Small Spaces

Name: Eileen and Walter the golden retriever Location: Upper East Side — New York, New York The basics: 5.5 years, rented We love the charming and approachable functionality of Eileen’s apartment. Fitting a busy life AND a golden retriever into a New York studio is no easy feat, and Eileen manages to do it with style. Tell Us a Little About Yourself: I’m a native New Yorker who had lived in the diaspora (Boston & DC) for 10 years before returning to NYC.

If anyone has any insight into sharing a small space with another person (and pets), it’s got to be Julie and Andrew, who have been (successfully) living together in a Blue Bird school bus for a year. They graciously let us share their incredibly tiny yet stylish home in a house tour, and they’ve also shared some of their secrets to living harmoniously in a shared small space.

Studio living comes with a lot of perks, like saving money on rent and living closer to a city’s urban action. But it comes at a price, too—mainly having to sleep, eat, work and exist, all in one room. Those who use design wisely, however, can manage to make a studio feel…less studio-ish. Here are five studio apartments that do just that—and how they pulled it off.

Name: Candida & Jeff Location: San Francisco, California My husband (Jeff) and I have lived in our tiny but ridiculously charming Apartment for around two years. We both wanted a home with charm, built in the 1920s and close to the ocean. We were looking at Studio and Jr one bedroom homes in San Francisco. I had actually been browsing Apartment Therapy to get inspo on how to decorate a small space, and saw a feature of a home that converted their walk in closet into a bedroom.

Name: Jody Location: Round Hill, Virginia We lived in a 3,500 square-foot house, and owned five other traditional American homes. One day, when looking over finances, we realized we were both working to support our home. The house owned us. At the same time, we’d been questioning our carbon footprint. I “blame” that on the Solar Decathlon.

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.

In a small home, every inch counts. If you’re looking for ways to find more space in your home, peruse this list of furniture switcheroo suggestions. They are smart and suitable substitutes for bulkier furniture, and making these switches could give you more space. A small wooden shelf, a repurposed desk drawer or a cube shelf (like above) can drastically reduce the space a nightstand might take up without eliminating a handy bedside surface.