Apartment

Name: Desiré van den Berg and her sister Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands Size: 775 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting Desiré has a talent for decorating her space on a budget. “My whole living room, I’d say—under 1000 euro.” This includes seating, a coffee table, dining table set, and framed art. Not only does the space feel cohesive, but she threw it all together within a week of moving in.

Name: Lysa Jordan, Sergio Castano and dog Walter Location: Montreal, Quebec Size: 1,100 square feet Years lived in: 6 months, renting Artist Lysa Jordan and architect Sergio Castano live with their dog Walter in a working and living loft nestled in the Saint Henri neighborhood. Quite unconventional from typical Montreal apartments, their pad is a modern, minimal, and creative space for both of them. “It’s a stimulating and inspiring place.

The apartment is on a top floor of a classic French building—envy-inducing enough already—but the views inside and out are really something.

Name: Adrianne Herold (and my fiance Dylan and our cat, Scavenger) Location: Champaign, Illinois Size: 1,005 square feet Years Lived In: 1 year, renting We actually lived across the parking lot in the same complex but in a two-bedroom and one day I noticed them ripping carpet out of some units and replacing it with wood paneling. I quickly asked our landlord if we could just transfer our lease to one of the updated units and she actually let us do it!

Name: Kira Cole and two cats Location: Gold Coast — Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,080 square feet Years Lived In: 8 months, owned My home was built in 1892, originally as a single family. In 1978, it was renovated into condo units. I actually grew up in the unit below, so I was very familiar with the building and neighbors when purchasing! When I first got my hands on it, it had not been renovated (not even paint touch-ups) since the 1978 renovation, so it was in serious need of love.

Name: Molly Bernard, girlfriend Hannah, and Henry (her eight-pound rescue mutt!) Location: Brooklyn, NYC Years lived in: Just a few months! Proud and terrified first time home-owner!

Name: George Mendes and Siamese cats, Roscoe and Daisy Location: Downtown Brooklyn, New York, New York Size: 950 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years George Mendes knows good food. He’s the chef behind Aldea, the Michelin-starred New York restaurant whose offerings reflect the cuisine of his parents’ native Portugal. He’s also the inhabitant of a beautiful Brooklyn apartment that seems an embodiment of the mantra “less is more.

The Apartment Botanist, Alessia Resta, shares a peek into her small home filled with hip decor and TONS of plants.

Jody and Jon have turned this loft with tall ceilings into their hip, vintage-filled retreat.

Name: Gabrielle Silverlight, Brian Hamilton, and Miss Mabel the kitty Location: Kensington — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: Around 1,000 square feet Years Lived In: 1.5 years, renting and own After years of renting a home and separate workspace, ceramicist Gabrielle Silverlight and her guitar pedal designer husband Brian Hamilton of smallsound/bigsound decided to buy a house.

Name: Lady Soule, Michael Ryan Handley, pup Jackson Location: Fishtown — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: 2,580 square feet Years Lived In: 2.5 years, owned If you have even the slightest hint of a bohemian style, you may have spent hours drooling over the patterned, textured furniture and decor delights offered up by Anthropologie. (Or is that just me?

Name: E.M. Ricchini, and kitty and a pup Location: Fishtown — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: 1,230 square feet Years Lived In: 1.5 years, renting Philadelphia-based fashion blogger E.M. Ricchini knows how to put together an outfit as well as a stylish apartment. By day, she works in marketing and branding, but along with her style skills, she also writes, photographs, models, and travels, too.

Name: Marta Escoda, husband Albert, and kids Ivet, Marc, and Alex Location: Sabadell — Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,400 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, owned When personal shopper and stylist Marta Escoda decided to move into her grandparent’s apartment, she knew it would need renovating. But while she wanted a fresh start and to make new memories in this place, she also knew this apartment was part of her history and heritage, and desired to keep some of the original character.

Name: Cristina, Marc, Daniela, and twins Mateo and Marcos Location: San Gervasi — Barcelona, Spain Size: 1,450 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, owned Cristina has interior design in her blood; for her it is a passion and a way of creating good feelings through beautiful visuals. She founded the multi-disciplinary design studio, CIRERA+ ESPINET, with her partner Mariona Espinet, and defines her personal style as breaking the mold.

