Reader Submissions

Name: Valery Location: Brooklyn Heights — Brooklyn, New York This space is important to me in so many ways—it is my first apartment on my own after the end of my marriage—a home and respite for myself and my 5-year-old son; emblematic of renewal and growth. I aimed to create a space that exuded warmth, and took advantage of the aerie third floor location—which gives the impression of living amongst the trees.

Name: Lisa Location: Yamba — New South Wales, Australia We just moved a year ago from the city to a small coastal town and built our dream home. We have begun to lead a simpler life, away from all the crazy of the city. My style is minimalist, Scandi style. I love black and white.

Name: Helena Location: Springhill — Belgrade, Montana After almost 5 months of moving around, I finally wanted to create a space all my own. Having a “cabin in the woods” has long been a dream of mine (does anyone NOT have this dream?), I was so excited to fill it (but not too much, you know, because minimalism and such…) with things that I loved, or reminded me of people or places that were important to me.

Name: Melody Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Thanks to Apartment Therapy we had plenty of ideas when we remodeled our downtown 1906 SLC duplex five years ago. Utah is not known for its style, so we ended up doing most everything ourselves (since most contractors couldn’t understand our aesthetic). The renovation took us two years, lots of heartache, and endless DIY thinking.

Name: Tuva & Lars Location: Tøyen — Oslo, Norway What we love most about our apartment, and one of the main reasons we bought it four years ago, is the light. It’s a third floor south-west facing apartment with windows on three sides. Lots of windows. And lots of light throughout the day. It makes the apartment feel airy and fresh.

Name: Victoria Location: A Small Country Village, England I bought my home in 2014, it’s a 1970s semi-detached bungalow in a lovely friendly street in a pretty village in the south of the UK. I’m very lucky to have wonderful neighbours and everyone on the street looks out for each other – it’s one of the best things about country living.

Name: Casey & Savannah Location: Nashville, Tennessee We are Casey and Savannah, best friends, business partners, roommates and Airbnb hosts. Our home was purchased by Casey’s parents and we rent it from them. It has four bedrooms and two bathrooms and is 1,963 square feet. It was built in 1945, which made for lots of charm, but also many problems when it was first purchased.

Name: Violeta Location: County Limerick, Ireland My home was featured on Apartment Therapy six years ago and a lot of new things happened since then in our home and garden. We went crazy in the hallway and painted it all black! I just think hallways are always neglected by people and that’s a big mistake. A pop of color can go a long way. Why not to decorate it like you would do in your living room? My husband’s office is not his anymore. I took it over.

Name: Hannah Location: Chicago, Illinois Two years ago my husband and I and our winsome Goldendoodle, Hadley moved out of a typical, dark, old Chicago three-flat apartment and into this beautiful, new construction condo near the hip neighborhood of Logan Square. My husband, Josh is in medical school and I work from home as a Creative Director so it was very important to us to have a bright, sunny, and inspiring space to spend our days studying and working!

Name: Katie (15) Location: Sumter, South Carolina This past summer we moved into a new house which means new rooms for the kids. This go round my daughter is fifteen and while I had some ideas for the room her plans were a little different, so I let her be the boss. Her original plans for the room had always been coral and aqua so when we spied some aqua Zebra sheets at Macy’s we had out inspiration.

Location: U Street Corridor — Washington, D.C. I live up the road from President Obama and my place is almost 1,000 square feet. I decorated on a budget. I started my company while simultaneously moving into a new place, and it really leaves the decorating budget to a minimum. I prefer neutrals such as whites and grays for your bones, i.e. couch and chairs, and then like to add color elsewhere. That way you have more options for trading out pillows and fabrics down the road.

Name: Mandi Location: North End — Tacoma, Washington My husband and I bought a major fixer-upper a few years ago. It was that magical combination of a clear vision, a husband who trusted me and a few family members with construction know-how. The house was very willy-wonka (the floors were so sloped it was an experience walking through the house), pink-carpet in the bathroom, brown shag rug in the living area, and a kitchen layout that was so, so awful.

Name: Sverre & Maren Ingeborg Location: Ottestad, Norway We live in a PINK victorian house on the country side in Norway (1.5 hours from the capital). The house and outbuildings are 2,000 square feet, and we both live and work together from our amazing 99 year old place. We have many trees just as old as the house and a sweet yard. The outbuildings will soon contain our small film production company.

Name: Patricia Location: Antwerp, Belgium I live in a 135 square meter apartment (the internet tells me that’s 1453 square feet) together with my boyfriend Dieter and my cat George. I’m the owner of online boutique Lily and The Lady and a freelancer, Dieter is an architect who has his own firm. Our apartment is a 1930s building on a beautiful wide street in Antwerp, Belgium. It is the first home we purchased, and we’ve been renovating it with love for the past two years.

