Small Spaces

Jeremy, our dogs, and Meghan moved to this Spanish-style bungalow apartment in Los Angeles five years ago from Louisville, Kentucky bringing only two vintage pieces of furniture and a large collection of art, records, and books.

Paul — better known as @plantmepaul on Instagram — shares this small rental apartment with a roommate, beautiful brick walls, natural light, and tons of plants!

A folding chair and folding tables bring flexibility to this teeny studio apartment shared by Daryl and his fiancée.

Jesse and Alastair love the bones of this apartment in a beautiful old Art Deco building and have filled it with an eclectic mix of antiques, vintage furniture, and modern art.

When longtime New York City resident and Francophile Meghan Donovan moved to her new apartment last August, she knew right off the bat that she wanted to create her own slice of Paris in Brooklyn.

Inspired by Bauhaus and Scandinavian designs, Kristen Rosario blended the two designs to create a truly vibrant, clean, and minimalist space.

Heather has spent the last 14 months redoing every inch of this small rental studio apartment on a budget.

Even though this Denver studio apartment is small, it feels like it has distinct rooms like a bedroom, dining, office, and living thanks to a good layout and the use of open and closed storage.

Katie rearranged her studio apartment thousands of times to make it seem separate from the bedroom area.

Karst started with a neutral blank canvas when he began renting this tiny studio, which he's filled with plants, thrifted finds, and cool murals.

It's like a "Gay Man’s Modern Victorian Apothecary."

Conan and Katherine bought this falling apart vintage camper for $600, and have spent the last year or so DIYing an adorable home-away-from-home, inside and out.

Furniture is multi-purpose, storage is absolutely everywhere, and everything is nicely hidden away behind cupboard doors to keep visual clutter at bay.

There are no doors or walls separating the living room, dining room, playroom, and kid's room, but each area of this one-bedroom feels like a separate zone.

Designer Jamila Scarlett and her 13-year-old twins have owned this 350-square-foot houseboat, a 1976 Coho Chris Craft with vintage mahogany, for five months.

And it's positively PACKED with clever budget decorating DIY ideas!

There's an entryway, living area, dining area, library/office area, and sleeping area!

The biggest challenge was mastering the layout of a studio apartment and figuring out my storage situation. Using underbed storage for cameras, photo supplies, and out-of-season clothing saved the day!

Architecture and landscape architecture graduate student Caleb Brackney bought a 36’ 1995 Thomas International school bus on Facebook Marketplace in February 2020 for $3K. The rest of his only 10k budget he spent on turning the bus to a tiny house one wheels.

Like installing pink peel and stick backsplash tiles, replacing fixtures and hardware such as handles, light switches, faucets, and more!

This little in-law studio is behind a house and it's perfect and right down the street from a cute little downtown area.

Former Small/Cool Contest winner Pamela Kaupinen's tiny apartment has had to turn into many different things during quarantine, including a home office and gym! See how she fit more functions in her small space with this updated look at her NYC rental apartment.

Painting was a budget-friendly way for Angie Eng to elevate her studio apartment, helping to keep the "rooms" aesthetically separate, but still fluid.

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

Tim Davidson owns and lives in 270-square-foot Tiffany the Tiny House, but also owns another tiny house on the property that he rents out on Airbnb that he calls Shellmate Island Octagon Tiny Home, which is 320 square feet large.

Margy's landlords turned the original family room of their house into this ADU, and designed the layout with large, oversized kitchen cabinets for extra storage and created as much storage in the bathroom/closet area as possible. "It's a renter's dream!"

Marble contact paper, wallpaper, and Facebook Marketplace finds were all used to personalize this university student's apartment, especially her small bedroom.

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.

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."

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.'"

The apartment came with a loft bed, which allowed Isabelle Eshraghi to create an entire living room and study space within the cramped square footage.

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."

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.

Picking a favorite room is an easy choice when living in a studio since all of your furniture is in one room!