House Calls

Name: Peggy Wong of Blue Pool RoadLocation: Downtown Los Angeles, CASize: 800 square feetI met Peggy a couple of months ago at a blogger meet up in Venice. She was introduced to me as a former art director at Martha Stewart and she gave me her card for the company she’s started on her own, Blue Pool Road. When I got home and looked up her work, I was amazed: Light, simple, graphically subdued but in no way boring. Then I saw her house.

Once dark and dated, after a modern renovation this home-on-wheels is now light and bright!

They installed new hardwood flooring, totally renovated the kitchen, painted every wall and ceiling, and completely renovated this '50s Spokane house.

This 2002 Keystone Cougar fifth wheel was completely gutted and remodeled into this stylish, plant-filled home on wheels.

This old wool factory building converted into artist lofts is full of earth tones, textures, and pops of acid green/yellow.

They ditched a $30k wedding and decided to travel the US for three months instead in a 19-foot renovated camper.

This couple sharing a small New York apartment were able to create a functional floor plan that has separate functional areas.

This small London apartment has big windows, hardwood floors, and some smart budget decorating ideas.

This home's quirky, eclectic decor was done on a very limited budget!

Name: Sacha & JohanLocation: Pretoria, South Africa We were in the very fortunate position of being able to build our own house. We both loved the idea of a large loft space, so decided it was now or never. The journey started off a bit bumpy as it was difficult to find an architect that wasn’t corrupted by the mainstream. We eventually found our house in the mind of a young rookie. High risk, high reward.

Although small, this tiny home on wheels has hookups for everything a normal house has besides a dishwasher.

This rental apartment has Palladian windows, curved ceilings, an ornate mantel and fireplace, and 25+ plant babies!

These renters built a custom storage bed "pod" to hide their past-life remnants and clothing for only $300 and a bit of labor.

Erin combines inherited pieces with found pieces to create a fun story. Throughout her apartment you will see the mix of old and new; thrifted blue velvet wingback chairs with a new MCM gray couch.

After a five-month long remodel, this home was completely transformed into a more modern, bright space.

A young family of three has customized a cute tiny house on wheels to be the minimal, functional home of their needs.

This flat is tiny, but it's in the center of London, has lots of windows, and the owner has made lots of smart small space choices.

Name: Audra White, a roommate, and a catLocation: Portland, OregonSize: 1200 square feetYears lived in: 1 year, renting My roommate and I live here with my cat, Baggy. We found the place through a friend of mine that was moving out after living there for years. She’s an interior designer as well and did a lot of work sprucing the place up while she lived there, so we can thank her for our hardwood floors and pastel paint colors.

Name: Emily SimmonsLocation: Russian Hill neighborhood — San Francisco, California Size: 1100 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting I’ve lived in so many variations of tiny spaces, from my earliest dorm rooms, to small attic spaces in college, to cramped studios in Manhattan.

Elizabeth wanted her home to feel like you were walking into an old Irish pub slash cool, dark and tranquil library--but a library you'd want to smoke a cigar and drink a whiskey on the rocks in while reading a book or having a really good conversation.

You have to see the small but AMAZING bathroom reno.

This small and cozy home was renovated almost entirely by the owners themselves.

It's not only affordable but it's also comfortable and beautiful!

The apartment is in a converted 19th-century mansion and has high ceilings, beautiful wood floors, and original crown molding.

Name: Kylie Repasy Location: Harlem — New York, New YorkSize: 310 square feetYears lived in: 9 months, rentingSince 2008 I’ve lived with 27 different roommates in four different cities. From “forced triple” dorm rooms to Tanzanian homestays, these spaces house so many of my most treasured memories and nurtured environments that cultivated some of my strongest friendships.

This artist's Minnesota apartment is a serene, Scandinavian-inspired, organic modern haven.

Mariah's bold rental apartment is filled with one-of-a-kind treasures she found at thrift and antique stores.