Name: Fabian & David Location: New Haven, Connecticut We are Fabian from Germany and David from the United States, two doctoral students at Yale University, and we turned our student rental into a modern, minimalist apartment. Both of us work in the social sciences but also have a casual interest in architecture and interior design.

Name: Weronika (7) Location: Belfast, Ireland This room belongs to my 7 year old daughter Weronika. She is very creative, bubbly and outgoing. She Loves reading books, playing with her ponnies and dolls. Her favourite colors are pink, coral and gold. I have always had a massive admiration for a simplicity of Scandinavian style.

Name: Manson Location: Mount Washington — Los Angeles, California Nestled in a bohemian valley of Mount Washington in Los Angeles, sits a tiny 600 square foot house. Built in 1922, the house hangs between a steep slope and a giant pine tree. When I bought it as a foreclosure in 2010, the property was dilapidated with an illogical layout and disproportionate rooms. For the renovation, I was inspired by a childhood fantasy of living in a treehouse.

Name: Saria & Kyle Location: Montavilla — Portland, Oregon When Kyle and I first moved into our 250 square foot studio behind a large main house, it was a mess. The concrete floors had spilled paint all over, the walls were halfway painted a sky blue, and it had looked like it was abused and abandoned for years. We did a huge overhaul. It was originally built to be an artist studio so it already had track lighting and a beautiful large built in workspace area, with drawers and shelves.

Name: Matt Location: Lower East Side — New York, New York Hi! I’m Matt, and I’m a designer based in New York City. My current focus is on creating organized spaces within the home using custom, 3D printed solutions. I work from home — and home, currently, is a 550-square-foot rental in the Lower East Side. After I sold my studio a little over a year ago, I was looking for something that was different, had as much space as humanly possible and was interesting.

Name: Gabby & Adam Location: Distillery District — Toronto, Canada We moved into our 497 square foot condo in the historic Distillery District in downtown Toronto almost a year ago. Moving into a smaller space than our previous apartment, we spent a lot of time thinking about items and furniture that we needed and loved in our everyday lives. Everything in our apartment has function or bring us joy.

Name: Brooke Location: Chinandega, Nicaragua My husband and I moved to Nicaragua over 10 years ago to open an office of a local real estate company, Aurora Leon Realty. We recently finished our “passion project”… we resurrected a 50 year old barn that originally was located on neighboring farm in Northern Nicaragua.

Name: Drew Location: Addison, Texas My name is Drew and I reside in Addison, Texas. I work in the medical device industry but have a love for interior design. I’m mainly inspired by the mid-century modern era and Bauhaus movement. My current home is a 650 square foot loft studio. My home features concrete ceilings, hardwood and stained/polished concrete flooring, and exposed duct work. The raw elements of my home are what I adore and love.

Name: Amber & Ryan Location: Downtown — Los Angeles, California We ended up with a lease on this massive two story industrial loft inside a 1900s factory building completely by chance 18 months ago, when our best friends had to move out unexpectedly after investing thousands of dollars into building it out as a living space. They just wanted their investment to stay in the family.

Name: Monica Location: Seattle, Washington Hi! My name is Monica Bennett and please let me introduce you to my Silver Girl — my beautiful 2012, 27′ International Signature Airstream travel trailer. This beauty accompanies us on all of our Pacific Northwest non-stop outdoor adventures. She offers up a cozy and relaxing retreat after a day spent outdoors trekking through lush green moss carpeted rain forests, to fly fishing some of the most crystal clear rivers.

Name: Robin Location: Cambridgeport — Cambridge, Massachusetts What can I say about our home… in short our home is our dream home but funny enough it started out as a space that we expected to be living in only a few years. We purchased our home, a 1700 square feet, three bed, three bath condo in a converted school (from the early 1900s) right after the birth of our first son. We bought the space pre-construction and sadly let the developer make most of the decisions.

Name: Danielle & Ryan Location: Fraser/Main — Vancouver, British Columbia Our overall style is minimalist and clean but comfy. We are most inspired by mid-century modern pieces and shapes but like to add bohemian touches for warmth. We also love to freely mixed silver, gold, and brass for a casual and unpretentious feel.

Name: Joseph Location: Grand Lake — Oakland, California We live in the beautiful Grand Lake district in Oakland, California, across the street from the iconic Grand Lake Theater. Our studio apartment is about 300 square feet with a lofted sleeping area and we have lived here for about two years. Our neighborhood is full of great shops, restaurants and bars, and an amazing farmer’s market on Saturdays.