Name: Clara Marina and family Location: Exaimple — Barcelona, Spain Size: 970 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting This modest Barcelona attic apartment actually started out as the building’s laundry rooms. After renovations, it’s now the bright, warm, nature-inspired home for a young family. After living in Chile for six years, Clara and her husband decided to come back to Spain.

Name: Naeme El-Zein and partner David Rousseau Location: Pointe-St-Charles, Quebec, Canada Size: 600 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting Naeme is a creative director, strategist and writer who’s worked with a variety of brands like PULP magazine, British Vogue, WANT Les Essentiels, and ALDO Group, to name a few. She’s passionate about boundary-pushing ideas, visuals, words, and experiences that evoke an emotional reaction.

Name: Kate Worum Location: East Isles — Minneapolis, Minnesota Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting Not all Minneapolis brownstones are created equal. The moment you step into Kate‘s spacious apartment, you forget where you are. Kate, one half of the Minneapolis-based custom hand-painted and printed wallpaper and furnishings company She She, lucked out when she nabbed this spacious, bright, and beautiful upper floor apartment.

Poet and artist H. Melt's home is filled with colorful art, captivating books, and a few flamingo-themed home decor items.

Name: Maya Goldfine Location: San Francisco, California Size: 400 square feet Years Lived In: 6 months, renting Call it fate or luck, but something aligned the day I found this studio. By chance I had come across the listing on Craigslist the evening prior—at 5:45 p.m. it was posted that an open house was happening at 7:30 a.m. the next day.

Name: Stevie Van Horn Location: Fort Greene — Brooklyn, New York Size: 950 square feet Years lived in: 2 months, renting Stevie Van Horn recently began renting this apartment in Brooklyn’s Fort Green neighborhood—employing “zero-waste” philosophies when decorating the interior.

Name: Rachael and Virgil Gibilterra and Jovie (our little border collie mix!) Location: Highland Park — Los Angeles, California Size: 408 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting We found this little slice of L.A. on Craigslist. I was sold on the windows. We jumped on it as quick as we could! We were living briefly in an Airstream before this (we unfortunately had to sell that beauty due to job opportunities in L.A.

Name: Amy Location: Jamaica Plain, MassachusettsYears lived in: Rented for 2 years The timing of this house tour, in concert with Apartment Therapy’s September Art, Craft, and Collections Month, is fitting — and a great segue into October’s Color theme and Room for Color contest! Walking into Amy’s first floor, one bedroom apartment is a delightful experience. The colorful walls and bunches of large and small collections make it impossible to feel gloomy here.

Lifestyle blogger Tanika's home is super cozy with added hints of boho charm.

When it was time for Dana and Dan to renovate, they had a secret weapon: Dana's mother is a wizard when it comes to maximizing space and storage.

This home features an eclectic, maximalist mix of Parisian Chic, Hollywood Regency, and Art Deco styles.

What do you do with a white walls, brick, and cold concrete: Add lots of color! Holly Conrad's studio loft in the heart of Chicago is refreshing and full of vibrant colors.

Name: NinaLocation: West VillageSize: 450 square feet subletYears lived in: 1.5 years >> Nina’s last apartment was very frilly and pink. This apartment is much more on the opposite end of the stereotypically gendered design spectrum. And Nina loves it that way and feels at home. In addition to being an interior designer, Nina writes a design blog and is about to launch a small design store in NoLita!

Name: David Tomb and Susan SweetLocation: San FranciscoSize: Living area 1700 sq. ft., office/studio 700 sq. ft.Years lived in: 10 years owned >> Back in 1996, the architect Bruce Tomb heard about a 1950s dragnet-style police precinct coming up for public auction in San Francisco. At the time, Bruce’s brother, the artist David Tomb, and his wife, Susan Sweet, were living in New York, but hoping to come back to the Bay Area to start a family.

