Brooklyn

“Deep blue for the endless night or sea, terracotta white and brown for the sandy desert, cactus green for a muted botanical touch,” Ze writes about the color influences in her Brooklyn condo.

This couple's rental needed to serve not just as a home, but as a wellness center, office, favorite restaurant, and refuge. They did it by making sure every single item in the apartment is multifunctional.

"The apartment feels cozy without being cluttered, and grounded in the things we genuinely use and love. It may be under 450 square feet, but the way it lives feels far bigger than the floor plan."

“We spent the first month just removing everything — pulling down dated wood paneling, dropped foam board ceilings, and shag carpets from the ‘70s, pulling up layer upon layer of vinyl flooring from every corner of the house,” writes homeowner Christina Salway.

"My personal home style inspiration has a wide range, from traditional maximalist to English cottage home to Scandinavian clean lines to farmhouse to Rajasthani folk with its warm colors and block-prints, even a bit of New York loft-style with art-filled walls and plants," begins singer/songwriter Abhilasha Sinha.

There’s peel-and-stick wallpaper in the entryway, peel-and-stick panel molding, a gorgeous sketch from 1884, and a ton of other traditional, refined details.

Fashion consultant and merchandiser Jasmine Hart worked with interior designer and set decorator Kendra Cusic to decorate this Brooklyn rental apartment.

Andrea her husband, Brian, live very cleanly and simply in a third floor apartment in Brooklyn.

Fashion designer Stella Rose Saint Clair's inspiration for her Brooklyn rental apartment is: The 1960s, cult movie sets, LA aesthetic, and a cake.

After lots of unpacking and plenty of painting, John and Wesley's small shared space is filled with historic artifacts, collected treasures and the couple's heart and soul.

Jennelle Mendes' 450-square-foot Brooklyn rental apartment came with absolutely zero closets — so she had to get creative with storage solutions in her small space. And she created an incredibly cozy bed cocoon, too!

Joey Skladany, a freelance food, travel, and lifestyle writer, found his one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment with a little luck, timing, and resolve.

Designer Melody Kim's rental studio apartment in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood is only 350 square feet, but she's made an absolutely stunning and stylish home — and filled it with a ton of holiday cheer despite the small size!

"It’s both chic and punk — a technicolor euphoria impossible not to feel at home at," describes writer, comedian, and award-winning screenwriter Greg Mania of this small rental apartment.

In just 500 square feet, painter Josh Ayala created a warm, stylish space that’s part art studio, home, and place to show off personality.

It’s so dreamy.

From glass blocks, vintage sofas that make a conversation pit, and more, secondhand finds have made this Bushwick rental incredible.

Ericka Hart shares this beautiful and bright Brooklyn rental apartment with her partner Ebony Donnley, and their adorable dog, Baguette X.

Shiva and Hakhamanesh tackled this loft’s renovation themselves, customizing the floor plan and interior to match their personalities and needs.

It was also a pepper factory!

Textile designer and freelance interior stylist Anna Brettschneider shares this 800-square-foot Park Slope rental apartment with her fiancé, Garrett Albury. Together they co-author the weekly newsletter, coolstuff.nyc.

Erin Kerr's style can best be described as: "Like if a Danish Grandpa and Primary School Teacher Grandma had a grandkid who loved Memphis Milano."

When Emily got the keys, the paint was “uneven and patchy, it needed a good cleaning, and there was pee all over the walls from the previous tenant's elderly orange cat.”

The first time Maggie and Jesse saw this apartment, they knew it was theirs. Noise levels made them back out of the first lease, but months later the home was available and the noise had been resolved — the rest is history.

“My favorite thing about our home is the way it feels like a true respite from the hustle and bustle of the city,” Hattie says.

If anyone is worthy of the line "this person needs no introduction..." it's writer Ashley C. Ford.

It also has Scandinavian finishes, light wooden floors, and modern appliances coupled with a soothing color palette of creams and terracotta.

Writer Sarah Ingle used clever DIYs and secondhand finds to transform this tiny and a “little grimy” apartment into a stylish sanctuary.

Alison Jennison spent over a decade restoring her family’s Brooklyn townhouse (that’s somehow only 17 feet wide) using salvaged materials, to complement original architectural details, and sprinkling in smart IKEA hacks.

Arielle purchased her Flatbush rental townhouse, which came with architectural charm and unique features, like a kitchen with zero built-in cabinetry.