Name: Andrea Isabelle Lucas, my partner, and two kids, ages 12 and 19 Location: Boston, MassachusettsSize: 2500 square feetYears lived in: 2 years, ownedOur home is just north of Boston, built in 1880. My favorite original feature is the wide pine plank floors. I have a love of classic rock, mid-century modern style, and also do circus arts in my spare time. I could never feel at home somewhere average or plain-looking.

There’s a good chance that you’ve stopped by at least one of her websites. Maggie Mason is the genius behind Mighty Goods (a shopping site), Mighty Junior (devoted to kiddies), Mighty Girl (her personal blog), Mighty Finds (an Etsy shop) and — as of last week — Mighty Haus (a shopping site devoted to housewares). Somewhere between running all of these lovely sites, she found time to snap some photos of her San Francisco apartment and give us a little insight into her decor.

Name: Atia NaimLocation: Laurel Heights — San Francisco, CaliforniaSize: 400 square feetYears lived in: Almost 2 years, renting My home is a little studio that I’ve inhabited for close to two years now. This is the first time in my life that I’ve been both able to afford a place by myself and decorate it the way I’ve always dreamed of. I wanted to become an interior designer growing up but ended up going into the field of Biotechnology instead.

Name: Lauren Location: Nob Hill — San Francisco, California Size: 375 square feetYears lived in: 1 year, rentingMoving from the Carolinas to San Francisco last year, I knew it was going to be a big change, so I wanted to be able to bring some comforts of home with me. After a fairly traumatic weekend of apartment hunting (hello most expensive city in the country), I found this place right in Nob Hill that was just the right size to fit all my favorite things, plus it had a balcony!

Name: Yumi Murayama, my boyfriend ChrisLocation: Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaSize: 1,060 square feetYears lived in: 2 years, owned Chris is an elementary school teacher and has been teaching over 15 years in Vancouver. Yumi was born and raised in Japan up to high school and studied in the United States. She founded her own interior design company—YU+ME Design in May 2018—and helps homeowners design their dream spaces.

Name: Kevin Morin, my partner, David, and Nigel the golden retriever. Location: Strawberry Vale — Victoria, British Columbia, CanadaSize: 2,300 square feetYears lived in: 3 years, ownedBuilt-in furniture and storage—particularly when done beautifully—can maximize a home’s available space like nothing else can. And the built-ins found in this house are great inspiration, all crafted by Ali Alamolhoda of Alamo Finishing.

Name: Sarah AlbaLocation: San Rafael, California I’m a field editor and stylist. I look at homes to place in pages of magazines. I drew my inspiration by piecing together things I liked from the homes I scouted in order to create my perfect family abode.I also designed our home on a budget and because we have a 2 year old, I made sure to include many ways to cleverly hide clutter!Thanks, Sarah!• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy?

Name: Lesley Charris, my husband, our two children (Eva and GQ), my father, and our family dogLocation: Montclair, Virginia – Suburbs outside of Washington, DCSize: 2,600 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, owned A little over a year ago my husband was afforded an incredible work opportunity in Washington, D.C., and we decided to take the leap.

Name: CarolineLocation: Western Addition – San Francisco, California Everything in my home has been discovered on a treasure hunt. Whether I was at a flea market, garage sale, or it is something a wonderful friend gave me, each piece is a little find. Being an artist, I am inspired everywhere I go. Color always stops me in my tracks — hence my latest turquoise and chartreuse obsession.

Name: Naomi Location: Portland, Oregon Last year, my husband and I converted the two car garage of our ’80s ranch home, into an apartment (an Accessory Dwelling Unit, or ADU, according to Porland zoning standards). With the help of our architect friend, we designed and built a beautiful, 1-bedroom, 360 SF apartment that we now call home. We love the space and the fact that we created it together from the shell of a former garage.

