Reader Submissions

Project by: Anna Location: Moscow, Russia This apartment is located in the center of Moscow – only a five minute walk from the Red Square and Kremlin. It is located in a historic building and its surface is 65 square meters/700 square feet. My clients were a young couple – they travel a lot and wanted me to recreate a mixture of French and Scandinavian looks.

Name & Location: Maya in Fort Greene — Brooklyn, New York My Favorite Room: Master Bedroom Suite Specs: 700 square feet The master bedroom floor of our 1903 Brooklyn townhouse was really choppy and awkward with lots of unusable space. There was a very small bathroom, a tiny bedroom (which I basically used as a closet) and a master bedroom with a series of weirdly laid out closets and a random bathroom vanity thrown in the middle.

Project by: Alex Location: German Village — Columbus, Ohio My girlfriend and I recently purchased a 1885 brick cottage in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus, OH. While the house had great bones and needed nothing major, it was very outdated and needed a lot of cosmetic work. We renovated the entire first floor, including drywalling all of the walls and ceilings, refinishing the original old growth pine floors, and redoing the entire kitchen and layout.

Name & Location: Kaylee in South Jordan, Utah My Favorite Room: Living Room Specs: 200 Square Feet My husband and I bought our first home about a year after we got married and immediately set to work on updating the living room (it’s the first thing people see when they walk through the door). The entire house was dark tan when we moved in, including the trim, so just updating the paint made a huge difference!

Name & Location: Kari in Dallas, Texas My Favorite Room: Family Room Specs: 275 Square Feet My husband Ryan and I moved into our home two months ago. We always talked about buying a fixer-upper and making it our own. Then, something crazy happened. We had kids. Between the toddler tantrums and an angelic newborn, a fixer-upper no longer seemed fun. Priorities, y’all. So instead we found a move-in ready home and fell in love instantly!

Name & Location: Courtney in Midtown — Tulsa, Oklahoma My Favorite Room: Living Room Specs: 180 Square Feet This room is special to my husband and me because it is where we met! Since then, we got married, I moved in and a lot of things changed! Just about every detail of the room has our special touch on it making it a place where we love to spend time. I reupholstered and changed the shape of our couch with a beautiful grey fabric from West Elm to make it a little more modern.

Name: Sarah Location: Ukrainian Village — Chicago, Illinois My apartment is an 800 square foot coach house in Ukranian Village. It took a lot of scrubbing and painting to bring it up to my standards, but was worth it for the location. I went from a studio to a 1.5 bedroom and was able to furnish it pretty quickly with the help of my mom, auctions and Craigslist. The living room is the best looking, but I spend most of my time in the large kitchen and cozy bedroom.

Name & Location: Sara in The village Skærbæk outside Fredericia, Denmark My Favorite Room: Living/Dining Room Specs: 431 Square Feet What I love most about our living room is the way that the sun falls in through the large window-doors, creating figures on the floor. I also like that it can hold the whole family with friends over. Typically my husband and son sit in the sofa, while my daughter dances or jumps around on the floor, and I sit with my laptop at the dining table.

Project by: Casey Location: Chicago, Illinois My husband and I purchased a condo in Chicago nine months ago, and we’ve slowly been working to transform every inch of the 1,200 square foot space. Determined to broaden my DIY skills and try out some new power tools. I vowed to makeover our guest room all by myself. I started by DIY’ing a wood wall treatment to create an accent behind the bed.

Name & Location: Lizeth in San Diego, California My Favorite Room: Mini Home Office Specs: 300 square feet, rented My home style has evolved to a mix of modern furniture with organic and eclectic decor elements. Since we rent an apartment and do not have the luxury of an extra room for an office, I wanted to incorporate a mini home office into the living room area as organically as possible.

Name & Location: Victoria in Dallas, Georgia My Favorite Room: Nursery Specs: 25 square feet, owned Decorating Cove’s nursery was so much fun for us. We knew that we wanted a space that was full of the things that we love with a west coast modern feel. I love white walls and bright spaces, so keeping things simple and minimalistic was also really important. Overall, we are very happy with how it turned out, and I can’t wait to add a little boy and his personality to it as he grows!

Name: Zachary Ioannucci Location: Greenpoint — Brooklyn, NY Size: 1000 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, renting I live with my boyfriend Travis. We’re both into interior design and I’m sure we both wish we could start over again and do that. The furniture is a mix of his and mine. Nothing was really planned. We just went forward with what we already had/found and built around that. Also, fun fact — we had seen twenty six apartments before seeing this one.

Name: Shawn Location: Echo Park — Los Angeles, California The basics: 4 months, owned — 1,111 square feet Shawn’s funky cabin is full of warm wood, natural light and a ton of texture. From the wood floors to the planked ceiling the home has tons of laid-back California cool that makes you want to take off your shoes and relax.

