Small Spaces

Creative technologist Amy Wibowo's small San Francisco studio apartment is packed with personality, including a mermaid headboard of her dreams.

This renter hasn't been afraid to make temporary improvements like swapping out ugly kitchen pendants lights, switching out cabinet knobs, and more to create a gorgeous home.

Hannah is a registered nurse, but loves to do DIY/interior design on the side. "I love having lots of plants and using bright colors to give spaces definition and character."

Designer Adnan Anwar replaced a standard light fixture with a lantern, hung a mirror to emphasize light and ceiling height, employed vintage bowls to corral clutter, and used plenty of other smart small space and renter tricks to decorate this tiny apartment.

If you love small homes that maximize every square inch and colorful, maximalist spaces that almost seem to vibrate with excitement and energy, you'll love the home tour that was the most viewed by Apartment Therapy readers!

The tiny studio has been a challenge for storage, especially because Nina has a lot of stuff, but it's forced her to be super clean and come up with smart organizational solutions.

Carla Loo's apartment layout allows her to place furniture in a way that makes it functional as a living and working space.

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!

Patrick was able to approach the design of this small space with creative solutions that maximize its functionality, efficiency, and style... without losing his rental deposit.

Farida Talaat filled her studio with lightweight furniture so she can change the layout often, like Tetris.

For this young professional, houseplants serve as more than decor in her studio: They are a form of self care and meditation.

Over the course of two years, Tess and her dad changed almost everything about this small space to get it to where it is today—a bright, plant-filled home brimming with creativity and pillows.

Chelsey Brown founded the blog, City Chic Decor, and authored the book, "Rental Style." She has a home full of projects that break the stigma of renter restrictions.

French expats have made this charming one-bedroom apartment in a pre-war building from 1900 into a lovely, cozy small home.

Jawaria and her family—husband Jibin and four children Zayn (almost 17), Sayf (14), Zoya (11), and Sophia (6)—beautifully and successfully share a very small rental apartment.

This 1985 Dodge van still had the original 1980s fake wood paneling and red velour upholstery everywhere when Evelyn and her daughter bought this home-on-wheels to remodel!

This "bachelor apartment" is essentially a studio apartment without a kitchen, so Bailey turned a TINY closet into a fully functioning food-making area.

Tyler Moore blogs under the name "Tidy Dad," and tidy is just what you have to be when you're sharing a small NYC third floor walk-up, railroad-style rental apartment with a family.

This family of four (plus dog!) purchased an Airstream just before the pandemic broke in February, and have been traveling, remote working, and homeschooling since.

This tiny NYC studio has a piano instead of a couch, an expandable table that can seat up to six, and lots of vertical storage solutions for small spaces.

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

With two loft spaces, a full-size kitchen, a comfortable bathroom, and lots of clever storage that includes a washing machine, Dolly has designed and created a beautiful home!

Introducing Apartment Therapy's Dream House Week Audience Choice: Casa de Modelei!

RV Before: Rotten, dated, gross


RV After: An UNBELIEVABLE transformation!

Every inch of this studio apartment has been intentionally designed and maximized with DIY ideas and clever storage hacks.

This flat was in a decrepit state, but the ceilings are 11-feet high and the walk to the beach is just six minutes... after a renovation it's a small but gorgeous French Riviera pied-a-terre.

It's pretty amazing how clean, modern, and lovely this small Manhattan apartment is, especially for two adults and two teenagers.

Get inspired by all the little ways in which Emily has found function and storage in her small rental kitchen.

Bold black and white stripes once dominated the kitchen's decor, and the living room used to have a faux-wood wallpaper vibe. You have to see what it looks like today!

The cabin was built by hand 30 years ago and is complete with a beautiful wood stove, iron spiral staircase, and cozy loft.

Shilpa and her husband rent and can't do much changing of fixtures, but they've added plants and cute accents to warm this industrial apartment up!

The tiny studio apartment was furnished entirely from Amazon orders, street-side finds, and local Chinatown treasures from the shops of East Broadway and Grand Street.

"My partner is Indian and it is common in Indian tradition to name one's home. Ours is named Ekyalya, 'Home of Harmony.'"

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.

Each square inch of space gained is a win (and a potential home for a new plant).

When Manuel and Javier first bought this small Bueno Aires condo, it DID NOT look like the lovely and airy space that it is today.

Nicole Lockhart calls her small studio's style "Urban cowgirl’s world traveling retreat".

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

This interior designer traded her small studio apartment for a slightly bigger (but just as beautiful) junior one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco.

Gayle has made it her mission to fill their home with color, and she firmly believes there is no such thing as too many plants!

The walls were stained and the wood flooring damaged, but Marina and her husband put some work into this 500-square-foot rental apartment and it was worth it.

They were able to squeeze in everything they were hoping to achieve AND were able to sneak in extra storage in some places not typically utilized.

The exposed wood and brick and large windows that are original to the building are gorgeous... and the 15-foot ceilings make the studio feel much larger than it actually is!

ALL of the furniture, from the rug to the coffee table to the chair, was found on either Facebook Marketplace or thrifted! Some elements even found free on the street.

This couple's apartment has everything a New Yorker wants: a dishwasher, in-unit laundry, hardwood floors, and four massive closets!

At just 865 square feet and 100 years old, it is small but mighty, and was done on a very tight first-home buyer budget!

This house had been empty for seven years when Maxine bought it. The garden was so overgrown you couldn’t open the back door, the ’90s bathroom was leaking into the kitchen, and all the rooms needed attention... and Maxine has worked her DIY magic on all of them!

Shawn built this ADU in the original garage on their mom’s property—it's got everything you could want in a cozy home... just on a smaller scale!

Model, actor, and musician Athereal Rose lives in this tiny 2014 Dodge Ram Promaster high-roof camper van with her cat Mystic.

It's also got a fireplace, built-in bookcases, the perfect nook for a couch, and fits a massive marble coffee table.

From using vertical space to built-ins, this condo is full of ways to maximize storage space in a small studio.

From an acrylic desk to glass tabletops to see-through chairs, this studio uses the trick of clear furniture to make a small space feel uncluttered and airy.

This tiny home on wheels is proof you do NOT need a large space to create a beautiful home.

After two years of furniture tetris, this studio dweller has a bedroom, an office, a living area, and even a gym sometimes, all in one 11x14-foot room.

When Lucy decorates apartments, they like to use the space to tell a story about where they've been and what they love.

Despite black-stained wood flooring throughout, this small rental apartment is light, airy, bright, and minimal thanks to the renter's furnishings and styling.