to minimize housing costs. "It also helps encourage me not to buy things I do not need, while being able to curate my space with nice things I really like. I like to call it 'tiny luxury.'"

"Creatively finding a way to accommodate a good work/life balance within 734 square feet took some time and unique design decisions."

Athlete and social media strategist Whitney Mitchell and her roommate share this two-bedroom apartment in New Orleans' Lower Garden District. It has tall ceilings, exposed brick, and lots of colorful art.

Alann says that nearly everything in this apartment was either found, stolen from his parents’ house, or picked up at a flea market or yard sale.

Since being trapped inside because of quarantine, Jessie Ruane found solace in painting (and painting...) all her walls and redefining her style.

Alexa shares this rental apartment with a roommate, and says it's been "the perfect place to hang out with friends and survive a pandemic when there is nowhere to go."

Although the apartment has a mini fridge and no oven, Gina Luisa is able to cook full meals with a toaster convection oven and built-in hot plates on the counter.

Sarah describes her studio apartment as a mini palace. "It has the regal feel of a a kingdom (very much inspired by Palace of Versailles), the allure of a Parisian apartment on a summer afternoon, with a rich and luxurious decadent decor."

Laurel created a layered, romantic vibe in her rental apartment inspired by the psychic shop on the ground floor. She painted each room a deep, textured color, hunted down cheap vintage furniture, and added excessive amounts of rugs, curtains, fairy lights, and incense.

The rental duplex has all the original details, including an arched picture window, hardwood floors, and Spanish tile.

"It’s all about collecting pieces slowly and filling up your home with things that represent you and your personality."

This artist's home is like a colorful play palace.

When Rachel K first took a tour of this place, she knew immediately this was the spot for her. "There is a beautiful garden surrounding the apartments, it has gated security, and is a 10-minute drive to restaurants and shopping centers."

From doubling the shades as a projector screen to a side table that can double as a coffee table, Vivian spent a lot of time taking measurements for this micro condo. "Just inches can make a huge difference for small spaces."

Writer Jessica Cumberbatch Anderson has managed her sanity during quarantine by tackling some home refresh projects that were on her to-do list.

There's also an amazing space-saving and functional IKEA product that makes studio living easier!

This designer's rental apartment is FILLED with gorgeous vintage gems.

When Julian moved into this rental apartment the walls were beige and the terrace was just an empty concrete space. But he got the landlord's permission to repaint the flat and decorated it on a shoestring budget with pieces found online, at local auctions, and on eBay or Gumtree.

Clay Crider and his husband, Julian Kline didn't plan on having a monochromatic living room, but they "fell in love with the paint color and then the two blue couches, and it all started to fall into place."

Daria and husband, Faizal, decided to use Peranakan patterned cement tiles for the kitchen and balcony floors because they're just "beautiful and evoke a sense of old-school Singapore charm that we both love."

Architect Samantha Stein and her fiancé moved from a studio apartment to a slightly larger apartment in the middle of a pandemic (and while on a budget) but the result is quite dreamy despite the challenges.

The apartment initially didn't have a lot of opportunity for light outside of the gorgeous natural light during the day and one light source in the kitchen, so the renter's parents installed under cabinet lights and lights behind the bed frame.

Pia Thompson is the founder of Sweet Digs, where she teaches clients how to get their homes in order. The Brooklyn rental home she shares with her young daughter is spacious, tidy, and yes, incredibly organized.

Esi Agbemenu is drawn to fun, bold colors, big patterns, and glam accents.

Mariana's condo is new construction and initially lacked architectural charm, but she brought life into the space by mixing her own paint colors, sourcing things secondhand, using what she already had, DIYing what she didn’t, and investing in a few things that could really make a difference.

Author and New York Times journalist Jessica Bennett explains that while it's useless in terms of noise or light, her loft's open wall/bookshelf makes for a lovely zoom background.

Brendan used a bookshelf to divide his narrow studio apartment, carving out a cozy little cocoon of a living room, and a bright little "millennial jungle" bedroom nook.

Both uncluttered AND colorful, Faith Roberson's small studio apartment has brilliant storage ideas in the kitchen, bathroom, cabinets, drawers, and even the shower. She also has an amazing DIY art piece in her kitchen that may inspire your own project.