Interior designer Maggie Burns describes her Williamsburg rental apartment’s style as “Modern, Eclectic, Cozy, Urban, Minimal.” But I would describe it as a beautiful way to keep a home light and airy by using warm, cozy beige and cream tones (rather than a just all-white palette). Beige has (quite rightly) gotten a bad reputation over the years (mostly due to bland, builder’s grade homes).

Name: Sally Averill Location: Notting Hill, London Size: 360 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned After putting in a few failed offers on flats in the Notting Hill area of London, Sally discovered this mini and modern home and knew it was love at first sight. “I’ve lived in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Australia — I love the light and knew I wanted somewhere full of light but also bold colours.

Name: Sarah and Max Location: Miami, Florida The basics: 4 months rented, 750 square feet Sarah’s Miami apartment is colorful and fun and full of little surprises. Every picture has a fun detail, full of cool art and funky patterns. Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My husband Max and I actually just moved from Indianapolis, Indiana to Miami four months ago.

Name: Vincent Location: West Village — New York, New York The basics: 2 years, rented — 700 square feet Vincent’s West Village home is classically urban and warmly welcoming, perfect for his supper club, Mr. Jones. His home is both personal and public, well curated with plenty to look at without feeling staged. And with the exposed brick and natural light, he hit the apartment jackpot!

Project by: Cynthia Ferguson Designs Location: Toronto, Ontario Cynthia was enlisted to help a family of four downsize from their family home into a condo that would better suit their life now. Working with her clients she was able to create a chic space that mixes new pieces with old favorites. From Cynthia: With their two daughters moving on to University, my client decided to take advantage of the crazy real estate market in Toronto and downsize from their family home.

Name: Jessica Location: Eastside — Milwaukee, Wisconsin The basics: 3 months, rented —450 square feet Jessica’s apartment looks much larger than its 450 square feet. Since hosting was a priority for her, and she didn’t want folks playing Apples to Apples on her bed, she decided to divide up her studio to carve out a specific spot for entertaining. Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: I’m a public accountant and photographer.

Name: Hannah Location: Raleigh, North Carolina The basics: 2.5 years, rented — 385 square feet Hannah’s adorable apartment comes complete with an enviable amount of sunlight, which she in turn uses to grow a ton of plants. Green mixes with pops of color and funky finds to create a totally winsome little space.

Name: Sarah, her husband, their daughter and cat Location: New York, New York The basics: Owned, 5 months — 1,100 square feet Sarah and her family have created a sleek, minimalist family home in New York. Full of smartly hidden storage and light maximizing colors, the space feels airy and bright.

Name: Beth and Jake Location: Dallas, Texas The basics: 1 year, rented — 900 square feet Newlyweds Beth and Jake have created a cozy cocoon of a home that is warm, welcoming and perfect for entertaining. Layering textures and eclectic finds, their space is full of funky organic vibes. Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My husband Jake and I recently got married, so this is our first space together as newlyweds, and it has been such an oasis for us.

Name: Oksana, her husband and their children Zion and Chloe Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota The basics: 9 years, owned — 1,200 square feet Oksana’s home is a mix of white and wood which keeps the space warm and inviting and maximizes the natural light, a big plus during South Dakota winters. Her philosophy is to take designing her space one corner at a time, and you can tell by the smartly collected moments sprinkled throughout the house.

Name: Emily Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia The basics: 2 years, rented — 900 square feet Emily’s on her own for the first time, so she decided to create the most uniquely “her” space she could. Filling her home with quirky finds, heirlooms and unique collections her space is homey and warm. Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: For as long as I can remember my favorite activity has been decorating.

Name: Marta, Tadeu and Spock the cat Location: Lisbon, Portugal The basics: 1 year, rented Marta and Tadeu’s apartment is full of tiny bright surprises. It seems to be about 80% a super stylish neutral apartment with 20% colorful and quirky and delightful finds — perfect for a game of interior eye spy. Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: I’m a fashion designer and my boyfriend Tadeu is a photographer.

Name: Heather, Jeff and their son, Reeve Location: Point Breeze —Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The basics: Owned — 1,693 square feet Heather and her husband have created an utterly enchanting, totally individual space. Heather purchased the home in her 20s and has since made updates to turn the space into a creative and colorful home for a family of three.

Name: Blandine, her husband, their 3 daughters, 2 dogs, 3 cats and 2 horses Location: Saint Germain au Mont d’or, France The basics: 20 years, owned — 400 square meters/4,305 square feet Blandine’s home is immaculately bohemian. Like pulled straight from the set design of your dreams. With a ton of color and amazing textiles, her farmhouse is spacious yet warm with bold pieces balanced against expansive walls.