Name: Michelle Smith Location: Raleigh, North Carolina Our wide open downstairs has evolved a lot in the seven years that we’ve lived here. In the past couple of years in between designing the interiors of my boutiques, Kindred, then Gather, I’ve made some changes at home too. I painted the walls a handsome gray which brightens up our townhouse which has limited natural light. I bought some flat file storage to store my photo backdrops by color and have available on the fly.

Name: Adam Baz, with his girlfriend Ashley Vaughan Location: Portland, Oregon Our spacious North Portland apartment is filled with plant life, Danish-modern furniture, vibrant textiles, and many DIY furnishings. We wanted the space to strike a perfect balance between modern simplicity and rustic Portland charm — warm, welcoming and well-designed. We love nice woods, worldly patterns, colorful art and found natural objects.

Name: Bronwyn Location: Nob Hill, San Francisco, California I have a small studio apartment on Nob Hill in San Francisco. I love being in the middle of the city, so I can walk most places. I love having my home be small, so it is easy to keep up with. I have a wall of closets which is so important for keeping me organized. I love the beams on my ceiling and the built-ins from the 1920s that add character to the space. I painted all the paintings myself.

Name: Rachel Location: San Francisco, California It’s my first home! I turned 30 last year and decided to pull the trigger and buy my first place – a one bedroom apartment in San Francisco. With the help of my sister (she’s an architect), I completely renovated the kitchen. The original kitchen was literally from the 1940s – it still had an icebox for a refrigerator! While rustic, it wasn’t functional.

Name: Vivian Location: Oakland, CA Three words to describe our home would be: organic, DIY and modern. What I love most about our apartment is it’s a space that has a character of its own, which allowed us to bring in both of our personalities to make a cozy relaxing home in the middle of a concrete urban neighborhood.

Name: Cara and Otis Location: San Francisco, California This is our first home together and we are both students! As in, our budget was (and still is) extremely low. Our house is solely furnished via leftover furniture in our parents’ garages, IKEA, Goodwill, and mainly the Craigslist Free section. It was a bit tricky to configure all of our hodgepodge items into a layout that made sense and was comfortable, but after three years we finally figured it out! We love our San Francisco home.

Name: Handsome Hollow Location: Long Eddy, New York Leaves, apples, fireplaces roaring, chilly walks in cute sweaters – right now is the perfect season for weekend getaways. While I most definitely won’t be escaping to anywhere wonderful this weekend (lots of laundry is in my future!

Name: Daphne Steinberg Location: San Francisco, California I had just moved to San Francisco from New York and came a couple of months before my fiancee to find a job and a home while he finished out his contract at work. Everyone had warned me how tough it was to find a good place in San Francisco, and to prepare myself for months of searching and hellish open houses.

Name: Fay Location: Lake Merritt, Oakland, California I submitted an application to rent my apartment, sight unseen, as I was making a rather speedy move from the East Coast. (Small world alert! One of our House Tour participants, Colleen, lives in Fay’s old DC apartment! – Janel) I was instantly smitten by the charming elements of the pre-war building: hardwood flooring, crown molding, cut glass doorknobs and the working fireplace.

Name: Chaoyi Location: SF Bay Area, CA I share an one bedroom apartment with my boyfriend in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our place is around 700 sq. ft, with a very nice large patio tucked under some beautiful trees from the street. We love this place because it is bright and airy, the living room gets a lot of light, especially in the morning. And our dog Danger loves to sunbath on weekend mornings.

Name: Clara of Banner Day Location: Oakland, CA We live in a small not-so-hipster 1930’s cottage, one of the few that survived in our neighborhood from the 1991 Oakland firestorm. We moved here after living in San Francisco for several years. We love our Rockridge neighborhood, the pedestrian lifestyle of College Ave, and the quick access to vast hiking trails all over the East Bay.

Name: Maura Location: King’s Hill – Portland, OR Late last year, when I was particularly missing my native West Coast, I decided to relocate from Washington, D.C., to Portland, Oregon. Part of the challenge (and the excitement) of making a cross-country move was the fact that I decided to bring with me only what I could fit inside my car — so when I arrived in Portland, I would be looking for entirely new furniture. And here is what I came up with!