Name: Archana, Srinivas MallikaLocation: BangaloreSize: 2900 sq. ft apartment Years lived in: 4 Months >> Today we make our way back across the globe for our second house tour from Bangalore, India, this time visiting the spacious and traditionally decorted home of Archana, Srinivas & Mallika.

Name: Alberto and JeffLocation: Fort Greene/BAM, BrooklynSize: 1360 sqft. 2-bdrm condoYears lived in: 1.5 months >> Alberto and Jeff had a year and a half between closing and moving in to their new condo, to plan. According to Alberto, a house tour veteran, Jeff made multiple copies of a detailed floorplan of the new apartment and used the interim 18 months to sketch ideas as well as to plot out the sequence of events that would occur the moment they were handed the key.

Name:Simon and EktorasLocation: East VillageSize: 515 sqft rented railroad flatYears lived in: 25 years >> Ektoras, a video artist and bartender, and Simon, an actor and photographer, share a small railroad flat in a 155 year-old tenement building with a bathtub in the kitchen.

Name: Giana Shorthouse Location: FLATS at Ponce City Market — Atlanta, Georgia. Size: 655 square feet Years Lived In: 2 years, renting I’m a designer and prop stylist living at Ponce City Market; the building is a historic, mixed-use community hub and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. My apartment is an extension of me and what I do.

Name: September Scott Location: Austin, Texas Size: 740 square feet Years Lived In: 2 years, renting Designer September Scott is all about the hunt—for treasures, one-of-a-kind finds and absolutely any found object she can reinvigorate. “Almost all the pieces in my space are reclaimed from an estate sale, flea market, Goodwill or on the side of the road. My passion is bringing new life into found objects,” she writes.

Caroline is owner of Patchwork Harmony, an interiors and lifestyle blog celebrating all that is vintage, thrifty and handmade.

Name: Katy and Jules and their dog, Otto Location: Bermondsey — London, UK Size: 749 square feet Years lived in: 5 years; owned This new-build apartment in London, just south of the river, is home to interiors blogger Katy Orme, her partner Jules, and their (adorable!) Golden Retriever, Otto.

Name: Ned and Sarah Corbett-Winder Location: Shepherds Bush, London Size: Around 1600 square feet Years lived in: 18 months, owned Ned Corbett-Winder is the founder of Not-Another-Bill, an online subscription service from London that sends subscribers a unique surprise gift in the mail every month.

Name: Missy Logan, Antony Shaw, Prudence (6), Lili (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, 2) Location: Harrow, London Size: Around 800 square feet Years Lived In: 3 years, renting You may remember this warm and funky garden flat submitted by Missy last year; it felt so cozy that I wanted to come and see it in person! Since then, Missy and her partner Antony have been busy upgrading the flat, putting in wooden flooring, new wallpaper, and painting walls.

Name: DerekLocation:Los Feliz, CAYears lived in: 6 years Enter Tour SlideshowWe hope you like colour, kitsch and Midcentury design, because we have all three in abundant amount with our house tour coming by way of Los Feliz. Overlooking the beautiful St. George Reservoir, Derek’s modest 2-bedroom apartment, with it’s wood shingle clad exterior, hides a wealth of unexpected colour and collectibles within.

Name: Rhonda Drakeford Location: Hackney, East London Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: Rented for 1 year Living in a rental flat can be very limiting. You usually have to live with pretty bland walls and remodeling isn’t really an option…unless you want to spend a lot of money upgrading someone else’s house. So what can you actually do to a rental to make it a bit more Pinterest-worthy? Come and take a look at this one-bedroom flat in Hackney, East London.

Name: Donna Mingo, Lyla TurnerLocation: South St. Louis, MissouriSize: 1850 square feetYears lived in: 2 years — owned Cheerful yellow tile greets you in the entryway of Donna and Lyla’s Saint Louis home. It’s a fitting introduction to a house filled with both color and decorative original details, but the real show stopper is in the kitchen. The room’s walls and ceiling are covered with a milky green glass tile called Vitrolite.

