Brooklyn

It was small, the kitchen was basically nonexistent, and the bathroom wasn't exactly pretty, but Irene Shamas saw the potential in this studio unit. She worked with Luki Anderson of Studio Officina and EDR Construction to transform this small one-room apartment into a functional and cozy home.

"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.

"There’s always something going on within the four walls of my apartment — whether it’s testing a new recipe for my blog, tinkering with the interior design of the apartment, an art or DIY project, hosting friends for a mandoo (Korean dumplings) party, or simply cranking away at my computer," writes Christine Han, a Korean-American recipe developer and food blogger who founded the blog, Dear Saturdays.

Aurora Yim has used smart layout and small-space ideas in her Brooklyn studio apartment, like using a rug to visually define the living room area, creating the coziest sleeping nook with storage shelves and a very cool plant stand, and wielding mirrors to bounce light around the space, making it feel larger and brighter.

Rini has made this teeny studio apartment into a beautiful, functional home she's rented for 17 years.

Grace Zhang chronicles her many home improvement efforts personalizing this "boring new construction” 650-square-foot apartment she shares with her boyfriend.

Amanda Holden, also known as "Dumpster.Doggy" on Instagram, is an entrepreneur, educator, and the founder of Invested Development. She aims to answer the question: “How do I teach dusty investing topics without making my students want to stick needles into their eyeballs?”

Behavioral scientist and science communicator Vanessa Hill shares a look inside her stylish Brooklyn rental AND reveals why she keeps old technology in her bedroom, what kind of mattress she sleeps on (under $500 from Amazon), and other smart secrets to getting better sleep.

This "contemporary eclectic" apartment blends clean lines with lots of vintage and mid-century modern pieces.

Content creator, blogger, style lover, YouTuber, and Instagram strategist Marikah shares this one-bedroom apartment with her husbae and their baby. The apartment has lots of clever organizing tip and renter-friendly decor ideas, including a very cute nursery nook in the bedroom.

"My style is modern vintage, eclectic, maximalist, seriously whimsical, adventurous, nostalgic, queer, unapologetically colorful and femme, bold, energetic, cozy, life affirming, unconventional, and wholeheartedly personal," explains Sarah Hartley.

These two artists created a versatile home space for art making and showing off their tour posters.

Shelley V. Worrell is the founder of caribBEING and led the initiative to designate the Little Caribbean neighborhood. She shares this beautiful Brownstone home in Brooklyn with her husband, Janluk Stanislas (a filmmaker and a co-founder of caribBEING).

Becca Crawford, who works at textiles and decor brand St. Frank, fell for the high ceilings and charming pre-war details of this Brooklyn Brownstone; it's the perfect canvas for her enviable collection of gorgeous textiles.

Brooklyn resident Lidey Heuck is a recipe developer, food writer, blogger, and the former assistant of Ina Garten — so it only makes sense that she designed the apartment she shares with her fiancé and their dog to reflect her love of cooking and entertaining. 

The wall-to-wall exposed brick is the star of this small home, and Fredd has filled the rest of the space with books, plants, and music.

With plans for a larger gut reno in the future, Katrina and her family to still wanted to make their old, shabby home look good for them NOW. Using smaller, high-impact but low-budget ideas helped transform the space from blah to “I really want to hang out here."

Musician Emma Frank and her husband work from home in this bright rental apartment in Park Slope. "It’s a really nice space to be creative in."

"I often say the vibe I’m going for is the home of a Time-Traveling Anthropologist," says artist Keighty Alexander, who has owned this two-bedroom apartment for four years.

Roxy Michaud brought in textures like wicker, dark wood, bamboo and greenery to her Brooklyn home, as well as used the color black to make the space feel more warm and cozy.

Maleeha has dreamt of living in New York City since she was a little girl, and renting this 400-square-foot studio is making her dreams come true!

Lily, a fashion designer and Holistic Health Practitioner, and Llew, an illustrator and folk tattoo artist, find inspiration from their collection of antiques and treasures found at flea markets.

Alyse Eisenberg hacked IKEA storage pieces to look more expensive than they are, found items at scrap yards, vintage stores, and second-hand stores, and DIYed art to design this large rental apartment she shares with her husband.