After waiting 13 years for his dream Brooklyn loft, designer Kiron Akeem finally moved into this 850-square-foot rental. His goal? To bring in "mid-century flair while adding warmth and character.“

When her last home flooded after Hurricane Ida, Alison Beshai had to find a new last-minute home, landing in this Brooklyn Brownstone with original mantels, an open layout, and tons of natural light pouring in from every side.

When this creative couple first walked into their Brooklyn Heights apartment, the original crown moldings were gone, the ceilings had been lowered, and every surface was gray and white — but they’ve spent years bringing the character back to the brownstone.

This apartment wasn’t "love at first sight" for Jordan and Luke, but it had potential. After a thoughtful reno, it feels like being in the desert while still in NYC.

The outdoor space is what NYC dreams are made of.

This 320-square-foot apartment in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood is filled with the most brilliant organizing and style ideas of all time.

This raw industrial studio is now a warm, smart home, thanks to a stylish vintage furniture curator turning it into a light-filled, multifunctional home with storage hidden in plain sight. Every piece in this Bushwick studio pulls double duty — proving small spaces can live much larger than they are.

Annika Morgan couldn’t paint the walls of her 875-square-foot Bed-Stuy apartment, so she DIYed color into every corner of this sunny rental home. And Tony the cat really benefits, too.

“I love layering art and plants together because it brings so much life and warmth into the space,” writes Rahab Hammad of this one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment from the early 1900s.

“It’s my creative lab in the morning, a workspace in the afternoon, and a chill spot to unwind with friends at night,” writes designer and founder Tyler Correawhite of her sleek and small Brooklyn studio apartment.

Lindsey Swedick’s vision for this 1920s rental apartment in Brooklyn was organic modern, Parisian, Art Nouveau, and mid-century modern, and she accomplished it with lots of DIYs.

Rosaline Elbay has added paint to nearly every inch of her Boerum Hill apartment; she describes the home’s style as “lapsed archaeologist.”

When Laci Mosier first started renting this one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment, she slept on an air mattress for six weeks while she waited for her things to arrive from Texas. Four years later, and she’s filled the rental with art, color, books, plants, and sunshine.

Designer Hollis Loudon’s New York City home is just as patterned, energetic, gorgeous, and bold as you’d imagine!

Painter Holly Salerno lives in a 94-year-old former factory turned into a dreamy loft. Despite it being an open space, she's been able to create a cozy home using romantic vintage furniture and curtains to divide the space.

Design rules went out the window in this gorgeous home.

Before moving in, says children’s book illustrator and art director Steph Stilwell, this 800-square-foot, 100-year-old apartment in Prospect Lefferts Gardens was a “typical empty New York apartment,” with “[w]hite walls, lots of hardwood flooring, and some interesting design choices made by the owners.”A mere two months later, after putting her stamp on the space, Steph describes the apartment now as very colorful.

This Brooklyn rental apartment is a maximalist dream filled with color, cats, and a lot of coziness.

There are so many unique, renter-friendly DIYs in this apartment.

And the custom Flavor Paper wallpaper is also extremely cool and personal.

Allie isn't afraid to use color, mix patterns, or embrace maximalism. "My space doesn't feel like an apartment I'm renting, but rather a home that I've created that is welcome to all."

Each time, sound musician Jackie Cantwell has transformed small rental apartments with color, cool vibes, and style.

This rental came with dust, grime, and even cigarette butts in the kitchen sink, but Elizabeth “looked past all of that for the great layout and price!”

Caitlin Maestrini is the curator of Teak New York, a Scandinavian design store in Brooklyn, and has styled her rental apartment according to “Scandinavian design principles and aesthetics."

Railroad apartments definitely come with some floor-plan challenges.

Christine and Nik have spent the last two years making renter-friendly adjustments to their small Bed-Stuy loft to create an incredibly dreamy, DIY home.

Full-time food and lifestyle content creator Gwyneth Yuma’s 695-square-foot Brooklyn rental apartment is warm, cozy, and eclectic, and has a little tropical flair.

The renovation is stunning!

Tracie Moore is on a "mission to transform this space into a home that feels just as warm and inviting as the one we had back in Georgia."

Jillian Elliott is an artist and florist. She transformed her 650-square-foot Brooklyn rental apartment with cozy vintage finds, storied objects, and lots and lots of pretty floral patterns.