Name: PaulLocation: Financial District — Manhattan, New YorkSize: 350 square feetYears lived in: 2½ — rented Making the most of a tiny studio apartment, Paul creates a luxurious and inviting living space befitting of his motto to “decorate like your clothes and dress like your bed.

Name: Chris PaulsenLocation: New York, New YorkSize: 280 square feetYears lived in: 4 — rented Nestled between Gramercy and Murray Hill, in one of those nebulous neighborhoods of Manhattan, lives Chris Paulsen, a former model with a propensity for modern design. As I first met him in the doorway of his little apartment to conduct our House Tour that day, I couldn’t help but blurt out my first question, “Where exactly am I?

Designer: Lisa ZadorLocation: West Village, ManhattanSize: 400 square foot, two-bedroomYears Lived In:: 20 Lisa has grown into the person she is today — over the past 20 years — in the same apartment. While it started out as a cramped share amongst college friends, replete with milk crates and plywood desks, it started to mature when Lisa took over the lease.

Name: AJ, Alex, Ira (the pug) and Dudley (the cat)Location: Astoria — Queens, New YorkSize: 580 square feetYears lived in: 9 months — rented We got our first peek at Alex and AJ’s apartment when we pointed out their bedroom before and after. Now, the couple are sharing their entire apartment with us. With the scant 580 square feet they have to work with, AJ and Alex have packed a lot of whollop into their space.

Name: Michael FrancesconiLocation: Downtown — Los Angeles, CaliforniaSize: 1,000 square feetYears lived in: 2 years Michael’s home is not just another run-of the mill downtown space. While It is common to find concrete floors and industrial modern style furnishings in lofts, Michael has balanced out his space by incorporating color, built-ins, and unexpected furniture choices.

Name: Leo + Jordan Miller + Alexander Lynch Location: West Village — Detroit, Michigan Size: 550 square feet Years lived in: 8 months, renting Jordan is an Ohio native who moved to Detroit on a whim in the summer of 2016 because of her love for the state of Michigan, particularly its lakes. Al grew up in a small town in the Upper Peninsula called Norway.

Name: Corey Dane Location: Madison, Wisconsin Size: 809 square feet Years Lived In: 5 years, owned My 800-square-foot condo has been a labor of love since purchasing it in the winter of 2013. Funny thing…I wasn’t looking to purchase a home at the time. I had just moved to Madison and planned to rent an apartment while I got a lay of the land, then stumbled upon the building and my home while helping a friend move into another unit.

Architect Andrea Serboli's Barcelona apartment was completely renovated, and it's now a sleek, bold, and modern home.

Tami was going for warm, trendy, hipster cafe vibes in her small rental garage apartment.

A mix between "Mad Men" and "Pee Wee Herman," artist Kim Alpert's self-proclaimed style is "Folk Futurism."

Name: Ben & Aja BlancLocation: Steel Yard/Monohasset Mill — Providence, Rhode IslandSize: 1,900 square feetYears lived in: 2 — rentedCoaxing the cavernous boiler room of a former rubber mill to feel like home is no small task, but sculptor and designer Ben Blanc and his wife, Aja, an educator and herbalist, manage it with ease. They’ve filled the space with large-scale artwork, oversize furniture, and homey details that refuse to be dwarfed by the soaring industrial ceiling.

Italian Rationalism meets Scandinavian Chic meets New York '70s Glam meets Dutch coziness.

Name: Rachana Pathak Location: Gowanus, Brooklyn Size: 960 square feet Years Lived In: 8 years, owned Rachana (@plantistan on Instagram) calls herself a “Brooklyn-based plant junkie,” and her large loft-like space in Brooklyn sports over 300 plants in under 1000 square feet. In the eight years she’s owned this large apartment, she’s filled it with not just greenery, but also warm colors and rich textures.

Name: Morgan Parker and dog Shirley Location: Los Angeles, California Size: 1000 square feet Years Lived In: 1.5 years, renting Award-winning poet Morgan Parker is the honest and powerful voice behind “There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé,” “Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night,” and her most recent poetry collection “Magical Negro” (out February 5th).