Name: Alexis & Nathaniel Location: Portland, OR We bought our home in 2007 because we loved the SW Portland neighborhood of Multnomah Village and though the house is small – just under 800 square feet. we loved (still love) that it felt larger because of all of the windows and natural light.

Name: Susan Location: Bedford, New Hampshire In 2002 I found myself a single mom raising two daughters, I had a dream of designing and building a Nantucket Cottage. I set out to find land, design my cottage and sub contract out the work. The property is surrounded with the charm of the old gray stone walls once used by farmers to mark their land. In 2005 I opened an interior design and home furnishings store in historic downtown Concord New Hampshire.

Name: Henry Location: San Francisco, CA I believe that no matter the size of your home, there is always room for style! I live in a 1BR, 795 SF condo on the cusp of SOMA and Mid-Market. I share this space with my partner and our 11 year old chihuahua. We make the most out of our home by creating cross-functioning areas and we are conscientious of what we bring home. The apartment is furnished with a carefully selected mix of finds from Craigslist, consignment shops, galleries and flea markets.

Name: Taylor Location: Twin Peaks neighborhood – San Francisco, CA My apartment was built in 1964 at the top of the highest hill in San Francisco. The apartment features unparalleled views of downtown and the bay, so the key to decorating is to let the view be the focus. I’m primarily inspired by a mid century modern aesthetic, with vivid pops of color and a casual, West Coast laid back feel. Thanks, Taylor ! • Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy?

Name: Caitlin and Dave Location: Lake Merritt neighborhood – Oakland CA We live in a two bedroom, approximately 900 square foot apartment in beautiful Oakland California. My husband Dave and I moved here from NYC almost two years ago and we share the apartment with one roommate, Patrick, who is a good friend of ours.

Name: Jeni Location: San Francisco, California After years of roommates, carpeted studios, and Ikea-filled rooms, I finally got the chance to move into my own apartment and I couldn’t wait to get my grubby hands all over it. Ever since I hit my 30’s, I’ve been obsessed with interior design, mainly because it’s such a fun way to express style + creativity. In my 20’s, that same energy was focused on fashion. As a Buyer at J.

Name: Christeleny Location: Upper East Side — New York, New York I bought my 1000 square feet, two bedroom, two bathroom apartment in 2010. The previous owner had lived there for decades and it was quite literally falling apart. It’s in a great pre-war building with an interesting history so I was sure I could make it into something wonderful! Because I had to bring everything up to code the entire apartment had to be gutted. Between the co-op board, the NYC board of buildings etc.

Name: Jennifer Location: Inner Sunset — San Francisco, California I live in a light filled four bedroom two story victorian built in 1906 on 8th avenue in the Inner Sunset. It’s been my home for nearly seven years! It’s no small statement to say that I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have lived in such a spacious home for so long. Especially in a city where rents are skyrocketing – you’re lucky to get a window no less a backyard and a garage.

Name: Julia Atkinson Location: Auckland, New Zealand My name is Julia and I’m the founder and editor of popular New Zealand/Australian daily design site; Studio Home. Photographer Bonnie Stewart-Macdonald popped by a few months ago and caught some shots of me and my compact, modern 2 bedroom apartment in central Auckland, New Zealand. I’ve been based (living AND working) from the great sunny space for the last three years – and despite its small size I LOVE IT!

Name: Kristy Location: South Tampa, Florida My husband Marc and I bought our 1960s ranch home over a year ago in the up-and-coming Port Tampa City area of Tampa, Florida. Marc is a pool designer and I own a home staging and interior styling company, so it was important to us to choose a home that catered to our design tastes…. a quaint and modernized cottage home with an open floor plan and timeless features.

Name: Genevieve Location: Concordia — Portland, Oregon This is our tiny house (216 square feet) within the growing Concordia neighborhood in NE Portland. The home started as a garage space that was historically permitted as a living space in the 1940s under WWII war time code. So, the tiny house itself has some interesting history.

