Small Spaces

Law student Madi's studio is the first time she's lived without roommates and so her first time with total freedom to decorate however she wanted. "Naturally, this meant pink, plants, and disco balls!"

The 20 homes that make up the second round of the 2022 Small/Cool Contest are all 1,000 square feet or fewer — and positively packed with beautiful decor and genius ideas.

Illustrator Gica Tam shares this 760-square-foot rental apartment with a roommate, but thanks to smart storage ideas and lots of light, the space doesn't feel too cramped or cluttered at all.

This 560-square-foot studio apartment in San Francisco's Lower Haight neighborhood is Dipa Halder's first solo apartment, and she's personalized this blank canvas with murals, DIY art, and furniture and decor that remind her of the colors of a sunrise.

Film fan Madison's Seattle studio apartment is smartly designed and filled with fun elements, like a “Honk if you’d rather be watching the 1999 cinematic masterpiece ‘The Mummy’ starring Brendan Frasier and Rachel Weisz” sticker.

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.

Coach and facilitator Erinne Brown has been renting this light-filled 451-square-foot studio apartment in Chicago's Printers Row neighborhood for two years now.

When this couple first moved into this rental, it had white walls, white cabinets, and not a lot of personality. But with paint, peel-and-stick tile, and affordable furniture finds, they've created a colorful and cozy home.

Josie says that limitations breed creativity, and that certainly applies in the home she shares with her partner, Alec. "I have never gotten more ideas for a space than for this tiny apartment."

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

Kyle Freeman turned a screened-in porch into her very own adorable one-room, home-away-from-home by adding a sink, mini-kitchen, outdoor shower, and more.

Interior designer Nicole Arruda's whole rental studio apartment is proof of how much architectural interest and beauty you can add to a space with just a few details.

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

Thanks to light colors, smart storage ideas, and intentional dividing of "zones," Kristy Marhin has done an amazing job of creating a cozy home in just 230 square feet.

Though just 500 square feet, Jacqueline Clair's studio apartment is a bright corner unit with tons of windows, and features lots of ideas for maximizing a small space.

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?”

Misella and Angga run Lumalamp, a handmade origami lampshade business, out of their home, this 700-square-foot apartment they renovated themselves and share with their three young kids.

Nicknamed "the Bicoastal Bus," this skoolie's style is Palm Springs meets Miami.

Casting assistant Rosie Dart loves old and antique things, and her 390-square-foot, one-bedroom flat in London's Notting Hill neighborhood is colorful and maximalist despite the small size.

Content creator and small studio renter, Imani Keal, is on a mission to get people with small spaces to paint them black.

Erinne moved into this apartment right before the pandemic, and she quickly learned several things: She would need separate zones for working and living, she wanted to love the way her apartment looked from every angle, and she actually loves the color pink.

Inside designer Colby Kern's apartment, high-end splurges, flea market finds, original art, and even a few big box-store scores coexist. The result is a style that exudes luxury without the high price tag.

A few months of layering their place with things they love and need gave Aparna and her husband's small rental apartment a warm makeover and became incredibly personal.

Tynan wanted this small studio to feel like a "1950s honeymoon suite, a cocktail lounge, a powder room, the Playboy Mansion, a 1960s TSA terminal, and a little gay space station in the clouds."

Haley has been able to create distinct sections in their studio that help with the fact that they work from home. "I have a 'bedroom', 'office/workout room', 'living room', and 'kitchen' all without having walls separating them."

Emma says the first room she focused on when she moved into this rental apartment was the kitchen, where she added contact paper to the counters, and used baskets to create highly organized kitchen cabinets.

This small backyard rental in-law suite's style is "traditional, simple and charming, yet refined."

The only thing that came in Julie Gordon's rental studio apartment was a small stove, fridge, and three cabinets. But after some major TLC, a few great peel and stick finds, and lots of patience, she's turned this shoebox-sized into a cozy, beautiful, and organized home.

"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.

"My style is sexy and edgy and a little bit frantic, but is also warm and simple and cozy," renter Xenia Polychronis says. "These two 'styles' do not go together on paper, but they go together for me!"

Thanks to collaborating and facetiming with her bestfriend everyday, Christine was able to DIY furniture, create an enviable bed loft/home office setup, give an ugly kitchen a renter-friendly facelift, and create a stunning home that feels much bigger and more expensive than it actually is.

It packs so much style (and so many mementos!) into 578 square feet.

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.

Renter Jiske Kosian describes her apartment as eclectic, goofy, colorful, original, and Jugendstil (the German iteration of the Art Nouveau movement).

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."