This flat is naturally beautiful with large windows, lots of natural light, and exposed brick, but renter Sruthi Ramesh made the space infinitely more lovely and cozy by adding light textiles, a mirror for light to bounce off of, and nice lighting.

"Don't be afraid to paint it and use exciting color. It's amazing how you can express yourself by declaring your home."

Myriam uses mirrors, lots of plants, and her favorite color orange to make her small rental studio apartment a cozy and warm place where she can forget the outside world.

Blogger and fashion stylist Hayley Hughes describes her Australian rental home's style as "Think modern 'Golden Girls,' heavily pink with lots of vintage and quirky pieces and lots and lots of art!"

Professional photographer Eric Garcia has worked from home for five years and knows a thing or two about designing a home that you both have to live AND work in.

When COVID hit and ruined Mike Han's restaurant dream before it could open, he pivoted from sushi to art, transforming his small apartment into an art gallery.

Now that Ricardo is working from home, he reimagined one of his closets to create a sleeping nook with a platform bed with storage, allowing more room for a work station.

Michael got creative when it came to compartmentalizing functions without ruining the openness. Multi-functionality is at play everywhere: His desk doubles as a nightstand, bench as a coffee table, and dining table as counter space.

Molly Robbins thoroughly frequented all of the great antique shops in the neighborhood to find great anchoring pieces like a mid-century modern lamp, dainty vases, Lucite nesting side tables, and a statement marble coffee table.

Fashion stylist and editor Audree Kate Lopez used storage furniture to turn a small one-bedroom apartment into a home with a living room, separate office, bedroom, and walk-in closet.

Christina was drawn to this apartment's details (like the funky bathroom tile), but some details were outdated and tired, so she added removable peel-and-stick floor tiles and faux peel-and-stick subway tiles to her kitchen to give it a renter-friendly upgrade.

Through her business Maximizing Tiny, Shamika helps clients with practical and creative solutions—like what size furniture to purchase for a small home and how to maximize storage space. And she's also designed a smart, functional, and ultra stylish home in just 750 square feet for her and her family.

Creative technologist Amy Wibowo's small San Francisco studio apartment is packed with personality, including a mermaid headboard of her dreams.

Amarachi Ukachu's tropical bohemian New Orleans rental cottage has copper contact paper on the cabinets, a peel-and-stick tile backsplash, and an ingenious lounge sectional made from affordable floor pillows.

This renter hasn't been afraid to make temporary improvements like swapping out ugly kitchen pendants lights, switching out cabinet knobs, and more to create a gorgeous home.

The vintage bungalow was originally designed by an artist in the '80s who added special touches like wood plank walls and a mosaic tile bathroom floor. Maxie and her dad worked together to transform the teeny backyard patio into a dreamy jungle oasis.

Designer Adnan Anwar replaced a standard light fixture with a lantern, hung a mirror to emphasize light and ceiling height, employed vintage bowls to corral clutter, and used plenty of other smart small space and renter tricks to decorate this tiny apartment.

Battling beige wall-to-wall carpeting and plain wall paint colors isn't easy when you're renting, but Dominique Fluker played around with intentional use of shapes and colors to create a fresh look that matches her and her partner's style.

Nicole moved into this apartment in the middle of the March 2020 Covid lockdown, so she had to buy the majority of her furniture either through Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.

The tiny studio has been a challenge for storage, especially because Nina has a lot of stuff, but it's forced her to be super clean and come up with smart organizational solutions.

"My first weekend in town, I went to the local thrift shop where I found my couch for only $15 (just one reason why I love living in the Midwest). Using it as an anchor for the space allowed me to shop much more intentionally."

Kelsie bought this condo after the end of a long term relationship and has spent the last one and a half years turning this into a dream cocoon.

Sandra and Carlos made this home their own by tearing down walls to create an open concept space, updating the floors and windows, and blending personal touches throughout.

It's a delightful mix of mid-century furniture, handmade items from contemporary makers, an impressive art collection, and some pretty good plants.

Designer Julie Mitchiner didn’t want to take away from the character of this classic Chicago home or its great architectural bones, but still wanted to make it their own. She accomplished this feat with paint, wallpaper, and other DIY design elements.

Sound musician, artist, teacher and meditation leader Jackie Cantwell is an absolute expert in making small spaces stunning. And she has a meditation space in her rental she calls the "Rip Room."