Name: Ander and Lionel Location: Eixample — Barcelona, Spain Size: 700 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned It’s not obvious at first glance, but this home has been through some extreme transformations. For many years, this space was simply the building’s rooftop. Later on, an additional floor was constructed so it became a teeny tiny apartment.

Name: Monique Vatine Location: Williamsburg — Brooklyn NY Years Lived in: 1.5 years, renting Freelance fashion stylist Monique Vatine likes visual and tactile moments in fashion and decor. Her one-bedroom Williamsburg rental apartment has a distinct boho chic aesthetic, punctuated by a great use of prints, patterns, and color. And lots of plants.

Name: Adrienne Breaux, Keith Fields, Stanley the shih tzu, Otis the giant yellow lab Location: Carrollton — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting I’ve been madly in love with this apartment since the moment I walked in. After a long day of looking at horrifying rental apartment listings, I stepped into this small space flooded with light, took one look at the fireplace and the giant cove molding, and I signed an application on the spot.

Name: Emma Gray Location: Prospect Heights — Brooklyn, New York Size: 430 square feet including the entryway Years lived in: Owned! I’m a brand new homeowner (eek!). Just 2 months, but it feels like much longer! After living in her last apartment with a roommate for about six years, Emma decided she was ready to purchase her first home. “I kind of thought I’d rent forever,” she says.

Name: Emma Orlow, roommates Location: Bedford-Stuyvesant — Brooklyn, New York Years Lived In: 2 years, renting Emma Orlow doesn’t just write about food, she makes art with it.

Jessica Yatrofsky is an artist, photographer, minimalist, and a certified tidying consultant specializing in the KonMari Method™.

From the bold use of art to the dreamy and dark purple bedroom, this Beverly Hills condo packs in lots of inspiring ideas for decor.

Name: Rachel Waters Location: Sunnyside — Queens, New York Size: 850 square feet, one bedroom Years Lived In: 1 year, renting Rachel has lived in NYC for seven years, previously in Kensington, Brooklyn.

Name: Freddie Chavda and pups Location: Bushwick — Brooklyn, New York Size: Somewhere between 850 – 1,000 square feet Years Lived In: 1 year, renting Freddie’s Bushwick loft is a perfect example of taking a raw, industrial space and turning it into a home. But rather than just filling it with newly purchased furniture, he both thrifted and found elements to add warmth to his home… as well as custom built many of the elements in the home.

Name: Abbey Eilermann and cat Dolly Parton Location: The Hill — St. Louis, Missouri Size: 2,000 square feet (includes the work studio) Years lived in: 3 years, renting It all starts with a hot pink name plate that stands out among the red and green awnings on The Hill, a traditional Italian American neighborhood in St. Louis.

Name: Julian Thomas Location: Bushwick — Brooklyn, New York Size: 700 square feet Years Lived In: Less than a year, renting “Who needs TV when you have Bushwick? This is live entertainment at its finest,” remarks 28-year-old self-proclaimed bachelor Julian Thomas as he looks out of a window of his Brooklyn loft in this video tour he posted on YouTube. His 1,000-square-foot home might be right next to a train—but that’s part of the city-life charm the space has.

Name: Laura Serventi, husband Filippo Del Vita, and their 5-year-old son Location: Bedford-Stuyvesant — Brooklyn, New York Size: 900 square feet Years Lived In: 10 years, renting Artist and photographer Laura Serventi grew up in Argentina, spent some time studying photography in Italy, and in 2007 moved to New York, where she’s been since.

Name: Paige Hansen Location: Union Square — New York, NY Size: 500 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned “My apartment is more than just a place I live; it has become a source of happiness, comfort, and connectedness to this city, my friends, and myself.

Name: Jonathan, husband Ryan, Sadie (a 5-year-old Devon Rex), and Robbie (a 3-year-old American Cocker Spaniel) Location: Adams Morgan — Washington, D.C. Size: 925 square feet Years lived In: 3 years, renting I’ve lived in this apartment for three years along with my husband Ryan, and our two sweet pets, Robbie the American Cocker Spaniel, and Sadie our Devon Rex—both rescues, both crazy.