Name: Girolamo Location: Dogpatch — San Francisco, California I live in the Penn Station Lofts, a building in the sunny Dogpatch district in San Francisco. The lofts are situated behind the train station and I also happen to be the owner of La Stazione Coffee and Wine Bar. What’s cool about my loft, 8 years in the making, is that it’s a live/work situation so my commute to work is literally down a spiral staircase everyday.

Name: Sandra Location: San Francisco, California I’m a textile designer behind the brand Happy French Gang and I live in a typical San Franciscan apartment in a very old house right in front of the famous Dolores Park. The place is about 800 square feet and I think we brought some French spirit to that place! We have two bedrooms, and the one we gave to our 5 year old is facing the cool Dolores St. palm trees.

Name: Holly Location: Portland, Oregon Our home is actually the main floor of a beautiful old Portland home (built in 1908) that’s since been divided into four apartments — one for each floor plus the basement. Because of its wonderful history, it definitely has a few quirks. The apartment is about 1,400 square feet, but is only a one bedroom (a converted dining room). Our closet is a converted butler’s pantry, so we store our shoes in drawers made for holding potatoes.

Name: Maria & Family Location: Portland, Oregon The basics: Owned for 1 year | 2,574 square feet We love Maria’s fun and funky design. Her home is full of rich color and whimsical DIY projects that fill it with life and character. And the style doesn’t stop when it comes to the kids’ rooms as she’s created spaces that are charming and functional.

Name: S.T.A.R Location: Long Island, New York It’s quite paw-sible that these two Burmese cuties on the left (officially known as The Choco-Lettes) are the luckiest two cats on the planet. Why? Because their humans have crafted one of the most incredible feats of feline ar-cat-ecture in the home they share in Long Island. Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My name is S.T.A.R. which is an acronym for Susy’s Things Altered and Recycled.

“When I decided I was ready to live on my own after years of living with roommates, I needed a place where I could continue to have dinner parties and space for guests to feel comfortable — but finding that at an affordable price point in San Franciso is challenging,” writes Chelsea Drenick.

Name: Chelsea Daffinson, my husband Brion, two dogs Harley and Stella and a whole lot of plant babies. Location: Marietta, Georgia Size: 1800 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, owned We were previously renting in Historic Marietta when we had the realization that we were paying rent equal to a monthly mortgage payment. This 1,800-square-foot, 1973 home caught our eye and, while we were hoping to buy a starter home, we found that this was going to be our forever home.

Name: Anne Hodder, husband, 4 cats, and a ton of plants! Location: Los Angeles, California Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 2.5 years, renting Our home is a sanctuary hidden behind a tall wooden gate and invisible from the street. Even though it’s a duplex, the only shared wall is behind our fridge so we NEVER hear our neighbor. It feels like a separate little house. What is your favorite room and why?

Name: Prathima Nalluri Location: Nopa (North of Panhandle) — San Francisco, California Size: 400 square feet Years lived in: 9 months, renting I moved into my apartment about nine months ago with not much furniture except my bed and a console table. I know they say take your time to furnish your place but I did it in less than three months (and I don’t regret a single purchase!). I love spending time at home and I wanted to create a space which is airy and cozy at the same time.

Name: Carra Manahan Location: San Francisco, California Size: 650 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting A couple years ago, I decided to get my own apartment in San Francisco. I’d lived in the Marina since moving to the city and couldn’t part with it. The neighborhood’s beautiful and charming; there’s truly something special about being able to see the Golden Gate Bridge from it.

Name: Claire Armstrong, boyfriend Andy, and two cats, Toki and Aspen Location: Glassell Park — Los Angeles, California Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 4 months, owned This house was built in Mar Vista in 1939 and moved to the current lot in Glassell Park in 1956 along with a detached garage from South LA. It has only had one owner who tended a beautiful garden and had interesting taste in wallpaper and DIY improvements.