With only 600 square feet, Celeste and Lucas had to get creative to fit as many functions into their small home as possible, employing an interesting furniture arrangement to do so.

13-foot ceilings give this rental a lofty feel and highlight classic architectural details, from the crown molding to the original wood shutters to the deco fireplace.

"My home makes me feel healthy because it’s a place I can fully relax," says Naj Austin, founder and CEO of Ethel’s Club and Somewhere Good.

Architect Jill Porter says her Brooklyn apartment had zero original details when she bought it 16 years ago. But after a makeover it now has color, pattern, and most of all joy and charm!

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."

Between the blue hues and the green plant life, this small rental apartment shows how you can create a peaceful home with the right color palette.

Haley Boyko, a footwear designer and freelance illustrator, shares this three-bedroom apartment with her partner, Nick Sylvester, and their three dogs, Maya, Emma, and Penny.

Tiffany and Matt updated their rental apartment kitchen with fun new floors and bright white counters, and now it's light, airy, and the couple's favorite place to be.

Alexx and Rob joke that they styled their living room so that their cat, Meoweh, would look good anywhere in it.

For the past 10 years, Abbe Wright's small rental apartment has been her sanctuary during a hurricane, breakup, a death in the family, and job changes. But it's also been where she's celebrated new jobs, gathered travel collectibles and family heirlooms, and found love.

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.

Antonio Monserrat, the founder of Monserrat Studio, has totally transformed this Brooklyn loft with his own modern style, adding arches, opening up the space, and even building custom furniture (for humans AND a cat!).

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

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

Podcast Host Becca Freeman needed to find a creative display and storage solution for her books, and a gorgeous custom bookcase from Soil and Oak was just the right fit.

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

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."

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."

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

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."

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.

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.

Suddenly having to work and spend all her time in this tiny studio apartment pushed Emily to do a complete overhaul of her space to make it as comfortable, bright, spacious, and pleasant to spend time in as possible!

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."

Erin Blank is an ethical, sustainable designer of her own label, and the Brooklyn home she shares with her husband is colorful and patterned thanks to lots of handmade textiles!

Mentalist and performer Vinny DePonto's shelves are filled with endless old books on magic, mind-reading, the occult, design, and psychology.

Artist Melissa Murray created an inspiring home for her whole family.

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.

We're extremely here for the acrylic pedestals in the bedroom and living room.

Interior designer Lindsay Colby took inspiration from high-end interiors and found ways to achieve those looks in a more budget-friendly way.

Joyce Lee's home features an earthy color palette and an array of cozy textures.

From a table skirt in the entryway to a pile of pillows in the living room corner, this apartment has storage ideas for any size home.

And they designed it on a limited budget! The result is a sophisticated yet affordable and very livable apartment.

To offset the large amount of negative space that the high ceilings created, these renters played with bold accent walls and doors and took advantage of the space for art and storage.

Every object in the small home is meaningful and well-loved.

"This is one of those neighborhoods where if you want to have a peacock, you have a peacock."

Artist Lani Kennefick made this small apartment her own by painting all of the walls—and most of the floors.

Interior designer Gunnar Larson (one of the participating designers for Apartment Therapy's Small/Cool Experience) and his equally stylish wife Sara Larson share this small Brooklyn apartment with their kids, Ihlen and Royal.

New York-based makeup artist Kim White completely transformed her teeny Brooklyn studio apartment with IKEA hacks, contact paper, and smart storage ideas.

Name: Diana Farberov, my husband, and our poodle puppy CleoLocation: Brooklyn — New York City, New YorkType of home: ApartmentSize: 750 square feetYears lived in: 5 years, owned Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My husband and I share our one-bedroom home in South Brooklyn. He was lucky enough to grow up in the neighborhood and purchased this corner apartment five years back.

This Brooklyn studio apartment may be bite-sized, but it's also big on function and style.

Low-waste design expert Laura Baross helped redesign nonprofit founder Larissa May's small Brooklyn rental apartment.

Health and wellness expert Liz Moody calls her home a "non-toxic, book and plant-filled Mexico City-inspired oasis."