Small Spaces

Name: Mary Lee Location: Austin, Texas Size: 300 square feet Years lived in: 8 months That’s not a typo. Mary Lee’s Austin studio is only 300 square feet, yet it somehow seems so spacious, so open, and so comfortable. Come on in, take a peek and let Mary Lee show you that living in 300 square feet is not only possible, but it’s perhaps all the room you really need.

Name: Kathryn and Perry Bacalis — Wedding and portrait photography team in Denver. Location: Capitol Hill, Denver, Colorado Size: 650 square feet Years lived in: 4 months; rent Kathryn and Perry are the kind of people that make friends with just about everyone they meet. They are warm and welcoming, creative and stylish, just like their home. They recently left behind 1300 square feet of loft living and moved into a 650 square foot apartment in the heart of Denver’s Capitol Hill.

Name: Sara and Mads Location: Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany Size: 75 square meters/807 square feet Years lived in: Two years; rented When they moved into their current ground floor apartment in Berlin’s busy Kreuzberg district after six long months of furnished, temporary rentals, Sara and her husband Mads were eager to put down their roots and make the apartment their own. They initially arrived with a truck of their belongings at 4 a.m.

Name: Fabienne Séveillac & Kobe Van Cauwenberghe Location: La Chapelle, Paris, France Size: 600 square feet Years lived in: 10 months (rented) Thanks to their seventh story walk-up, Fabienne and Kobe are in excellent aerobic shape — a benefit for most, but especially for two musicians who often find themselves holding a sung note for inordinate lengths of time, or boldly scurrying around the neck of a guitar.

Name: Brad and Joe, plus Lilly (dog) and Olivia (cat) Location: East Lakeview — Chicago, Illinois Size: 420 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Owned Brad and Joe’s Lakeview apartment is a wonderful lesson in making the most of a small space. This 420 square foot apartment is home to two men, one sizable dog and a cat — and yet it actually feels spacious, clutter-free and comfortable. Joe and Brad have made great use of every inch of space in their small apartment.

Name: SarikaLocation: Lower East Side — New York, New York My studio apartment is smack dab in the middle of New York City’s Lower East Side — a neighborhood that recently topped a list of best places to live for the “young, single and cash-strapped.” Fitting the bill on all three of those things, and zeroing in on the last item (working on a reporter’s budget here!

Name: WendyLocation: Hell’s Kitchen — NYC My apartment is a 350 square feet studio apartment located in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan. I recently moved in back in February of 2010, so I’ve been living here about 4 months. I think it would make an great Apartment Therapy House tour because of the limited space as a studio.