Name: Mariska Location: Amsterdam I am about to embark on a new adventure in Amsterdam and would like to share my 117 square meter (1,259 square feet) home, which I completely renovated. I bought it 10 years ago and immediately fell in love with it because it had a fireplace. The house was quite a mess as it had been rented out for a longer period and had not been renovated since the 70s. My style is eclectic, I love collecting art & objects.

Name & Location: Vanessa in Lynchburg, Virginia My Favorite Room: Guest Bedroom Specs: 120 square feet We live in a ranch home in central Virginia and have made it our own in the last year and a half of marriage. The guest room was a huge priority to us but we did not have much in the way of a budget. That was no problem. If there is one thing I can do, it is to use my imagination to create things that I cannot afford. I eagerly took on the project for the guest room.

Name: Sonia & Jason Location: Asbury Park, New Jersey We are Jason and Sonia. Jason is a graphic designer and writer, Sonia is a bartender at the local German biergarten and together we are the owners of Nomad, a travel inspired company that rents out vintage travel trailers and European style canvas tents for parties, weddings, etc. We also having a clothing line that we sell at Market at Fifth Avenue, a collective of local and national makers on the boardwalk.

Name: Sally Location: Dupont Circle — Washington, D.C. My boyfriend, John, and I have called our apartment in Dupont Circle ‘home’ for three years now. This quaint little one-bedroom is tucked inside a turn-of-the-century apartment building, located on a bustling street in Washington, D.C. Despite the busyness of our locale, inside we’ve created a cozy, peaceful retreat.

Name: Melissa Location: Central Business District — New Orleans, Louisiana My husband and I sold our 2,300 square foot house and downsized to a 1,000 square foot apartment in the heart of the Central Business District. I love all of the home tours Apartment Therapy has done in New Orleans, but haven’t found any in our neighborhood. The CBD is a booming neighborhood where empty parking lots are becoming trendy apartments, retail and restaurants.

Name: Phillip Location: Highlands — Denver, Colorado My place is about 800 square feet (I think). It’s in the LoHi section of Denver, just outside of downtown. When I moved in 3.5 years ago, mine was the only big new apartment building in the area now there are at least a dozen. It’s definitely become a pretty popular area with a ton of great restaurants. I think it’s apparent from the pictures that I like a lot of color in my space.

Name: Nicholas Location: North Loop — Minneapolis, Minnesota We’ve taken a relatively small square footage plan (740 square feet) and used every inch to its advantage. We took the blank white open space and customized each end to create several unique spaces within one. Our living space, where the sofa is moved just slightly from the wall to create a cozy office area was a must have for our work from home lifestyle.

Name: Louisa (2 years old) Location: Southport, Connecticut We just moved into a historic house last spring and I was scrambling to pull together the kids’ rooms without too much expense and too much effort! This little room came together with nothing more than paint, a simple craft project and some thrifted decor! The hanging tapestry over her crib is made from two IKEA throw rugs and a homemade freezer paper stencil.

Name: Brandon & Kate Location: Humboldt Park — Chicago, Illinois Our home is the top floor of a quaint little two-flat from 1891 in Humboldt Park Chicago. We fell in love with all the beautiful natural light that floods the apartment during the daytime and the simple white walls that were just begging for some artwork. We used to sell vintage furniture so we have a large collection of furniture and home decor to pull from.

Name: Su Location: Oakland, California I spent some time in Sweden and fell in love with the red wooden Swedish country homes. Being a designer, I always wanted to design my own home. I worked with an architect who took my vision and made it structurally sound. The materials I felt most connected to were metal and wood. After reading about prefab homes, I wanted to design a small home that felt like a cabin in the woods with the modern necessities.

Name: Dana Location: Corktown — Toronto, Canada I bought my 750 square foot 2 bedroom/2 bath loft in August and I immediately set out to make it a home. It’s located in Corktown, a historic area in Toronto which has been developing over the past few years. I grew up in the Middle East and I have a love for textiles, rugs and handmade objects. My style is a mix of eclectic, bohemian and mid-century.

Name: Patrick & Anna Location: Tequesta, Florida My husband, myself, our two children, Harlee Faye (she’s almost 2), our son Declan (he’s almost 9 months), and our pit bull Gypsy Lou live in a 1,600 square foot home in Tequesta, Florida, which is just north of West Palm Beach. The moment my husband and I stepped foot into our home, I knew this was the one!

Name: Leslie Location: Hyde Park — Austin, Texas My apartment is wholly imperfect. It has full brick walls, a beige-everywhere approach, and our bedroom doesn’t have a proper door. We chose it mostly for location. The neighborhood can’t be beat with quiet, tree-lined streets and our favorite Tex-mex restaurant is two blocks away, next to an out-of-this-world bakery. Decorating this home has been a challenge and a joy.